One problem is that many of the old games suffer from the Alone in the Dark syndrome... scary back in their day, absolucredulous to the point of ridicule today.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_...311/ai_n9505286
Most of the NES games focused on gore rather than actual scares (Monster House, Goul School, etc) but perhaps Friday the 13th might work, only because the antagonist appears at random and has the annoying tendency to slice out your cranium...
Sweet Home was good too.