its like if pac man was overwhelming and overstimulating
Devil World is now available on Nintendo’s Switch Online service, I’ve finally checked out Shigeru Miyamoto’s answer to the Maze genre.
Tamagon is a green dragon infiltrating the Devil World, to advance through stages Tamagon must collect all of the dots in each stage while avoiding walking monsters, however he’s not defenceless - collecting crosses give Tamagon the power to blow fire at foes.
The catch is, the screen moves! On top of the screen is The Devil who is instructing demons to use pulley’s to literally move the screen to the left, right, down and up. This creates an additional layer of complexity, you’re simultaneously juggling the navigation of foes, collection dots and power-ups as well as avoiding being squished against a moving border.
However, this also means you can be left needlessly waiting for the screen to move the direction necessary to collect the final dots. There are also a few Bonus screens that involve collecting Bibles and placing them into a Cross.
It’s easy to see why this was passed on for localisation from Nintendo of America with the religious imagery and themes.
I also think it would have been difficult competing with an already established household name. It’s easy to sell buyers on Tennis, Soccer, Baseball and Donkey Kong. Hard to say, here’s our own PAC-Man.
PAC-Man is a much more immediate maze game that is easy to play but difficult to master, has a simple risk/reward system but has enemy AI and a maze to memorise.
Devil’s World while good, may have a few too many levels of complication in its design.
Tamagon is a green dragon infiltrating the Devil World, to advance through stages Tamagon must collect all of the dots in each stage while avoiding walking monsters, however he’s not defenceless - collecting crosses give Tamagon the power to blow fire at foes.
The catch is, the screen moves! On top of the screen is The Devil who is instructing demons to use pulley’s to literally move the screen to the left, right, down and up. This creates an additional layer of complexity, you’re simultaneously juggling the navigation of foes, collection dots and power-ups as well as avoiding being squished against a moving border.
However, this also means you can be left needlessly waiting for the screen to move the direction necessary to collect the final dots. There are also a few Bonus screens that involve collecting Bibles and placing them into a Cross.
It’s easy to see why this was passed on for localisation from Nintendo of America with the religious imagery and themes.
I also think it would have been difficult competing with an already established household name. It’s easy to sell buyers on Tennis, Soccer, Baseball and Donkey Kong. Hard to say, here’s our own PAC-Man.
PAC-Man is a much more immediate maze game that is easy to play but difficult to master, has a simple risk/reward system but has enemy AI and a maze to memorise.
Devil’s World while good, may have a few too many levels of complication in its design.
I've been intrigued by Devil World since I saw it's trophy representation in Smash Bros, and today I found out that it had a re-release on NSO.
Devil world is a pretty innovative little take on Pac-Man. The challenge is not so much keeping track of enemies, but instead paying attention to the way the maze is moving and finding a viable route.
I could see myself revisiting this as a short time waster; much like many other arcade games.
Devil world is a pretty innovative little take on Pac-Man. The challenge is not so much keeping track of enemies, but instead paying attention to the way the maze is moving and finding a viable route.
I could see myself revisiting this as a short time waster; much like many other arcade games.
The religious imagery is very funny- you're just a little dragon collecting bibles to defeat a cute little Satan.
On first glance it seems like a cheap knockoff of Pac-Man, but the Devil's screen-moving mechanic, though simple, really transforms the stage and makes the play really engaging. That being said, it's a very simple game, with only one stage and a couple enemy types. Good, challenging fun, but runs it's course pretty quick.
On first glance it seems like a cheap knockoff of Pac-Man, but the Devil's screen-moving mechanic, though simple, really transforms the stage and makes the play really engaging. That being said, it's a very simple game, with only one stage and a couple enemy types. Good, challenging fun, but runs it's course pretty quick.
Pacman-like with the guy from the assist trophy
Un buen juego, las temeticas y las mecanicas son muy interesantes.
Bonus music rocks. Screw this game.
Once you know what to do, its pretty fun. The rounds go on for a bit too long though.
Feels like a more frustrating version of Pac Man.
Devil World is definitely up there with Clu Clu Land, for me personally. Yet another bizarre pitch for an arcade game that attempts to put a twist on the maze formula, with this one being the most unique I've seen by far.
The randomly-scrolling maze is actually quite brilliant, and I can't even imagine how tricky it might've been to implement a system like that, especially taking into account the respawn zones landing in perfect, fair spots for the Tamagon player. The rest of the mechanics are decent, although they can use a bit of improvement like enemy AI and the speed of the Tamagon when trying to escape behind a moving wall.
This game clearly tries to diverge itself from a traditional Pac-Man formula by requiring you to pick up Crosses in order to eat the dots, but it can get a tad bit annoying when taking into account the slow speed and random directions of the maze shifts. But with 3 segmented level types, each one adding a challenge to differentiate themselves from each other, it's a solid pass; a creative arcade title from Nintendo's early days, and one that I would love for someone to revisit.
Devil World deserves to stand with the others. It's great.
The randomly-scrolling maze is actually quite brilliant, and I can't even imagine how tricky it might've been to implement a system like that, especially taking into account the respawn zones landing in perfect, fair spots for the Tamagon player. The rest of the mechanics are decent, although they can use a bit of improvement like enemy AI and the speed of the Tamagon when trying to escape behind a moving wall.
This game clearly tries to diverge itself from a traditional Pac-Man formula by requiring you to pick up Crosses in order to eat the dots, but it can get a tad bit annoying when taking into account the slow speed and random directions of the maze shifts. But with 3 segmented level types, each one adding a challenge to differentiate themselves from each other, it's a solid pass; a creative arcade title from Nintendo's early days, and one that I would love for someone to revisit.
Devil World deserves to stand with the others. It's great.
Game #62 if my challenge
Just like the last review, this is something that was release before some review that I did. This game was first release October 5th 1984, so that put it after Balloon Fight. I will not take into account game that I reviewed that was release after this game.
The first time I saw this Devil, it was as a trophy in a Super smash bros game. I never knew where he came from, but my only impression of him was that he was annoying as hell. Well, that didn't change my opinion after seeing his origins.
First off, there's not much plot to it like the old games. You are a dragon-like creature that wants to attack the devil's world. We don't know what the devil did to him, but the little dragon seems motivated.
Music wise, it's really simplistic and repetitive. To be honest, I wasn't really paying attention to the music that much during my playthrough since I needed to concentrate so hard to not die.
The controls are simple : Move with D-Pad. That's what I though at first since when pressing every button, it didn't do anything. However, if you hold a cross or a bible in hand, you can shoot fireball. It took me a lot of time to figure it out since it's not instinctive, because those objects is what make you complete the objectives. Shooting fireballs will get rid of the enemies for a brief moment and they will respawn at the center of the stage.
The gameplay is a maze-like game that your character needs to run into and collect stuff. However, what makes this game special compared to other is that the devil will always move the camera in a random vertical or horizontal direction so that can get stuck and die between the screen and a wall. There are also some enemies that will walk around and try to catch you. There are three type of stages and once you clear all 3, it will loop back again. There's no end to this game since it approaches more of an arcade angle where you goal is to beat the highest score.
The first type of stage is to collect all the dots in the stage (kind of like Pac-man). However, you can only collects those pellets if you hold a cross in-hand. If you don't have the cross, walking on the dots will do absolutely nothing. That's why I was saying at first that I didn't know that holding the cross will grant you the power to shoot fireballs. Randomly during the stage, some ice cream will appear and you can eat them to gain extra points. Once all pellets are collected, the stage is cleared.
The second stage goal is to collect 4 bibles and bring them to the center of the stage to stop the devil (I think). Those bibles will always stay at all 4 corners of the screen, even when the camera is moving. This can be really frustrating since it can overlap the walls of the stage, which makes it really hard to grab them. It can be random if you are able to get them or not since the camera will always move in a different direction. It's the same thing for when you get a bible. It can take a lot of time before you are able to bring it back to the center of the stage. It's a really frustrating type of level. Once cleared, the devil runs away.
The last type of stage is a bonus one. You are on a timer and you goal is to collect every item in them to get more points. This time, you are the one who influence the camera. On the floor, there are some arrows that, when stepped on it, will change the direction of the camera. Pretty simple and once you collect everything or the timer runs out, you loop back to the first type of stage.
This game can be really frustrating since it's so random, but I still like the idea behind it. I would only recommend someone to try it for curiosity purpose only.
Just like the last review, this is something that was release before some review that I did. This game was first release October 5th 1984, so that put it after Balloon Fight. I will not take into account game that I reviewed that was release after this game.
The first time I saw this Devil, it was as a trophy in a Super smash bros game. I never knew where he came from, but my only impression of him was that he was annoying as hell. Well, that didn't change my opinion after seeing his origins.
First off, there's not much plot to it like the old games. You are a dragon-like creature that wants to attack the devil's world. We don't know what the devil did to him, but the little dragon seems motivated.
Music wise, it's really simplistic and repetitive. To be honest, I wasn't really paying attention to the music that much during my playthrough since I needed to concentrate so hard to not die.
The controls are simple : Move with D-Pad. That's what I though at first since when pressing every button, it didn't do anything. However, if you hold a cross or a bible in hand, you can shoot fireball. It took me a lot of time to figure it out since it's not instinctive, because those objects is what make you complete the objectives. Shooting fireballs will get rid of the enemies for a brief moment and they will respawn at the center of the stage.
The gameplay is a maze-like game that your character needs to run into and collect stuff. However, what makes this game special compared to other is that the devil will always move the camera in a random vertical or horizontal direction so that can get stuck and die between the screen and a wall. There are also some enemies that will walk around and try to catch you. There are three type of stages and once you clear all 3, it will loop back again. There's no end to this game since it approaches more of an arcade angle where you goal is to beat the highest score.
The first type of stage is to collect all the dots in the stage (kind of like Pac-man). However, you can only collects those pellets if you hold a cross in-hand. If you don't have the cross, walking on the dots will do absolutely nothing. That's why I was saying at first that I didn't know that holding the cross will grant you the power to shoot fireballs. Randomly during the stage, some ice cream will appear and you can eat them to gain extra points. Once all pellets are collected, the stage is cleared.
The second stage goal is to collect 4 bibles and bring them to the center of the stage to stop the devil (I think). Those bibles will always stay at all 4 corners of the screen, even when the camera is moving. This can be really frustrating since it can overlap the walls of the stage, which makes it really hard to grab them. It can be random if you are able to get them or not since the camera will always move in a different direction. It's the same thing for when you get a bible. It can take a lot of time before you are able to bring it back to the center of the stage. It's a really frustrating type of level. Once cleared, the devil runs away.
The last type of stage is a bonus one. You are on a timer and you goal is to collect every item in them to get more points. This time, you are the one who influence the camera. On the floor, there are some arrows that, when stepped on it, will change the direction of the camera. Pretty simple and once you collect everything or the timer runs out, you loop back to the first type of stage.
This game can be really frustrating since it's so random, but I still like the idea behind it. I would only recommend someone to try it for curiosity purpose only.
.....this is what I waited 10+ years (almost 40 if we wanna count the actual release date) to play after first hearing about it?
It's fun enough I suppose, but the shifting maze gimmick is honestly annoying, especially since it moves slower when going up or down. Otherwise, it's nothing special.
It's fun enough I suppose, but the shifting maze gimmick is honestly annoying, especially since it moves slower when going up or down. Otherwise, it's nothing special.
Miyamoto's pretty happy to talk about his admiration of Pac-Man these days. Pac-Man Vs. was fairly unprecedented in its time, with Nintendo reaching out to work with a rival publisher's property. What has turned into respect was once youthful jealousy. Everyone loves Mario, but Pac-Man is one of the first things kids learn to draw. Miyamoto has Pac-Man Fever.
Devil World is a very strange game, but if you view it as a Pac-Man clone from the guy who made Donkey Kong, it starts to seem a little more coherent. You play as Tamagon, a little guy going around mazes controlled by The Devil. There are demons swarming throughout. I don't know what the Nintendo-brand power pellets are called, but they're here too. To attack the demons and collect thepower pellets, you must pick up a crucifix, which grants you power for a few seconds. You have to take care around the edge of the screen though, as The Devil is constantly making it shift, however he likes, and can easily crush you if you're not careful. Once you've collected all the pellets, you're onto the next stage.
The second level has you collecting four floating bibles from each corner of the screen, all while it shifts. You must deposit each bible in a hole at the centre of the stage. When all four bibles are in their spot, you move to the bonus level. This works similarly to the second level, with a little more control over the scrolling, but it's just for bonus points and extra lives so you don't have to worry about it. Then, like Donkey Kong, it loops back to a harder version of Level 1.
Devil World's mechanics are odd and convoluted, but once you get a grasp of them, the game's pretty fun. It's nowhere near as coherent as Pac-Man. I think that's standard for early 80s Nintendo games, and something they got better at once the locations and characters of their titles became less abstract and more definite. The Clu-Clu Lands and Wrecking Crews would soon be set aside for Metroid and Zelda. Games with hard lore, characters and settings. Things you could latch onto and reflect upon. Devil World's satanic/religious theme's just an arbitrary topic to base a handful of the game's enemies and items upon. They could have been anything, and it wouldn't have changed the game. It's a little curious that Nintendo of America didn't opt to bring this over with different sprites, ala Mario 2, but then, the game's nowhere near as good as Doki Doki Panic, so maybe it wasn't worth the bother.
I can't give the game too much shit for ripping off Pac-Man. Taito only came out with Bub's design two years after Nintendo introduced Tamagon.
Devil World is a very strange game, but if you view it as a Pac-Man clone from the guy who made Donkey Kong, it starts to seem a little more coherent. You play as Tamagon, a little guy going around mazes controlled by The Devil. There are demons swarming throughout. I don't know what the Nintendo-brand power pellets are called, but they're here too. To attack the demons and collect the
The second level has you collecting four floating bibles from each corner of the screen, all while it shifts. You must deposit each bible in a hole at the centre of the stage. When all four bibles are in their spot, you move to the bonus level. This works similarly to the second level, with a little more control over the scrolling, but it's just for bonus points and extra lives so you don't have to worry about it. Then, like Donkey Kong, it loops back to a harder version of Level 1.
Devil World's mechanics are odd and convoluted, but once you get a grasp of them, the game's pretty fun. It's nowhere near as coherent as Pac-Man. I think that's standard for early 80s Nintendo games, and something they got better at once the locations and characters of their titles became less abstract and more definite. The Clu-Clu Lands and Wrecking Crews would soon be set aside for Metroid and Zelda. Games with hard lore, characters and settings. Things you could latch onto and reflect upon. Devil World's satanic/religious theme's just an arbitrary topic to base a handful of the game's enemies and items upon. They could have been anything, and it wouldn't have changed the game. It's a little curious that Nintendo of America didn't opt to bring this over with different sprites, ala Mario 2, but then, the game's nowhere near as good as Doki Doki Panic, so maybe it wasn't worth the bother.
I can't give the game too much shit for ripping off Pac-Man. Taito only came out with Bub's design two years after Nintendo introduced Tamagon.
The power of Nintendo COMPELS YOU!
The Nintendo game they DON’T want you to play! (1984) I appreciate its early arcade game design that the original Famicom would define itself, but I feel Pac-Man’s simplicity work against this title. Tamagon is a cute Nintendo friend tho…
Once I got past the odd religious theming, I found a game that was mostly just annoying to actually play. The nature of the maze layout and the moving walls means you're frequently stuck just waiting around to be able to do anything. It's worth playing for 5 minutes to see what it's like, but I wouldn't expect you to want to stick around for much more than that.
3.5/10
Even though this game has a lot of similarities with Pac-Man, it stands out by having the Devil control how your screen scrolls, and you gotta adapt to it, while collecting all the dots with the first stage, and collecting the legendary chapters of the Bibble in the second.
And you actually need to pick up a cross to get the dots, but unlike Pac-Man, you can actually defend yourself by shooting fireballs at enemies to temporarily stop them.
It's funny how this game has a lot of Christian references, but they're put in a game where you control the cutest fucking dragon ever, fighting against a blue demon with red underwear.
Overall, it's a nice arcade-like title, to pick up and play whenever you feel like controlling a Christian chibi dragon fighting against demons.
And you actually need to pick up a cross to get the dots, but unlike Pac-Man, you can actually defend yourself by shooting fireballs at enemies to temporarily stop them.
It's funny how this game has a lot of Christian references, but they're put in a game where you control the cutest fucking dragon ever, fighting against a blue demon with red underwear.
Overall, it's a nice arcade-like title, to pick up and play whenever you feel like controlling a Christian chibi dragon fighting against demons.
Hell Pac-Man with screen crunch as hazard, with cute demons and Satan.
- Un juego bien Christiano-
Es como Doom, pero para niños
Es como Doom, pero para niños
Interesting to see how you can try to remix Pac-Man game design and just ruin the base. They have decent ideas, but poor execution.
Since Devil World got added to the Nintendo Switch NES Online, I figured I should give it another shot.
My confused first impression of it was fair, but incorrect. "Why can't I eat the dots?" Get a cross. "How do I beat the bad guys?" Get a cross and press B. I like it now, especially understanding how to actually play it. It's not bad. It's not great either, but interesting for its time. Pac-Man but more convoluted. And worse. Still alright though.
I understand why this game wasn't released in the US back in 1987, the puritans would've probably burst into flames. I, for one, will eat my communion wafers next to my fire-breath-inducing crucifix with great joy.
My confused first impression of it was fair, but incorrect. "Why can't I eat the dots?" Get a cross. "How do I beat the bad guys?" Get a cross and press B. I like it now, especially understanding how to actually play it. It's not bad. It's not great either, but interesting for its time. Pac-Man but more convoluted. And worse. Still alright though.
I understand why this game wasn't released in the US back in 1987, the puritans would've probably burst into flames. I, for one, will eat my communion wafers next to my fire-breath-inducing crucifix with great joy.
Pac-Man if it came with blatant theistic propaganda
I had known about this Devil World for a long time thanks to Nintendo referencing it all the time in Smash Bros. and WarioWare, so since it was finally released in North America through the NSO, I decided to finally give it a shot. And what did I think of it? It was pretty good, actually. It’s like a mix of Pac-Man, Bubble Bobble, and religion, with you needing to gobble up these dots and bring these bibles to the center skull thing while this demon is constantly making the screen scroll. It isn’t that complicated, and you aren’t gonna get too much out of it, but for one of the earliest NES games that was made alongside Balloon Fight and Ice Climber, it is probably one of the best of the bunch, and it is something I wouldn’t mind playing for a while if I only had access to it specifically.
Game #406
Game #406
A young Shigeru Miyamoto boldly dares to ask: "what if Pac-Man was Catholic?"
Game's alright.
People don't hate this one like they do Ice Climber so I don't have to defend it from anything. If any aspiring indie dev decides to revisit the "asshole fucks with your screen real estate while you play Pac-Man" concept I'd be happy to give your game 4 stars.
People don't hate this one like they do Ice Climber so I don't have to defend it from anything. If any aspiring indie dev decides to revisit the "asshole fucks with your screen real estate while you play Pac-Man" concept I'd be happy to give your game 4 stars.
Far from the amazing simplicity of Pac-Man, but I think its twists on the formula are pretty neat (the screen scrolling thing is actually an incredible idea that I'd love to see incorporated into an actual Pac-Man game someday).
Can you believe that Miyamoto did a Pac-Man riff in 1984 and it didn't have an official US release until... yesterday
Can you believe that Miyamoto did a Pac-Man riff in 1984 and it didn't have an official US release until... yesterday
Um clone de pac-man realmente divertido, que só foi ofuscado de todos pelo seu apelo à religião, mas se não fosse por isso, seria muito mais reconhecido, sem dúvida.
Você é um pequeno dinossauro num labirinto do inferno, e o home tá lá no topo ordenando a direção pra qual o labirinto vai girar, e você deve seguir o ritmo para não ser esmagado e coletar as bolinhas no caminho, que, porém, só podem ser coletadas se você estiver segurando uma cruz. Com ela você pode coletar as bolinhas e atirar fogo nos inimigos que aparecem, logo depois a cruz some e você deve pegar uma nova.
E o jogo é basicamente isso, só varia de coletar bolinhas, colocar bíblias no centro do labirinto e bonus. É de botar o capeta pra correr
Você é um pequeno dinossauro num labirinto do inferno, e o home tá lá no topo ordenando a direção pra qual o labirinto vai girar, e você deve seguir o ritmo para não ser esmagado e coletar as bolinhas no caminho, que, porém, só podem ser coletadas se você estiver segurando uma cruz. Com ela você pode coletar as bolinhas e atirar fogo nos inimigos que aparecem, logo depois a cruz some e você deve pegar uma nova.
E o jogo é basicamente isso, só varia de coletar bolinhas, colocar bíblias no centro do labirinto e bonus. É de botar o capeta pra correr
Yo this game kinda slept on though?? Like I was surprised with how much I enjoyed this for an early NES game clearly trying to hop on Pac-man's coat tails. It's nothing amazing obviously but I can actually see myself popping this in and chillin sometime.
having the scrolling be out of your control, and requiring a powerup to eat the dots were both interesting ideas that i think make this game pretty fun!