Midnight Mutants

Midnight Mutants is a scrolling action-adventure game with a horror theme. It is displayed from a pseudo-isometric viewpoint and features a completely free-roaming world design.

In his quest to save Grampa, Jimmy travels across the countryside, exploring an old haunted mansion, a secret laboratory, caverns, a haunted forest, a pumpkin patch, a haunted graveyard, an old shipwreck, among other locations.

On Halloween night in 1992 young Jimmy Harkman's grandfather (known as "Grampa") has been imprisoned inside of a pumpkin by a resurrected villain named Dr. Evil, who is taking revenge for being burned at the stake as a witch by their ancestor Johnathon Harkman on Halloween night in 1747.

Jimmy then heads on a Halloween quest to free his grandfather. With Doctor Evil on the loose, Jimmy finds the countryside has become inhabited by scary creatures such as zombies and werewolves that can injure him physically and also make his blood impure. Fortunately, even though Grampa is trapped in pumpkin form, he is available to give Jimmy advice on occasion with the push of a button. Along the way, Jimmy can collect weapons and items that will help him in his quest to defeat evil creatures, giant bosses and ultimately Dr. Evil himself.

Midnight Mutants was developed by Radioactive Software, a team consisting of programmer and designer Peter Adams; writer Tammy Moore; artist Les Pardew; and composer Paul Webb. Former Atari programmer Chuck Peavey told Retro Gamer that while he worked an unreleased 7800 adaptation of the 1984 film Missing in Action, his boss, Adams, was working on another game titled Grandpa's Attic, centered around Grandpa Munster from the sitcom The Munsters. Peavey alleged it was cancelled due to poor quality. The cover for Midnight Mutants, as well as its in-game graphics, feature actor Al Lewis as this character, whom he portrayed in the show.

Neither the actor nor the show are credited or mentioned within the game or within its packaging. According to the Game Developers Research Institute, both this cover and that of the 1989 Nintendo Entertainment System game Fester's Quest were done by Michael Mendheim. Hidden in the code for Midnight Mutants is a secret, misspelled message stating, "IT'S A WONDER PETER EVER GOT THIS PROGRAM BEDUGGED!"

In a retrospective review, Atari 7800 Forever gave the game a 4.5 out of 5, praising the humor, the approachable in-game menus and the excellent boss battles. IGN listed it as the third-best 7800 game, citing "some real longevity" due to its large map "as well as just solid exploration gameplay." Retro Gamer attributed its late release as the reason for being one of the most advanced games for the 7800, allowing it to rival its console contemporaries. It summarized, "This isometric arcade adventure has a spooky Halloween-based plot, which is told by an impressive animated intro, and a huge map that will have you playing right into the midnight hours."