Editorials
Why ‘Eternal Darkness’ Was the Last Great Exclusive Nintendo Horror Title
Nintendo hasn’t been a huge advocate of the horror video game genre in recent times. The company’s family-friendly aesthetic, coupled with a lack of well-received horror titles on their consoles, has ensured that other platforms have become the go-to for scary franchises.
This wasn’t always the case. Nintendo was as likely to greenlight a survival-horror, psychological thriller, or other spooky game as much as anyone else back in the 1990s and early 2000s. One such title – Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem – even holds the distinction of being one of the most critically-acclaimed games on the Nintendo GameCube. Few have been able to force themselves into this elite class of game since, particularly in the horror genre. Can it be argued, then, that Eternal Darkness was the last great first-party Nintendo horror game?
Upon its initial release in the US in June 2002, Eternal Darkness drew widespread praise from critics for its unique gameplay mechanics, spooky allure, and intriguing plot. Boasting a 92 out of 100 aggregate score on Metacritic, it stands out as the only horror title to deserve such a rating. Players take on the role of Alexandra Roivas, a university student who returns to her childhood home after her last living relative is found brutally murdered. After she uncovers the Tome of Eternal Darkness, the narrative jumps between present day – where Alexandra is controlled – and multiple playable characters within “chapters” of the book. Taking place across four different locations, players must use these characters to prevent a powerful enemy from enslaving humanity forever.
Eternal Darkness took plenty of its inspiration from the Resident Evil series, but the implementation of a ‘sanity meter’ mechanic added a bold layer that often confused and scared gamers in equal measure. Its timeline jumping mechanic and multiple story path endings won it acclaim as well. No other horror title has come close to matching Eternal Darkness’ score since, albeit with little in the way of true competition. Only 10 exclusive Nintendo horror games have been released since Eternal Darkness 16 years ago. Of that number, just three have broken the 70 out of 100 barrier on Metacritic – Dementium: The Ward, Project Zero 2: Wii Edition, and ZombiU – but all failed to overthrow Eternal Darkness at the top.
Score aggregation websites aren’t the solitary marker by which video games are judged, however. Titles can still sell well in spite of what the media thinks. ZombiU, a 2012 launch title on the Wii U, is proof of this. Its score pales in comparison to Eternal Darkness’ – 71 to 92 – but it shipped almost twice as many copies as the Silicon Knights developed game. Some would argue that this barometer is a truer reflection of what should be considered a classic, and yet ZombiU isn’t viewed this way. Thanks to the short shelf life of the Wii U, and a lack of spectacular launch titles upon the console’s release, ZombiU was the pick of the bunch in November 2012. This, if anything, was a perfect summation of the Wii U in general, and gamers quickly moved on from ZombiU and the console entirely.
In something of a U-turn, Nintendo has begun to soften its stance on horror games in the past 12 months. Titles such as Outlast, Doom, Resident Evil Revelations, and more have been ported to the company’s Switch console since its launch in March 2017. The reception to these excellent games would be good enough to potentially rival Eternal Darkness but for one obvious problem – Nintendo’s lack of involvement in their development or publication. Eternal Darkness was published by Nintendo, which protects its rightful claim to the exclusive crown.
Eternal Darkness didn’t get everything right to be considered a truly iconic Nintendo franchise. Despite being lauded by critics, its failure to ship more than 500,000 copies worldwide ended any chance of a potential sequel being developed. Silicon Knights’ financial problems, too, resulted in the developer being closed down in May 2013.
Nintendo still holds the game’s trademark, should they wish to revive it down the line. The company’s lack of in-house published horror games, alongside its desire to refresh and develop its core franchises such as Metroid, Pokemon, and more, means that won’t be happening any time soon though.
Eternal Darkness may not have been well-received by the public, but its uniqueness in certain gameplay aspects and interesting, scary plot allowed Silicon Knights to deliver on its promises. It isn’t iconic in the way that Mario, Zelda, or another Nintendo property is. However, its consistently high review ratings mean that it has gone toe-to-toe with established franchises in the upper echelons of review scores. Eternal Darkness’ rarity as a Nintendo published horror game sets it apart from others on the company’s long list of platforms too, and cements its place in an often overlooked genre for the Japanese gaming giant.
It might not be the unmitigated success that had been hoped, but Eternal Darkness can hold its head high as the last truly great first-party Nintendo horror game.
Some movies are just so beloved that you can experience them through cultural osmosis without ever sitting down to actually watch them. From loving parodies to meticulous recreations of iconic scenes, memorable filmmaking lives on even after the curtains close on the silver screen. And when it comes to horror, few films can compete with the massive impact that Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining had on popular culture as a whole.
Whether or not you think the flick is a good adaptation of Stephen King’s seminal novel, 1980’s The Shining slowly but surely grew into one of the most influential genre movies ever made, inspiring everything from surprisingly heartfelt sequels to classic episodes of The Simpsons. However, not all The Shining references are created equal, and today I’d like to shine a light on six unexpected homages to Kubrick’s iconic film.
In this list, we’ll be focusing on references and Easter eggs that either came out of the blue or came from creators that you wouldn’t expect to be fans of this classic ghost story. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite references to the Torrance family and the Overlook Hotel if you think we missed a particularly memorable one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
5. A Nightmare on FaceTime – South Park (2012)
Regardless of the brand’s iffy reputation among former employees, the death of Blockbuster Video was a serious blow to fans of physical media. Of course, some folks were more affected by this than others, and South Park’s Randy Marsh definitely took things a little too far in the twelfth episode of the show’s sixteenth season.
Titled A Nightmare on FaceTime, the main plot of this 2012 story is a surprisingly faithful recreation of The Shining where Randy purchases an empty Blockbuster store and begins to go mad once he realizes that his investment may not have been a very good idea due to the rise of streaming and the now-defunct RedBox storefronts.
4. The Overlook Hotel Level – Ready Player One (2018)
I was never really a fan of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, so I viewed Stephen Spielberg’s divisive adaptation of the novel as an improvement over the source material despite having its own narrative issues. In fact, I actually prefer how Spielberg changed the story by removing several references to his own work and replacing a lengthy Blade Runner detour with an over-the-top homage to The Shining.
A CGI-heavy recreation of the film’s most iconic moments that feels like a big-budget ghost train ride set within the Overlook Hotel, this intense sequence is more of a recreation of the freaky aesthetics of The Shining rather than its mind-bending narrative. However, it’s still fun to see Spielberg make a heartfelt tribute to a filmmaker that was once his close personal friend.
3. IKEA Singapore Halloween Ad (2014)
It makes sense that commercials don’t typically borrow from the horror genre, as it might be a bad idea to scare away potential customers, but some references are just too much fun to pass up.
That’s probably why the publicists behind this Ikea ad from Singapore were allowed to turn their commercial into a genuinely unsettling recreation of Danny’s tricycle scene from The Shining. After all, nobody cares if your store is haunted so long as it offers late-night shopping hours and a large selection of merchandise that you can become lost in forever and ever…
2. The End of ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’ – Community (2014)
Community is no stranger to recreating iconic movie moments within the show, and the series had previously tackled horror tropes in episodes like the fan-favorite Epidemiology. However, the most laugh-out-loud moment on this particular list comes from a brief gag towards the end of the season five episode ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’.
The majority of this episode has nothing to do with scary movies, but there’s a brief subplot involving supporting character Chang and a possible encounter with ghosts that leads him to question his own existence. This subplot culminates in the episode’s hilarious ending where the camera zooms in on a black-and-white photograph of Chang in period clothing at some kind of celebration, just like Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining.
However, the picture’s subtitle eventually reveals that it’s merely a conveniently placed keepsake from the ‘Old Timey Photo Club’.
1. The Overlook Hedge Maze Sequence – Zootopia 2 (2025)
Disney movies are pretty far removed from both the gruesome horror of Stephen King and the heady filmmaking of Stanley Kubrick, so I don’t think anyone was expecting the climax of last year’s Zootopia sequel to take place in an animated version of the snowy hedge maze from The Shining.
In this unexpectedly intense sequence, friend-turned-villain Pawbert Lynxley (an unhinged lynx cat played by Andy Samberg) chases our protagonists through a creepy labyrinth in a loving recreation of Jack Nicholson’s icy demise outside the Overlook Hotel. The actual ending here might be a little more child-friendly than what’s being referenced, but it’s amazing that the filmmakers were able to push the horror elements as far as they did – especially since the scene doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the movie.
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