Devil World (NES)

Finally, Team Fortress 2 got updated (it takes half year from Meat Your Match). And Pyro got new weapon (which last-time happens on several years ago) and Jetpack (that can surpasses rocket jump and sticky-bomb jump). So that means Pyro won the vote! Thank God and all incineration-loving Pyros (including me) for that. I kind of want to celebrate it with playing game where you can be a fire-breathing dragon. Because what else that excel at burning something/someone other than dragon? Here's one in Nintendo's Devil World (1984).

  

The 'w' on the title have wings because it stands for wing, you see. It must be belong to the devil who has the said world. Isn't devil's world hell? So this game supposed to be in hell? That sounds way too grim for Nintendo's game. Let's just get started, anyway!     

 

Why would you attack the devil's world? I know he's source of all evil or what have you. But there's no need to do that far to make world better place. You can simply help each other in kindness, and prevent other do despotism. No? Ok. Making misery toward Devil will work too. Maybe. 

 

First thing the devil do is showing his genitalia area. Thank you for your dick-ish act, wicked ones! -_-

 

In case you're still doubting me, that green lump creature in center is green dragon, the player. His name is Tamagon. Right now he brandishes a big cross toward that one-eyed pink demon. He has it whenever he walks into that crosses that are scattered a lot here. By having cross, Tamagon can eat those dots. Eat all of those dots and soon you clear the stage. Sounds like Pac-man, huh?!   

 

Another benefit of having the cross: Tamagon can blow fireball forward by pressing 'A' or 'B'. That's something that the Namco's mascot can't do: burning the ghosts crisply, he only know how to eat drugs dots and his foe. The glutton git. Anyway, once the pink demon get fired (literally), he turns into sunny-side up egg and can be eaten by Tamagon (otherwise he got respawn quicker). What's the reason behind that transformation? Maybe something related to the dragon's name. 'Tamago' means egg in Japanese. And i recall a mute violent little dinosaurs called 'Gon' in manga or Tekken 3. You got the idea. Or not.

By the way, the devil isn't exactly standing idle there. He orders the demons on the outside of the screen to move the frame into direction that he desires occasionally. You can see the direction on top left or top right. The maze is within said frame. Tamagon can get squished between maze's wall and frame's border, which makes him lose his life. The maze alone is looping and standstill. It's the frame that's moving. But my brain keep suggesting me that the maze is moving. If the demons move the frame up, as if the maze will "move" down and so on. It's kind of confusing. Perhaps its concept is like realtime screen panning in ACAD or whatever. You hold the cursor and drag it down to see the drawing on upper direction and so on. I hope you understand.  Another thing worth to mention: the frame moves smoothly in horizontal direction and moves jerky in vertical direction. So it's easier to anticipate maze that "moves" vertically than horizontally.

 

After finish eating all the dots, Tamagon move to next section of his assault. He must collects all 4 floating holy books and puts them on 4 slots in skull symbol box that located in the center of the maze. The holy book work like cross: Tamagon can unleash fire breath if he possesses it. Unlike cross that can be obtained infinitely. The holy books only exist 4 on this stage and if you put one of them on the slot, Tamagon will be defenseless. So, careful forward planning is quite mandatory here. Holy book's position is fixed on screen not within the maze unlike crosses. Though the holy books is waving diagonally.

 

Here's my 1st death, i got crushed because i'm wading the maze relatively careless. The holy book that once i posses will be in the position where i die instead of returning to its initial position. Which can be helpful. Or probably not.   

 

Once i place the last of holy books, the maze is blinking and the devil cower in fear or pain. You're doomed, goddamn devil!

 

Or he turns into adorable blue-colored bat and flies away. I forgot that this is Nintendo's game. I half-expected Devil's grisly death like he blows away into tiny pieces. But that's way too grim in Nintendo's judgment. "Got to flourish everything in cute way, you know?!" said Nintendo. Whatever. 

Next phase is collecting mystery box for extra points within limited time. I kind of hoping that each of them will contain free Nintendo 3DS along with some games. Now that the devil's gone, the demons obey Tamagon's direction. Or to be more accurate: the arrow symbol that he stepped on. The mechanism and the demons have to keep working. What a professionalism.

 

Next round takes place on harder maze with different color than the previous. And you have to follow the same routines: eating all dots, putting all holy books, and finally collecting the boxes. On this occasion, there's ice creams fly around the screen. I begin to suspect that this isn't hell. No way there is sweet icy mixture of milk and cream around hell like this. And with edible cone on top of that. Maybe Devil's world is amusement park's game. And Tamagon is just participant of said game. Way to go, Nintendo.

 

On next collecting-the-holy-books section, there's new enemy type: little devil. Not Koakuma, though. He is on top-left, has same skin color with the devil but has one eye and one horn. Why all Devil's vassal have one eye only? Labor union must know about this. Unlike the pink cyclops, mini devil is immune to fireball but it gives him incentive to turn around. So to him, fireball is just blocking gust.

 

After round 3, the game start to reuse the maze layout albeit with more enemies. On round 1, there are 2 pink Cyclops. Now on round 4, there are 3 pink Cyclops. That's 50% increment. Yay! [in mild tone]

 

I wasn't fast enough to turn and shoot fireball at the little devil, so Tamagon fly to heaven for his divine deed. God bless him. As for the devil. Of course, he is happy that he doesn't have to deal with the green chubby lizard...

 

...and he looks really cocky about it. Now that the troublemaker is gone. He can continue to whisper any human to do evil thing like: put thumbtack in his/her friend's shoe or use raisins instead of chocolate chips when making cookie. He do it via whisper- o-phone while putting his one leg on the desk. The vile wretch.

Devil world is definitely Nintendo's homage of Namco's Pac-man. Just like Sinistar to Asteroid. But Sinistar is bastardly hard. While Devil world is certainly more fair. My impatience and lack of forward planning are the main factor of death on my playthrough. If i play this game more carefully, i can go far in it. And can provide you with more screenshot. But that work for no-one favor. The music are sparse but fairly good. There's one in the opening that just sounds like excerpt from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker. Most of the sound effect come from the frame machine. Implying how noisy it is. Which can be related with industrial machine. That's reasonable. The graphic is certainly retro with distinct color and shape. Maybe, the only problem with the gameplay: if Tamagon doesn't have any cross or holy book, he can only venture defenselessly the maze carefully avoiding enemy or getting squashed. But that adds the tension of the game. You probably know that Nintendo's America prohibit game that religious icon. So Devil World wasn't released in North America. Although it's designed by Takashi Tezuka and Shigeru Miyamoto. Yes, that Miyamoto-san who later designs Mario Bros. I call that irony. On the other side, it proves that Nintendo's America is admirable emphatic.

You can play the game for fun. As its gameplay is simple yet engaging. Or, if someone gives you problem. Play this game to take revenge on Devil who make him/her doing that bad deed. Not bad, for stress/anger management.

By the way, Congratulation for Pyro who got heftily updated!