Little Nemo: The Dream Master is a 1990 NES platformer developed by Capcom and based on the 1989 animated film Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, which in turn adapted Winsor McCay's comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland. Nemo travels through dream levels and can ride animals after feeding them candy, borrowing their abilities to get past obstacles.
The game was produced by Tokuro Fujiwara, and Junko Tamiya wrote the music, credited in-game as "Gonzou". It reached North America first, in September 1990, almost three months before the Japanese Famicom release on 7 December 1990. There it was called Pajama Hero NEMO, with a logo modeled on the Japanese release of the film.
Capcom published the game in North America and Japan, and Nintendo handled Europe. The Western versions also quietly removed the cigars from two characters, which is the most visible difference between the regional cartridges.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Little Nemo: The Dream Master | NES | September 1990 | Capcom | 1 |
| JP | パジャマヒーロー NEMOPajama Hero NEMOFamicom | NES | Dec 7, 1990 | Capcom | 2 |
| EU | Little Nemo: The Dream MasterTCRF gives 12 December 1990; English Wikipedia gives 12 December 1991 (marked citation needed) | NES | Dec 12, 1990 | Nintendo | 2 |
Also known as: パジャマヒーロー NEMO JP3Pajama Hero NEMO JP2
Box art by region
NA Little Nemo: The Dream Master 
EU Little Nemo: The Dream Master
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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TitleNES (NA)NES (EU)
The Western title screen has a new logo that puts the subtitle first and leaves Nemo off the screen, even though his graphic is still in the ROM. The Japanese Pajama Hero NEMO logo follows the Japanese release of the film.2
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CensorshipNES (NA)NES (EU)
Flip's cigar was removed from both his sprite and his portrait in the Western releases.2
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CensorshipNES (NA)NES (EU)
The gorilla lost its cigar in the Western versions too, though the US and European manuals still show it, and the sprite's mouth is still shaped as if it were holding one.2
Reception
Reviews at the time were mostly positive (Famitsu 27/40, GamePro 23/25), and Electronic Gaming Monthly compared it to Capcom's Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers set in a dream world. Later retrospectives were more divided over its difficulty, though IGN put it 68th in its Top 100 NES Games.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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