Who made Nightmare on Elm Street, A?

Nightmare on Elm Street, A was published by LJN, released in 1989.

What kind of game is Nightmare on Elm Street, A?

Nightmare on Elm Street, A is a action, platform game for the NES / Famicom.

Can two people play Nightmare on Elm Street, A?

Yes. Nightmare on Elm Street, A supports multiplayer (Multiplayer). Player 1 uses the arrow keys, player 2 uses WASD, and two USB or Bluetooth gamepads can be connected instead.

How much data does Nightmare on Elm Street, A load?

The Nightmare on Elm Street, A ROM is 128 kB. It is fetched once when you press play and then cached by your browser, so returning to the game does not download it again.

Which emulators can run Nightmare on Elm Street, A?

Nightmare on Elm Street, A runs on NES / Famicom and Nestopia UE (Accurate). You can switch between them from the emulator list further down this page if one performs better on your device.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Game (1989) - NES

Action / Button	Keyboard Key
D-Pad (Up / Down / Left / Right)	`Arrow Keys`
Button A	`Z` or `J`
Button B	`X` or `K`
Button X / Turbo A	`A` or `U`
Button Y / Turbo B	`S` or `I`
Select	`Shift`
Start	`Enter`

Gamepad Input	Retro Function	Keyboard Key
D-Pad / Analog	Character Movement / Steering	`▲` `▼` `◄` `►`
Button A (East)	Primary Action / Attack / Fire	`Z` / `K`
Button B (South)	Secondary / Jump / Cancel	`X` / `J`
Button X / Y	Special / Turbo / Extra Fire	`A` / `S`
Select	Insert Coin / Select Option	`Right Shift`
Start	Game Start / Pause Game	`Enter`

Gamepad Input

Retro Function

Keyboard Key

D-Pad / Analog

Character Movement / Steering

▲ ▼ ◄ ►

Button A (East)

Primary Action / Attack / Fire

Z / K

Button B (South)

Secondary / Jump / Cancel

X / J

Button X / Y

Special / Turbo / Extra Fire

A / S

Select

Insert Coin / Select Option

Right Shift

Start

Game Start / Pause Game

Enter

Emulator Core Engine	Technology	Multiplayer	Gamepad	Touch	Ads	Action / Switch
EmulatorJS (Default WebAssembly)	`WebAssembly / JS`	YES	YES	YES	NO	▶ ACTIVE
NES / Famicom (Recommended)	`WebAssembly / Libretro`	YES	YES	YES	NO	PLAY ⚡
Nestopia UE (Accurate)	`WebAssembly / Libretro`	YES	YES	YES	NO	PLAY ⚡

Emulator Core Engine

Technology

Multiplayer

Gamepad

Touch

Ads

Action / Switch

EmulatorJS (Default WebAssembly)

WebAssembly / JS

YES

▶ ACTIVE

NES / Famicom (Recommended)

WebAssembly / Libretro

YES

PLAY ⚡

Nestopia UE (Accurate)

WebAssembly / Libretro

YES

PLAY ⚡

A Nightmare on Elm Street is a 1989 NES action platformer published by LJN, based on the Wes Craven horror film series. You play as one of the Elm Street teenagers, fighting through suburban streets, a high school, and other nightmare locations with one goal: collect all of Freddy Krueger’s scattered bones and deposit them in the furnace before the stage timer runs out. A second player can join on the same keyboard.

How to play

The sleep meter is the game’s central threat. As it drains, your character slips into the dream world — a more dangerous state where Freddy attacks directly. Items scattered through each stage refill it; stay in the waking world as long as you can. Each stage clears when every bone is collected and incinerated — killing enemies is secondary to that task.

Player 1 controls: arrow keys to move, X to jump (A button), Z to attack (B button), Enter to start, Shift to select.

Tips

Chase bones before enemies — the stage timer won’t wait, and enemies respawn even after you defeat them.
A small detour for a sleep-meter item is worth it; entering the dream world mid-stage costs more time than the pickup does.