Devil World (1984)

Look: 7/10 Cute, I really liked the UI with the Devil on top and the minions in the corners moving the screen. Nothing particularly special though, tho I know people hypothesize Ganon gets his look from the Devil in this.

Sound: 6/10 Cute enough, had a lot of the NES sounds I so am looking forward to in my old childhood favorite games. But nothing striking or spectacular. A bit annoying at times.

Play: 7/10 I'm usually not a big Pac-Man fan, and like Pac-Man, this has the endless looping levels with same basic mechanics. After Round 3 I called it quits. That being said, it was oddly addicting; I liked the addition of the fight-back mechanic (and no, you don't just swallow enemies up when flashing) and the moving screen (tho that was typically how I died). The controls were tight and reminded me how the NES era started to bring console games closer to the tightness and mechanics of arcade games (as opposed to the Speccy era, etc.). Was a complex, albeit pick-up-and-playable version of Pac-Man, and I dare say slightly better than the original Pac-Man. Well, equal at least.

Feel: 7/10 Lots of ties to important later games, even if the game itself isn't a favorite genre. The quality Look, oddly addicting Play, and success in adding to a classic game style without overly convoluting it all culminate into an overall nice Feel. Memorable, fun, worth a playtest.

Attachment: 7/10 Definitely a big legacy here, the creator also created Zelda and Super Mario Bros and Pikmin and more (Miyamoto). It wont be forgotten, perhaps mostly because of the connection to these games, but I like to think also because it got me hooked to a genre I usually only do 2 screens maximum--let alone returning to it the next night to try a couple more screens. Still, can't claim I will regularly return to this.

Completion: Through Round 3. Score 61,200 Playtime: 45 mins