the beginning was kinda rough without knowing some of the stuff to get better/stronger before meeting some bosses but overall it was great once you get the hang of it.
it's the best of the Firebrand Trilogy and honestly the best Ghost'n Goblins game in the series.
also the gargoyles in these games are hot like GODDAMN, Capcom
it's the best of the Firebrand Trilogy and honestly the best Ghost'n Goblins game in the series.
also the gargoyles in these games are hot like GODDAMN, Capcom
Joguei na infância, lembrei que era um ótimo jogo, peguei pra zerar depois de muito tempo, e posso afirmar que está no top 5 melhores jogos de SNES, Ótimo jogo, mas não perfeito, consegue ficar na sombra de Mario World, Super Metroid, Zelda, Chrono Trigger, mas com certeza recomendaria para as pessoas jogarem.
Enredo 8/10: Ótimo enredo, consegue ser consistente e entregar uma boa história, mas não faz tanta diferença entende-la, logo não precisa entender inglês.
Personagens 7/10: Não precisa saber muito dos personagens, e essa nota não significa nada, significa mais o nível de profundidade dos Personagens, mas os 3 mais importantes eles trabalham bem.
Gameplay 9/10: Para um plataformer, ele é tanto bom quanto difícil, precisa lidar muito com a movimentação, até precisa entender o moveset de alguns inimigos (Principalmente os chefes) para passar, pois você vai morrer muito kkkkkk.
Trilha sonora 10/10: Todos do meu top 5 recebem essa nota, com esse jogo não seria diferente, é maravilhoso ouvir aquele começo, que até bate nostalgia, e a "Beyond the Colosseum" no próximo cenário faz a magia, se não tivesse uma trilha sonora tão marcante, com certeza a nota não estaria assim
No geral: Recomendo pra quem gosta de um plataformer difícil com uma gameplay adaptativa (Depois do primeiro mapa do jogo, você pode ir em qualquer fase que liberou, coisa que no Mario de SNES são fases lineares, e que só no mario 3d world que tem, acho isso um charme do game), e quem não gostar do jogo, ouça a trilha sonora, sei que vai gostar de alguma kkkkk
Enredo 8/10: Ótimo enredo, consegue ser consistente e entregar uma boa história, mas não faz tanta diferença entende-la, logo não precisa entender inglês.
Personagens 7/10: Não precisa saber muito dos personagens, e essa nota não significa nada, significa mais o nível de profundidade dos Personagens, mas os 3 mais importantes eles trabalham bem.
Gameplay 9/10: Para um plataformer, ele é tanto bom quanto difícil, precisa lidar muito com a movimentação, até precisa entender o moveset de alguns inimigos (Principalmente os chefes) para passar, pois você vai morrer muito kkkkkk.
Trilha sonora 10/10: Todos do meu top 5 recebem essa nota, com esse jogo não seria diferente, é maravilhoso ouvir aquele começo, que até bate nostalgia, e a "Beyond the Colosseum" no próximo cenário faz a magia, se não tivesse uma trilha sonora tão marcante, com certeza a nota não estaria assim
No geral: Recomendo pra quem gosta de um plataformer difícil com uma gameplay adaptativa (Depois do primeiro mapa do jogo, você pode ir em qualquer fase que liberou, coisa que no Mario de SNES são fases lineares, e que só no mario 3d world que tem, acho isso um charme do game), e quem não gostar do jogo, ouça a trilha sonora, sei que vai gostar de alguma kkkkk
>be Fire Brand
>kill everyone for some magical fruit snacks
>get mugged because you're a manlet
>kill everyone again for some magical fruit snacks
>become a god
>get bored
>throw away the fruit snacks and move to detroit
What did he mean by this?
(fr tho amazing game)
>kill everyone for some magical fruit snacks
>get mugged because you're a manlet
>kill everyone again for some magical fruit snacks
>become a god
>get bored
>throw away the fruit snacks and move to detroit
What did he mean by this?
(fr tho amazing game)
Fantastic but brutally difficult game, technically the third in the Gargoyle's Quest franchise. A series that I would love to see welcome a fourth episode.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Fiz o bad ending admito...
Fiz o bad ending admito...
a really fun game! one of the more underrated SNES classics
mejor que el ghost n goblins añañañaññaña
Who fucked up the boxart
With its dark design, the variety of actions available, the balance between quest and exploration phases, and the more intense parts of boss fights, it represents a great improvement in every aspect of the Gargoyle's Quest series. At the same time it proves to be more innovative, long-lived and exciting than the games of the inspiring series released at that time: we refer to Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, which appeared 3 years earlier for the same console, and which ultimately offered nothing particularly different from its predecessors and was perhaps penalized by an overly "old-school arcade" gaming experience that on the home machines of the early 1990s was in danger of no longer pleasing. Probably the character of Sir Arthur himself does not allow much room for change, while instead giving a "villain" the role of protagonist turned out to be a winning and promising idea; unfortunately, however, while the bearded knight has reappeared on the screens of last-generation consoles, Red Arremer (apart from a few appearances as in a "SNK vs. Capcom" series fighting game) now seems resigned to play only the role of the latter's nemesis. Let's hope that in the future some willing game designer will return to give us a jump into the land of demons, and not on the side of good!"
Good music
Uno de los juegos más difíciles de la SNES.
Se siente la progresión a través del juego, Firebrand va consiguiendo las crestas y cada una sirve en una situación específica. Te sientes increíblemente poderoso cuando puedes convertirte en la Ultimate Gargoyle.
No logré ganarle al final boss, algún día volveré a intentarlo.
Se siente la progresión a través del juego, Firebrand va consiguiendo las crestas y cada una sirve en una situación específica. Te sientes increíblemente poderoso cuando puedes convertirte en la Ultimate Gargoyle.
No logré ganarle al final boss, algún día volveré a intentarlo.
minigame da parede é imbecil, chefes são bons, mas demoram demais pra morrerem as vezes
Nice level design, nice (if rigid), controls, wonderful artstyle, pretty cool bosses, and neat collectables. This game is pretty good, though you practically need to 100% it to get full enjoyment. My main problem with it is probably game being too easy if you know what you're doing but I admittedly haven't tried any self imposed challenge.
As a fan of the first two Gargoyle's Quest games, I was always left with the feeling that something could be done to take advantage of all the potential that these two games posed. And well, the game that came to fulfill that fantasy has been Demon's Crest, a game that is a masterpiece, one of the best platform adventure games, not only of the Super Nintendo era, but of all time.
Demon's Crest begins with an epic introduction; flames that cover the entire screen revealing little by little a demon in the title, after that if we stay without pressing any button for a while the introduction of the story of this game will begin.
I'll talk about the improvements and changes of how this game improves over the previous two, and wow, its transition from GB/NES to SNES has been more than perfect. The gameplay feels more agile and responsive, although the mobility is still not very fast, as it is reminiscent of classic Castlevania. The graphics and music now create an atmosphere that in my opinion surpasses that of the SNES Castlevanias, but I will talk about these two sections in more depth later. The system of lives was eliminated, so now we can retry the levels as many times as we want, and this change has been made with good reason, because another difference is that the difficulty has increased, but for the better, because the enemies now have more elaborate designs and patterns.
In this game we have Firebrand as the main character again, a demon that has the ability to fly indefinitely, although only being able to move back and forth, you can also stick to the walls similar to Mega Man X, and of course, you can shoot fire projectiles. As we advance in the game and defeat bosses, we will get other types of projectiles, one that can break blocks, one that creates platforms temporarily, and another that when colliding with spikes creates a small barrier to climb it, and finally, a projectile like the first, only much stronger. All these types of shots are the same that we already found in the previous Gargoyle's Quest I and II, being one of my favorite things in this game to have retaken all the basic skills of these games.
And well, let's talk about the new things that this game presents, starting with its map, in which we will move with a pseudo-3D view very characteristic of some SNES games, where we can access different levels in the order that we choose.
There are 6 Crests, whose function is to transform Firebrand into another type of Gargoyle, and these transformations will have unique abilities and qualities. The levels know how to take advantage of each of these forms very well, as each one is useful in its own way, they will help us to advance and explore different paths that were previously inaccessible, which will lead us to have to pass the levels more than once to discover all the secrets. Also now there are bottles that are hidden in the levels, which will help us to buy potions, and there are also some scrolls that help us to buy spells. These two additions make the game never feel too unfair, and can save you on more than one occasion.
With regards to the levels found here, each and every one is great, with good level design. Each one has its own theme and mechanics that made it stand out from the others, not to mention that each of these stages are full of details in the backgrounds. The art and music in this game are truly sublime. In addition, all levels have objects and secret routes that encourage the exploration of these, with secrets like the bottles and scrolls that I mentioned earlier.
Something that also encourages us to explore, is the fact that this game has 3 endings, although I will not talk much in detail about this, but it is worth seeing all three, although the last ending is unlocked through a battle with a secret boss that is very difficult.
Despite everything, the game also has its negative aspects, such as suffering from some slowdowns, the fact that the way to save the game is through passwords, or that to switch between powers and crests we have to access the pause menu constantly. However I think these aspects do not ruin the experience at all.
Conclusion
A very memorable game, albeit short, but one that makes up for it by having great quality. I dare say it's unfairly underrated, and that's the reason I've gone to such length in this review, to try and encourage more people to play it. Maybe right now I'm being too over the top, but I dare say that this has become one of my favorite games.
I recommend it if you like retro Super Nintendo games, like Mega Man and Castlevania.
Demon's Crest begins with an epic introduction; flames that cover the entire screen revealing little by little a demon in the title, after that if we stay without pressing any button for a while the introduction of the story of this game will begin.
I'll talk about the improvements and changes of how this game improves over the previous two, and wow, its transition from GB/NES to SNES has been more than perfect. The gameplay feels more agile and responsive, although the mobility is still not very fast, as it is reminiscent of classic Castlevania. The graphics and music now create an atmosphere that in my opinion surpasses that of the SNES Castlevanias, but I will talk about these two sections in more depth later. The system of lives was eliminated, so now we can retry the levels as many times as we want, and this change has been made with good reason, because another difference is that the difficulty has increased, but for the better, because the enemies now have more elaborate designs and patterns.
In this game we have Firebrand as the main character again, a demon that has the ability to fly indefinitely, although only being able to move back and forth, you can also stick to the walls similar to Mega Man X, and of course, you can shoot fire projectiles. As we advance in the game and defeat bosses, we will get other types of projectiles, one that can break blocks, one that creates platforms temporarily, and another that when colliding with spikes creates a small barrier to climb it, and finally, a projectile like the first, only much stronger. All these types of shots are the same that we already found in the previous Gargoyle's Quest I and II, being one of my favorite things in this game to have retaken all the basic skills of these games.
And well, let's talk about the new things that this game presents, starting with its map, in which we will move with a pseudo-3D view very characteristic of some SNES games, where we can access different levels in the order that we choose.
There are 6 Crests, whose function is to transform Firebrand into another type of Gargoyle, and these transformations will have unique abilities and qualities. The levels know how to take advantage of each of these forms very well, as each one is useful in its own way, they will help us to advance and explore different paths that were previously inaccessible, which will lead us to have to pass the levels more than once to discover all the secrets. Also now there are bottles that are hidden in the levels, which will help us to buy potions, and there are also some scrolls that help us to buy spells. These two additions make the game never feel too unfair, and can save you on more than one occasion.
With regards to the levels found here, each and every one is great, with good level design. Each one has its own theme and mechanics that made it stand out from the others, not to mention that each of these stages are full of details in the backgrounds. The art and music in this game are truly sublime. In addition, all levels have objects and secret routes that encourage the exploration of these, with secrets like the bottles and scrolls that I mentioned earlier.
Something that also encourages us to explore, is the fact that this game has 3 endings, although I will not talk much in detail about this, but it is worth seeing all three, although the last ending is unlocked through a battle with a secret boss that is very difficult.
Despite everything, the game also has its negative aspects, such as suffering from some slowdowns, the fact that the way to save the game is through passwords, or that to switch between powers and crests we have to access the pause menu constantly. However I think these aspects do not ruin the experience at all.
Conclusion
A very memorable game, albeit short, but one that makes up for it by having great quality. I dare say it's unfairly underrated, and that's the reason I've gone to such length in this review, to try and encourage more people to play it. Maybe right now I'm being too over the top, but I dare say that this has become one of my favorite games.
I recommend it if you like retro Super Nintendo games, like Mega Man and Castlevania.
this game sucked
Demon's Crest, being the third game in the Gargoyles Quest series, which are platformers with RPG progression, decides to open up the formula and let you tackle levels in your own order, Mega Man style. The difference being, in the Gargoyle's Quest games, they had linear structure. So, what's the issue here?
This game was not designed around the upgrades it gives you. Even from the very start the game gives you the ability to infinitely hover which allows you to bypass a lot of the level design. This, and other abilities give many sections no challenge. The only instances of this game I remember being a fun challenge was when I did not have a lot of health at the beginning and was forced to learn boss patterns. The bosses are well designed and fun but you can just tank through a lot of them later on. The soundtrack is also pretty boring and repetitive. It's a shame because Gargoyle's Quest 1 and 2 each are designed well and have you utilize your abilities equally throughout the games, instead of this games lack of thought out upgrade distribution.
This game's worth trying if you like permanent character upgrades. Not an awful game, but it still has glaring issues.
This game was not designed around the upgrades it gives you. Even from the very start the game gives you the ability to infinitely hover which allows you to bypass a lot of the level design. This, and other abilities give many sections no challenge. The only instances of this game I remember being a fun challenge was when I did not have a lot of health at the beginning and was forced to learn boss patterns. The bosses are well designed and fun but you can just tank through a lot of them later on. The soundtrack is also pretty boring and repetitive. It's a shame because Gargoyle's Quest 1 and 2 each are designed well and have you utilize your abilities equally throughout the games, instead of this games lack of thought out upgrade distribution.
This game's worth trying if you like permanent character upgrades. Not an awful game, but it still has glaring issues.
Absolutely an all timer. So many fun abilities and a neat world map
Demon's Crest is often held up as a gem, but I mostly just find it to be a solid little action-platformer. It plays well, has good sound design, and it's nice to look at. Some good use of Mode 7 when you're out in the overworld, too. But the actual level-to-level gameplay didn't really impress me. It didn't let me down either. I just think it's good, and I would rub oil all over Firebrand's pecs if given the opportunity. Three out of five.
Every Halloween.
Good graphics and music, felt like the game was wasted potential especially after the 2 game boy games, you get a world map here and some dialogue from NPCs and bosses but the stages left me hanging. Bosses were all over the place in terms of difficulty which was kind of confusing, too.
Firebrand is one of the most iconic enemies from 80's gaming: A blood-red demon who seethes with snarled aggression and makes short work of you with cunning movement tactics. He's the biggest douchebag inside what's already considered one of the hardest games of its era. So I can't help but be puzzled that the direction Capcom went for his solo outings were low-difficulty platformers with minimal combat.
There's lots of odd choices abound here. Like Quackshot, the game has linear levels but requires you to revisit them with keycard abilities in a metroidvania-esque setup. There's alternate attacks and transformations required for progression that take constant menu-ing to switch between - it was 94, why no shoulder button toggles ala MMX? There's an attempt at a hub world but it just amounts to 1 NPC and a few shops, was really wishing there'd be more to justify 100% exploration. You also get a lot of money to spend on 1-time items that I mostly didn't use. Bosses have really bloated HP bars and excessive i-frames.
And yet for all its weird choices, they rarely inhibit the core appeal. Vibes carry Demon's Crest very hard: The beautiful world, snappy movement and haunting orchestral music are great. I couldn't tell you a hook or mechanic I was really invested in, but the feeling of playing it is just as strong as any other Capcom game. A very low-key, sobering platform experience with a good edge to it. Oddly relaxing, moreso than something child-friendly like Magical Quest.
There's also three endings depending on how many items you get before confronting Phalanx, the final boss. I only got the first two, but I was content with that. It's really funny to me that in the 2nd ending, Phalanx just pussies out, screaming "I'm not owned! I'm not owned!" with his tail between his legs. I'm sure most people see it as an unsatisfactory victory because you don't get to finish him off with your own hands, but like, nothing's more empowering than knowing your nemesis is scared shitless by you.
There's lots of odd choices abound here. Like Quackshot, the game has linear levels but requires you to revisit them with keycard abilities in a metroidvania-esque setup. There's alternate attacks and transformations required for progression that take constant menu-ing to switch between - it was 94, why no shoulder button toggles ala MMX? There's an attempt at a hub world but it just amounts to 1 NPC and a few shops, was really wishing there'd be more to justify 100% exploration. You also get a lot of money to spend on 1-time items that I mostly didn't use. Bosses have really bloated HP bars and excessive i-frames.
And yet for all its weird choices, they rarely inhibit the core appeal. Vibes carry Demon's Crest very hard: The beautiful world, snappy movement and haunting orchestral music are great. I couldn't tell you a hook or mechanic I was really invested in, but the feeling of playing it is just as strong as any other Capcom game. A very low-key, sobering platform experience with a good edge to it. Oddly relaxing, moreso than something child-friendly like Magical Quest.
There's also three endings depending on how many items you get before confronting Phalanx, the final boss. I only got the first two, but I was content with that. It's really funny to me that in the 2nd ending, Phalanx just pussies out, screaming "I'm not owned! I'm not owned!" with his tail between his legs. I'm sure most people see it as an unsatisfactory victory because you don't get to finish him off with your own hands, but like, nothing's more empowering than knowing your nemesis is scared shitless by you.
good but no arthur
Wizards and Warriors 2, then Actraiser, now Demon's Crest... what is it with me playing all these games lately that throw enemies and projectiles that approach you from above and below but give you no way to hit upwards/downwards? I think I finally kinda understand the younger players who complain about RE4's tank controls; I don't agree, but I understand. Because while RE4's challenges are perfectly curated for your stiff moveset (and Demon's Crest does it too, albeit less elegantly), so many times while playing this I kept thinking "This mf clings to walls Spidey-style, the bloody box art shows him bending his knees, why can't he just crouch and shoot?!"
Anyways this is a perfectly fine action-platformer; it feels rather stiff, but it boasts a unique moveset that centers around using walljumps and hovering to give you more control over your vertical positioning, and throws you some truly evil bosses to force you to learn its ins and outs. But it stumbles a bit in its execution of the Metroidvania elements - while you gradually discover new abilities that will help you unlock new areas, these take the form of new demon forms you can take rather than adding new moves to your base form. This subtle difference, combined with the fact that you can only switch forms from the pause menu, makes some sections of the game extremely tedious. One in particular forces you to switch back and forth between the Earth form (to break barriers and kill enemies on the ground), Fire form (to light torches that need to stay lit or more enemies will appear) and Buster form (fastest attack rate), and I spent more time in the menu than ingame because I was having to switch forms every 3 seconds or so! It's quite mystifying to me why they built the mechanics around switching back and forth between forms but didn't allow you to quick-switch via the shoulder buttons a la Mega Man X. This had the unwanted side effect of making the game feel clunkier and more tedious the more forms I unlocked, making the discovery of new abilities feel more annoying than liberating.
While this fire-breathing red demon game left me feeling a bit lukewarm, I do concede there's a lot to love here. A spooky aesthetic and sinister plot that somehow made it past the '94 censors, top-tier graphics and music, and some really good boss encounters. Definitely worth a play for anyone searching for decent lesser-known SNES games, and a really good time if you can get past the clunky form-switching mechanics.
Anyways this is a perfectly fine action-platformer; it feels rather stiff, but it boasts a unique moveset that centers around using walljumps and hovering to give you more control over your vertical positioning, and throws you some truly evil bosses to force you to learn its ins and outs. But it stumbles a bit in its execution of the Metroidvania elements - while you gradually discover new abilities that will help you unlock new areas, these take the form of new demon forms you can take rather than adding new moves to your base form. This subtle difference, combined with the fact that you can only switch forms from the pause menu, makes some sections of the game extremely tedious. One in particular forces you to switch back and forth between the Earth form (to break barriers and kill enemies on the ground), Fire form (to light torches that need to stay lit or more enemies will appear) and Buster form (fastest attack rate), and I spent more time in the menu than ingame because I was having to switch forms every 3 seconds or so! It's quite mystifying to me why they built the mechanics around switching back and forth between forms but didn't allow you to quick-switch via the shoulder buttons a la Mega Man X. This had the unwanted side effect of making the game feel clunkier and more tedious the more forms I unlocked, making the discovery of new abilities feel more annoying than liberating.
While this fire-breathing red demon game left me feeling a bit lukewarm, I do concede there's a lot to love here. A spooky aesthetic and sinister plot that somehow made it past the '94 censors, top-tier graphics and music, and some really good boss encounters. Definitely worth a play for anyone searching for decent lesser-known SNES games, and a really good time if you can get past the clunky form-switching mechanics.
This review contains spoilers
Giving one of the mightier enemies from Ghosts N’ Goblins their own game is bizarre enough. Extending that game to a full-blown trilogy that spans three different consoles is something to behold. That is what became of Capcom’s menacing, flying devil Firebrand as the Gargoyle’s Quest trilogy closed out with Demon’s Crest on the SNES in 1994. Demon’s Crest is by and large considered to be the best installment of this trilogy. With the added flair of being featured on the graphically superior SNES, this common assessment is understandable. While this game garnered more praise than its predecessors, Demon’s Crest still flew under the radar throughout the SNES’s lifespan, giving it a “hidden gem” reputation. This could be attributed to the fact that Demon’s Crest doesn’t bear the same namesake as the previous games, but it’s not as if the previous two entries are highly regarded. Demon’s Crest is the shining example to those few who have played this franchise. It’s a shame, really, because Demon’s Crest holds so many exemplary features to just be confined to cult status.
The narrative of Demon’s Crest is a simple enough premise that establishes the game's lore. In the Demon Realm that makes up the setting, six crests with different elemental properties are scattered across the land. If combined, the six crests accumulate enough power for someone to conquer entire worlds like the Chaos Emeralds. Firebrand has all of the crests at the beginning, but the crests are stolen by another demon named Phalanx. Firebrand must adventure across the land of Demons to recover the six crests and defeat Phalanx before he harnesses their power and takes over the realm.
For being condemned to relative obscurity, Demon’s Crest blows many other SNES titles out of the water in many aspects. For one, the presentation here is fantastic. The grandiose fantasy world of Demon’s Crest is depicted with a range of lurid colors with an impressive amount of detail. As early as the first level, the misty water surrounding the dark bog with leafless trees evokes a spooky atmosphere. Skeletons can also be found entombed in dirt casings to give off the impression that this is an ancient land with a horrific history behind it. One section of a level has Firebrand soar over a platformless sky, and the color scheme between the layers of clouds with the sun setting over them is utterly sublime. The submerged ruins consist of towering columns with gothic gargoyles pouring green water from the tops of them, flooding the ruins with the remains of a city in the background. These are a few major examples, but every level of this game has the same consistent, A-grade attention to detail and graphical output. The gothic spectacle presented here makes the one in Super Castlevania IV look half-assed and amateurish by comparison. It’s a high compliment considering Super Castlevania IV is one of my favorite games on the SNES. The character animations also uphold the same impressive attention to detail as one can hardly detect the 16-bit pixels behind the animated sprites. One example is the dragon boss that chases Firebrand at the very beginning. It’s a marvel of detailed animation. The player can discern every fissure of flesh deteriorating from its bones.
Playing as Firebrand is also quite the spectacle. He’s a muscular demon that can fly and shoot fire from his mouth, so I can’t imagine anyone wouldn’t want to play as him. Those few with some discrepancies might feel like playing as an imposing beast wouldn’t offer the player any challenge. He’s a big red pain in the ass in the Ghost’s N’ Goblins series, so one might assume that he’s overpowered, resulting in a facile experience. Admittedly, Demon’s Crest is not as hard as Ghosts N’ Goblins, but what is? It’s not as if Firebrand is continually perched in the sky, breathing fire down at knights that take a mere two hits to die. He’s in the demon realm now and an even more hostile place that Arthur probably couldn’t endure for more than two seconds. The environment has been upscaled to appropriately fit Firebrand’s stature. His standard offensive power is shooting fire from his mouth. While it’s fairly effective against enemies, the player has to be somewhat accurate with their shots due to the less-than-firepower speed of flaming spurts. Firebrand also has a headbutt move, but it’s only used to destroy objects in the immediate background. Firebrand can also hover in the air after jumping for as long as the player desires. In the previous games, the ability to hover was finite, making platforming challenges perilous in some cases. One could argue that being able to hover in the air forever may make the game easier, but the game opts for something else completely. Instead of platforming challenges, the game tries to overwhelm the player with enemies from all angles. Firebrand’s hovering will often be interrupted by flying enemies careening towards him, or an ax lobbed at him from below. Firebrand can only also hover over heights he can jump, which aren’t far off the ground.
As his base level, Firebrand still has one of the most versatile movesets of the 16-bit era. The main objective of finding the crests even increases Firebrand’s versatility even further. With each crest obtained, Firebrand gains another form that coincides with the element it’s named after. The earth crest form allows him to break large obstacles by charging into them and spit a wave of energy that ripples on the ground. The air crest allows him to fly upward. One would think this would complete Firebrand’s flight range, making him unstoppable, but the air form only flies upward incrementally instead of continually, making it somewhat awkward. The water crest allows Firebrand to swim. It’s the lamest crest in terms of offense but considering all other forms take damage from water, it’s made incredibly useful. The one crest that does complete Firebrand’s move set is the time crest. The form is essentially a stronger base Firebrand rendering the initial Firebrand form obsolete. Once I received this form, the game did start to feel much easier. The challenging boss battles that were once tests of endurance went down in seconds thanks to this form, and I’m not sure I benefited from this.
Each of the crests in this game is retrieved from thoroughly exploring each level. This is also how the player finds health upgrades, urns to carry potions, and talismans that give Firebrand specific perks. With all this exploration-intensive progression, Demon’s Crest should’ve been a Metroidvania game. Sure, Demon's Crest came out in 1994. Super Metroid hadn’t laid the foundation for the genre yet, and Symphony of the Night hadn’t popularized the genre. However, there were already games before Demon’s Crest that had a vague understanding of seamless world design and a Metroidvania-esque sense of progression (Ufouria: The Saga, Wonder Kid), so I can surmise that possibility for Demon’s Crest appropriately. I don’t expect the developers of Demon’s Crest to be visionaries. All the same, I wish they had done something different with the overall cohesion between levels because what they came up with isn’t great. The previous game opted for a traversable hub world for Firebrand to walk around with the sublevels. It kind of came across like the towns from Zelda II. The main map in Demon’s Crest is a tiny mode 7 maps that Firebrand flies around in, swooping down to start the levels. The world map is easily the least attractive part of the game, and controlling Firebrand here is nauseating. He mostly misses the marked areas, and directing him back to the areas feels like using tank controls. A seamless design between these levels would’ve been a giant improvement. Considering the game already has the player backtracking between them to uncover items and crests they couldn’t get to before, a Metroidvania-styled world would fit this game like a glove.
The world map also makes progression confusing to follow. The player can access the first four levels of this game at any time, giving the illusion that they can be completed in any order like in Mega Man. The game does not make it clear that while this is true, each level has different paths that need to be searched to progress through the game. I had gone through the first four levels thinking I had beat them, but I still felt like something was wrong, and I wasn’t ready to fight Phalanx yet. Upon discovering that sometimes crests and essential items were found off the beaten path in each level, more levels were unlocked, giving me the impression that I was finally on the right track. How was I supposed to know this without a map or any direction from the game? The progression in this game isn’t free-flowing and non-linear as it seems; it’s actually obtuse and sloppy. Fighting Phalanx is also available right from the start, and defeating him without receiving all the crests will prematurely end the game, also giving the player the “bad ending.” Let me ask you this: if Dr. Wily’s castle was available from the start and the player was able to defeat him, why would the player be punished for doing this when the game gives them a chance to? It’s like putting a steak in front of a dog and batting them with a newspaper when they start to eat it. The dog will be upset and confused like any player in this game. It’s not like the directive to not do this was apparent.
Demon’s Crest is a prime example of a hidden gem in the SNES library. It may not be as readily recognized or lauded as Super Mario World, A Link to the Past, or Chrono Trigger, but it’s a game that’s worth the effort to uncover and play. However, does it deserve to be ranked among the greatest in the system despite its lack of notoriety? Sadly, no. The strengths of this game cannot be overstated. It’s a gorgeous 16-bit platformer that offers a lot with its short playtime. Plus, Firebrand is a delightful character to play due to his eclectic moveset. However, I cannot excuse the progression of this game as I find it unfair to the player. The world here had a potential that the developers were too near-sighted to see. As a result, Demon’s Crest had the potential to be one of the greatest games on the SNES but falters due to its shortcomings. Maybe this game is best suited as a suitable alternative to play when they get tired of Mario and Zelda. However, I think this game should at least have more acclaim than its parent franchise, Ghosts N’ Goblins.
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Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
The narrative of Demon’s Crest is a simple enough premise that establishes the game's lore. In the Demon Realm that makes up the setting, six crests with different elemental properties are scattered across the land. If combined, the six crests accumulate enough power for someone to conquer entire worlds like the Chaos Emeralds. Firebrand has all of the crests at the beginning, but the crests are stolen by another demon named Phalanx. Firebrand must adventure across the land of Demons to recover the six crests and defeat Phalanx before he harnesses their power and takes over the realm.
For being condemned to relative obscurity, Demon’s Crest blows many other SNES titles out of the water in many aspects. For one, the presentation here is fantastic. The grandiose fantasy world of Demon’s Crest is depicted with a range of lurid colors with an impressive amount of detail. As early as the first level, the misty water surrounding the dark bog with leafless trees evokes a spooky atmosphere. Skeletons can also be found entombed in dirt casings to give off the impression that this is an ancient land with a horrific history behind it. One section of a level has Firebrand soar over a platformless sky, and the color scheme between the layers of clouds with the sun setting over them is utterly sublime. The submerged ruins consist of towering columns with gothic gargoyles pouring green water from the tops of them, flooding the ruins with the remains of a city in the background. These are a few major examples, but every level of this game has the same consistent, A-grade attention to detail and graphical output. The gothic spectacle presented here makes the one in Super Castlevania IV look half-assed and amateurish by comparison. It’s a high compliment considering Super Castlevania IV is one of my favorite games on the SNES. The character animations also uphold the same impressive attention to detail as one can hardly detect the 16-bit pixels behind the animated sprites. One example is the dragon boss that chases Firebrand at the very beginning. It’s a marvel of detailed animation. The player can discern every fissure of flesh deteriorating from its bones.
Playing as Firebrand is also quite the spectacle. He’s a muscular demon that can fly and shoot fire from his mouth, so I can’t imagine anyone wouldn’t want to play as him. Those few with some discrepancies might feel like playing as an imposing beast wouldn’t offer the player any challenge. He’s a big red pain in the ass in the Ghost’s N’ Goblins series, so one might assume that he’s overpowered, resulting in a facile experience. Admittedly, Demon’s Crest is not as hard as Ghosts N’ Goblins, but what is? It’s not as if Firebrand is continually perched in the sky, breathing fire down at knights that take a mere two hits to die. He’s in the demon realm now and an even more hostile place that Arthur probably couldn’t endure for more than two seconds. The environment has been upscaled to appropriately fit Firebrand’s stature. His standard offensive power is shooting fire from his mouth. While it’s fairly effective against enemies, the player has to be somewhat accurate with their shots due to the less-than-firepower speed of flaming spurts. Firebrand also has a headbutt move, but it’s only used to destroy objects in the immediate background. Firebrand can also hover in the air after jumping for as long as the player desires. In the previous games, the ability to hover was finite, making platforming challenges perilous in some cases. One could argue that being able to hover in the air forever may make the game easier, but the game opts for something else completely. Instead of platforming challenges, the game tries to overwhelm the player with enemies from all angles. Firebrand’s hovering will often be interrupted by flying enemies careening towards him, or an ax lobbed at him from below. Firebrand can only also hover over heights he can jump, which aren’t far off the ground.
As his base level, Firebrand still has one of the most versatile movesets of the 16-bit era. The main objective of finding the crests even increases Firebrand’s versatility even further. With each crest obtained, Firebrand gains another form that coincides with the element it’s named after. The earth crest form allows him to break large obstacles by charging into them and spit a wave of energy that ripples on the ground. The air crest allows him to fly upward. One would think this would complete Firebrand’s flight range, making him unstoppable, but the air form only flies upward incrementally instead of continually, making it somewhat awkward. The water crest allows Firebrand to swim. It’s the lamest crest in terms of offense but considering all other forms take damage from water, it’s made incredibly useful. The one crest that does complete Firebrand’s move set is the time crest. The form is essentially a stronger base Firebrand rendering the initial Firebrand form obsolete. Once I received this form, the game did start to feel much easier. The challenging boss battles that were once tests of endurance went down in seconds thanks to this form, and I’m not sure I benefited from this.
Each of the crests in this game is retrieved from thoroughly exploring each level. This is also how the player finds health upgrades, urns to carry potions, and talismans that give Firebrand specific perks. With all this exploration-intensive progression, Demon’s Crest should’ve been a Metroidvania game. Sure, Demon's Crest came out in 1994. Super Metroid hadn’t laid the foundation for the genre yet, and Symphony of the Night hadn’t popularized the genre. However, there were already games before Demon’s Crest that had a vague understanding of seamless world design and a Metroidvania-esque sense of progression (Ufouria: The Saga, Wonder Kid), so I can surmise that possibility for Demon’s Crest appropriately. I don’t expect the developers of Demon’s Crest to be visionaries. All the same, I wish they had done something different with the overall cohesion between levels because what they came up with isn’t great. The previous game opted for a traversable hub world for Firebrand to walk around with the sublevels. It kind of came across like the towns from Zelda II. The main map in Demon’s Crest is a tiny mode 7 maps that Firebrand flies around in, swooping down to start the levels. The world map is easily the least attractive part of the game, and controlling Firebrand here is nauseating. He mostly misses the marked areas, and directing him back to the areas feels like using tank controls. A seamless design between these levels would’ve been a giant improvement. Considering the game already has the player backtracking between them to uncover items and crests they couldn’t get to before, a Metroidvania-styled world would fit this game like a glove.
The world map also makes progression confusing to follow. The player can access the first four levels of this game at any time, giving the illusion that they can be completed in any order like in Mega Man. The game does not make it clear that while this is true, each level has different paths that need to be searched to progress through the game. I had gone through the first four levels thinking I had beat them, but I still felt like something was wrong, and I wasn’t ready to fight Phalanx yet. Upon discovering that sometimes crests and essential items were found off the beaten path in each level, more levels were unlocked, giving me the impression that I was finally on the right track. How was I supposed to know this without a map or any direction from the game? The progression in this game isn’t free-flowing and non-linear as it seems; it’s actually obtuse and sloppy. Fighting Phalanx is also available right from the start, and defeating him without receiving all the crests will prematurely end the game, also giving the player the “bad ending.” Let me ask you this: if Dr. Wily’s castle was available from the start and the player was able to defeat him, why would the player be punished for doing this when the game gives them a chance to? It’s like putting a steak in front of a dog and batting them with a newspaper when they start to eat it. The dog will be upset and confused like any player in this game. It’s not like the directive to not do this was apparent.
Demon’s Crest is a prime example of a hidden gem in the SNES library. It may not be as readily recognized or lauded as Super Mario World, A Link to the Past, or Chrono Trigger, but it’s a game that’s worth the effort to uncover and play. However, does it deserve to be ranked among the greatest in the system despite its lack of notoriety? Sadly, no. The strengths of this game cannot be overstated. It’s a gorgeous 16-bit platformer that offers a lot with its short playtime. Plus, Firebrand is a delightful character to play due to his eclectic moveset. However, I cannot excuse the progression of this game as I find it unfair to the player. The world here had a potential that the developers were too near-sighted to see. As a result, Demon’s Crest had the potential to be one of the greatest games on the SNES but falters due to its shortcomings. Maybe this game is best suited as a suitable alternative to play when they get tired of Mario and Zelda. However, I think this game should at least have more acclaim than its parent franchise, Ghosts N’ Goblins.
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Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
I mean, it's perfectly fine, especially if you like a hard challenge, but I just don't find Firebrand that fun to control, and no way in hell am I going to try and find all those stupidly hidden treasures.
A little confusing at first to figure out where to go. But the graphics are great with appropiate music. The slowdown can be crazy at times. The combat is fun and the different forms can be neat to experiment with. The secret final boss is a nice addition. Not a must play snes game, but definitely one that you cant go wrong with.
This game is pretty rad. The presentation is great all around, with some of the best sprites on the SNES, with a solid soundtrack to boot. The nonlinearity of progression is satisfying and fun, and backtracking never gets obnoxious. The variety of forms are fun to use, but I found myself never using the earth form much at all. The pacing is buttery smooth, and keeps things fresh and fun the entire (pretty short) runtime. This took me about two and a half hours, and was a very enjoyable ride. Some stage obstacles and levels are kinda tedious, and the difficulty curve is all over the place. Some early bosses can be damage sponges until the game's difficulty is kinda broken by finding the legendary crest. It's still quite fun, and is strongly bolstered by it's presentation and solid level design. I'd recommend it.
The collectibles don't take too much time to collect thankfully but goddamn the 2 last bosses are way too fucking frustrating,
After a second playthrough, I view this one a little more favorably. I'm still not a fan of where and how some of the items are hidden and at least half the bosses are a little lame, but it's generally a pretty polished game with a great soundtrack.
Another SNES masterpiece!
Hard as hell, amazing graphic style, and with some Metroidvania elements, even before Metroidvanias were a thing.
Be ready for some heavy, slow character mobility, similar to the classic Castlevanias.
Hard as hell, amazing graphic style, and with some Metroidvania elements, even before Metroidvanias were a thing.
Be ready for some heavy, slow character mobility, similar to the classic Castlevanias.