Collection essentials #98: Spiritual Warfare (NES)

This is the second “unlicensed” NES game on the list, meaning it’s a game that was made without the consent of Nintendo. Spiritual Warfare is an adventure game that largely draws inspiration from The Legend of Zelda, only it’s done with a Christian theme. Your main character is on a quest to defeat the Devil (who else?), and instead of a sword he fights by throwing the fruit of the spirit, which is a reference to a list of virtues found in the Bible, only these fruits are represented by actual physical fruits like apples and bananas. The enemies in this game are all non-believers who, upon getting hit with a fruit, are converted to Christianity as they smile and put their hands together before disappearing. Even as a lifelong Christian, I have to admit that this sounds rather cheesy. And Christian-themed video games, especially of this era and made by this same developer, are known for not being very good. But, surprisingly, Spiritual Warfare bucks the trend and is a legitimate quality video game that understands what makes adventure games fun.

The game’s world is pretty wide open, and exploring is fun. There are a variety of fruits you can find to use as weapons, and they’re all different from each other in various ways. Finding fruits and power-ups as you explore makes gameplay feel rewarding as you progress. There are even non-Christians who acknowledge this as a legitimate quality NES title.

While it is a good game, I do have to say being Christian myself helps put this game over the top onto this list. I get a kick out of the music, which consists of old familiar hymns I grew up with such as “Moment by Moment”, “The Solid Rock” and “Jesus Saves”. There are also angels who go around and quiz you with Bible questions when you meet them in exchange for resources, and even though the questions are rather basic I still get some enjoyment out of being able to answer them all. I do want to note that I don’t necessarily agree with everything this game tries to teach, for example there is one building labeled as a “Bar” that the game will tell you that you’re not supposed to go in, which reveals a fundamentalist influence and a type of legalism I’m not cool with. 

But being a very rare example of a Christian video game that’s actually good, I’m fond of Spiritual Warfare and it’s a game that I want in my collection. And if you like old-school Zelda-style games, go check it out for yourself.