Little Red Hood

Little Red Hood is an unlicensed NES game made by Joy Van/Sachen. It was released in 1989 (at least in Taiwan and Australia). The game is a "piggyback" cartridge, therefore requiring the player to plug in an official NES cart into the top port. This was a method by pirating game companies to override any security on the console that blocks hackware.

Due to limited release, the "piggyback" version can go for about $100, one cartridge selling for over $350 online at one point.

Gameplay
The game is extremely weird, confusing, random and frustrating. The stages can take anywhere from five minutes to a half hour to complete due to faulty game mechanics. The goal of Little Red Hood is to complete 10 maze - like levels to get to Grandmother. The player must dodge enemies while kicking palm trees to collect 12 cherries so you can wait for a staircase to appear in order to access the room where a key will randomly spawn. Once you get this key, another staircase will eventually spawn and the player can advance to the next level.

Throughout the game, there is gold to collect, which can be used to buy three different items at the in-game store. For sale is an invincibility potion, a slingshot (weapon), and a heart to replenish some health. You can also pick up candy for a little health. Sometimes, when the player kicks a rock, a dog will appear and randomly roam about. If it makes contact with an enemy, it will be eliminated.

The music, graphics, controls and gameplay are notoriously bad and the game can be insanely cryptic (in one level, you cannot advance until you buy 1 invincibility potion and 3 slingshots from the store).

Rumor has it that the developers released the game in an unfinished state in order to liquidate their inventory. This wouldn't be a surprise, as Little Red Hood is virtually unplayable.