Demon's Crest (1994)

Preliminary: I have not been a fan of this series, and starting with a boss-ish fight is a bit silly, and the music isn't great/is Halloweeny, but I love the Look so far and the gameplay so far is much better than the G n G earlier games.

It's neat to be playing as a monster (I need to read the manual and find out the storyline), and I can see why people bring up Rondo of Blood/Castlevania, even if it just comes to mind because of the setting and Feel. This tune after finishing the boss is better. Tho I have a feeling this game is gonna have lots of organ lol

It's a bit silly how there's such limited motion, no ducking, no duck and shoot, no upward shot etc. Especially when elevation is an aspect of the level design so far. And some delays in turn-and-shooting. But still, enogh for me to play for a bit.

Day 1

I do like the cling-and-jump feature, and this first level tune is pretty good. Feels Final Fantasy-y. But the infinitely respawning enemies and clustering of enemies is already getting annoying/monotonous so I am worried how long this will last. And I know I already said this but they're clearly should've been a duck-and-shoot with how often that comes up already in the first level..

That first, well second boss was very boring. And lol the fart sound when you defeat it. Welp I got my first Crest. And the tune is being repeated. Great

I wish the head butt was actually well a head butt forward. But lol I love the manual depiction of the head butt

It would be cool if you had more control when flying. But it's decent. And exccited to see how the other crests/versions of me add to the game.

I'd say more than the action/shooting elements, I like the platforming quite a lot. And luckily these first few areas took advantage of that. This is clicking more and more with em and may even manage to break the streak of 3 or 2 star late 94 games. That usually happens as we get closer to the holiday season each year.

Interesting world map concept. Not the most beautiful, but still neat. The controls of it aren't great lol, and the music isn't good, but. The town has a great background, but more for the most part basically looks like NES Castlevania II :-X (I see some definite Castelvania-looking enemy sprites too! Is that Fishmen I see?!)

The setting is really well executed and the backgrounds and UI of the menu and the enemy sprites etc all contribute to it. Still some clunkiness in the gameplay, but sooooo much better than the earlier G n G games.

As often happens with this era of action platformers that add modes/upgrades/etc, having to go into the menu to switch Crests is tedious and I wish tehre were a way to have, say, 2 equipped that you could switch to. Especially with how these Catacombs are designed and I assume the switching will only intensify in later areas. There were enogh buttons with the SNES controller! But this is fine :-p

The graphics not only make me think of Castlevania but also Splatterhouse

Ooo I am liking this Buster upgrade. And returning to past levels to get health upgrades like in Metroid.

Argh I accidentally entered an area I didn't want to yet and can't seem to go back. Oh crap and turns out I missed my first Vellum at the beginning of the game. Look slike this will be a guide-using type game.

With all this returning I wish I could exit a stage I've completed without having to go all the way through.

If I have to read that green demon's dialog one more time in the Town... lol

Beautiful background in the Forest area. And some neat new enemy sprites/mechanics. The way the Flying Eyes came out of the treetops with the leaves swaying reminded me of Tomba the Leaf Butterflies or w/e. Cozy and familiar. I can't deny I am heavily hooked, nice to have this after a string of temptign hooks that quickly died off. Oh crap I was so into this that I forgot to check on my Melvor Idle! Woops! I had ran out of ammo on my Ancient Relics character too >.<

Unfortunately this area is also giving the first sprite overload slowdowns.

First death and I am excited to say I like the death mechanic/retry, even with a Password system for saving (ew). Anyway nice I got my next Crest piece, Tornado Crest. Weee time for music time tho.

I returned to this later tonight. I wanted to play more of it, which is a good sign, but was sucked into some other things. I am still really enjoying this. And yay sunset colors

I think they are sunset colors? You tell me. On one of my screens it looks just orange and on the other it's pink/twilight-y... Odd

I liek that it's quite forgiving with heals. My only complaint really, nwo that I'm used to the Play quirks, is the music isn't my thing. Very halloween/circusy

Nice I love the Look of the Aerial form and the perks that come with it. I was hoping (and very eager) to get through this tonight, but I had some other stuff come up and don't wanna wear myself out. but the hook is there and this may even be a 5 star despite its faults (menu switching for forms, the world map maneuvering, the music, some quirks with the controls)

Uff that Crawler boss was brutal! I had one hit remaining and finally finished him off. He took a lot of hits which I never like, but was fun

Day 2

Still having a blast/completely hooked (tho I admit lots of the controls are still funky, say, like the Aerial fltying and Tidal swimming controls). Oh gosh tho, time for the obligatory ice/slippery level >.<

The repeated bosses is getting a bit tacky, but still enjoying this. And I believe I am endgame?

Oh wow I thought I was really at the end of the game and put off some other things but turns out it has a false ending type thing and a new form and new level. Soooo, since I've 100%'d the game so far, might as well do the rest. So I'll have to finish it tomorrow.

Day 3

Ugh this final boss water part is just irritating to control, not necessarily hard. Tho yes hard haha.

Ok holy crap this final boss is too hard lol I shojuld've just finished this last night when I was in the zone. And to think there's an additional final boss?! This is more what I expected frmo a G n G game, btu at least they saved it for the final boss. I didn't even get a single hit on his head I think... the hand keeps blocking my hits....

Lol I finally caved and just spam attacked and took a bunch of damage with the Fang Talisman so I could do more damage and brute forced through it and got through. The strategy I found was working but it was taking too long for my patience :-p Used on Ginseng but brute force wound up being the way.

I can't imagine doing the optional boss now... Maybe I'll save that for tomorrow. It bummed me out a bit, but a final boss/optional super-final boss is the time for such things. So I respect it.

Decent "false ending" or what have you. Cute recaps and whatnot, and used the tune I like. But nothing spectacular, especially for it being the Best Ending. It must've been real exciting to not know there's more to play when that password came up after the ending fo the credits.

Day 4

I'm having an "Apistat Commander" by Xiu Xiu kind of night

Ok yea this final boss is just obnoxious and over the top. I can forgive it because it is the ultimate/optional final boss, and this is a part of the G n G series. However, it just simply isn't an enjoyable experience lol, and I have no qualms pulling out savestate abuse for this (and even then it isn't fun). This ending better be good...

Omg! I did it! Again, copious amoutns of save states, and used up all but one of my Ginsengs (which were fully stocked) . This ending seems better so far Very RPG Maker sprite here

Ehhhh what the heck. And then it just recaps the Crests/bosses again? Very lame. I did like the new form and everything but...

I can't fully forgive the 2 final bosses, because in the end, I like to see an ending. And no need to have such non-fun obnoxious difficulty in the main part of game, only for purely optional extra stuff imo. That was always my main beef with the G n G series: difficulty somehow was supposed to be seen as "good"-ness. And worse yet, bad controls for the main character vs the versatility of the enemies was blatantly intentional. This came out again in the final bosses, since the clunkiness and faults I had experienced throughout the game (but the Metroidvania and platforming hook I had made me forgive it to the point of thinking 5 star) now came to light as the final boss form and true final boss's entirety were just so difficult that only perfect controls would be appropraite. Also the sprite slowdown I had experienced throughout, but forgave thanks to my love of the game up to that point, became unacceptable then. How can you justify a swarm of bullets when the console can't properly handle them? That's been an ongoing issue I have had with consoles with slowdown issues.

Look: 8.5/10 The backgrounds and sprites and settings really came to life. It all was very cohesive, even if not a favorite

Sound: 8/10 One or two tunes I really liked, but for the most part just organ-y halloween-y vibes which is not my thing. (I almost gave 7.5 for this, but I never muted it and it was of high caliber for its time and intention)

Play: 8.5/10 This was on track for a for srue favorite and possibly 5 star, but the final boss brought to light what I had noticed but stifled down because of my hook: some definite faults, clunky switches, unnecessary menu switching, etc. I got used to it for the most part, but the final bosses asked for a perfection of it that wasn't worth it when there were faults. This is a classic G n G trope, though, and series of the fans wear it with pride: clunky limited controls for the player. But for the most part it worked, it was only when they wanted to raise the challenge to what people expected at the end that it made the sprite slowdown and clunky controls unacceptable.

Feel: 8.5/10 Disappointing ending(s) brought this down from potential 9+

Attachment: 8.5/10 Definitely the best of the series

Overall: 8.4/10 So close to a 5 star lol, and perhaps on a replay.

This title is a dark fantasy action-platformer developed and published by Capcom, serving as the third entry in the Gargoyle’s Quest series, which spun off from Ghosts ’n Goblins. Released late in the SNES lifespan, it didn’t receive much commercial attention at the time, but it has since become a cult classic, and for good reason. The MC is called Firebrand, the red demon who was once a recurring boss in Ghosts ’n Goblins. Particularly speaking I was not a fan of games in which you play as the villain at first, but I've grown to love this approach to story-telling, it deepens the lore, universe and the backstory behind the events of previous titles.

The story follows him after a great demon war, where he sets out to reclaim six powerful elemental crests that grant control over fire, earth, water, air, time, and heaven. These crests allow you to transform into different forms, each with unique abilities that open up new paths, giving the game a structure reminiscent of early Metroidvania titles. The gameplay blends precise platforming, combat, and exploration. You can fly short distances, cling to walls, and use various projectile attacks. Levels are non-linear, with a world map that lets you revisit areas to uncover secrets and optional bosses once you’ve unlocked new abilities.

For me the best aspect of this title are it's secrets, in general the mainline story is very short, but it really shines when you decide to go 100%. I highly recommend doing so, this really feels like the intended way of playing this. The difficulty is tough but fair, it demands patience and mastery of Firebrand’s powers. The most difficult sections for me were the bosses, made worse by the lack of QOL of modern gaming such as more frequent checkpoints, meaning that you got very little time to learn the boss patterns and try again.

This is why I advise using save states for the bosses, and don't feel ashamed if doing so, this is one of the many flawed games when it comes to the difficulty spikes of the back in the day game design. Visually, this game is stunning for its time, the sprite work is detailed and expressive, with gothic architecture, eerie lighting, and foreboding enemy designs that create a beautifully grim atmosphere. The OST complements this perfectly, featuring haunting organ melodies and moody ambient tones that reinforce the game’s dark tone.

Despite its brilliance, this game was a commercial failure upon release, partly due to poor marketing and stiff competition in 1994. However, in hindsight, it’s regarded as one of the SNES’s finest hidden gems, a moody, artistically ambitious, and mechanically refined platformer that showcases Capcom at its creative peak. If you enjoy atmospheric action games with exploration and challenge, this title is an unforgettable experience that still holds up remarkably well today.

The actual last boss is even harder than the story one! What's the point of the huge power up if it doesn't really do anything?
I finally got it down by just avoiding it during the boney form, and then only attacking in the wing form. I'd keep the armor talisman on, then switch to the fang, get a hit in, then go back to get pummeled with debris and projectiles, avoid, attack when I can, repeat forever.
It's a shame the spells are all worthless. And that you can't use the strongest fire power while either of the two strongest gargoyles. Unless their attack is stronger? Then what's even the point of the last power up?

Anyways, this is a really good looking game with some enjoyable aspects and some interesting, almost Metroidvania-like exploration, marred by annoying but not impossible gotcha enemies and bosses, brought even further down by abysmal slowdown when more than three things are on the screen, and absurdly stupid last bosses that aren't even fun. It's too bad there weren't more games in this series, I imagined this really could have shined with more refinement in the next gen of consoles.

I played this on the switch. I never played this game when it was new, or any of the other games in the series, but i always was curious about it.

Its a 2d-platformer where you play as a firebreathing demon who can hover and stick to walls. The farther you get in the game you get more and more abilities and items to help you out.

Problem is, the demon you are controlling is so slow... Both when he is walking shooting, jumping, hovering and anything else. Especially the combat is frustratingly slow. You can only shoot one projectile at a time, and you have to wait for the projectile to disappear before you can shoot another. The means, if you are standing close to an enemy and you spit fire on him, the projecile disappears when it it hits him, and you can shoot surprisingly fast, but if the enemy jumps and you miss the shoot, you have to wait for the firespit to fly off screen before you can shoot again. How does that make any sense?

Also, the bosses can take an insane amount of punishment before they die. Fighting those things take forever. It's not exactly hard, just frustratingly slow, as every other thing in this game, and considering you gotta spit one million fireballs on each boss, it takes forever to kill on of them.

I didn't finish the game, because i couldn't stand the demons slog, but i did get far enough to start questioning my own memories of the SNES... Was all games for that system this slow? Do i remember those "blistering fast" battles in Super Metroid, the insane running, jumping and flying in super mario world, and the splitsecond combos from Mortal Kombat all wrong? The answer is no, of course, Demons Crest turned out to just be one of those games that arent very good, but i still did not like how it made me question my own memories :P

I guess if you like very slow, and methodical combat and platforming this might be for you. I heard about a lot of people who like this, but for me, it is just tedious and boring.

(This was retro game club game #7 on the Grouvee forum.)

If I were to compare Demon's Crest to another game, it'd be Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (which I played recently). They're both games that are kind of right on that line between classic stage-based platformer, and full-blown open-world "metroidvania." You play as a demon named Firebrand in this one, and battle your way through hellish landscapes and gradually unlock a variety of different abilities that you can activate through a cumbersome menu system. The game looks great and nails the atmosphere pretty well.

Unfortunately, I found the levels themselves to be rather monotonous, and the level design to be pretty bad. Many sections you can just fly over, and for the most part I didn't feel Firebrand's various abilities were utilized to their full potential. And just as no particular level ever stuck out to me, the music never seemed to go past droning, moody pipe organs. There are also items you can use in this game, but none of them ever felt that useful at all so I didn't bother with them after a while.

Perhaps what I liked least in this one though were the bosses. While the levels themselves weren't that difficult, the bosses were an extreme pain to deal with. They didn't feel challenging in a good way -- they just took way too many hits to finish off (and you don't get a health bar or anything to indicate how well you're doing against them).

Firebrand is heavy and stiff to control, which I don't think is an automatic deal-breaker -- but it is something to keep in mind. (This is not a quick and nimble Mega Man, for comparison.) Overall I found this game to be okay, but not something I think I'll ever care to revisit. I would at least be curious to see Capcom give this spinoff franchise another shot one day... And why not? Metroidvanias are all the rage these days right? A tongue-in-cheek take on that with a shapeshifting demon could be great fun in a quality modern release.

There are some quirks with this game but quite a bit to like. It's a well crafted game that showcases a lot of the SNES abilities, and is a competent platformer all on its own. Bits of it even reminded me of the video effects you see in megadrive games even (like Ranger X). Easily would recommend playing this if you are a fan of Super Castlevania IV. You have pretty much the whole visual and atmosphere as well as the non linearity of levels. The music is quite good too.

Respawning enemies and 'powerups' from fallen bosses don't quite strike my fancy and make the game feel slightly quirky, in addition to end boss battle and requirements for 'best' ending (seriously WTF.)

Odd to think that I knew relatively nothing about this title all these years.

Demon’s Crest, for SNES

Rating: 7.5/10; Good

Demon’s Crest is a 2D action platformer shooter where you play as a demon that can shoot projectiles, jump, climb, hover and fly. The game is quite similar to the Metroid and Castlevania series. It has a JRPG style world map, which you fly around to access locations, though the world map is very small to the point where being able to fly around seems pointless. It also does not help that there is no mini map and you can only view the map while stationary.

Areas to visit include shops, a Zelda style mini game and combat/adventure levels. Levels include typical platforming problems, though they are generally easier than other games because of your ability to hover and climb walls. After you get the full flight ability, the platforming becomes trivial and the hazards in the last few levels fail to offer any significant challenge to a character that can fly. It is also awkward that the “fly up” button only allows you to ascend a small amount before you must depress the button and press again.

Combat is fairly simple, and involves shooting a single projectile at a time in a straight horizontal trajectory. Accuracy is important because of the low rate of fire, though many enemies can simply be bypassed through flight. Bosses are reasonably challenging and make good use of all of your abilities; particularly flight, hovering and climbing. There are also single use items that can be purchased using money found in levels and from enemies, which adds some tactical options. The best aspect of the game is the large number of different forms, and a selection of equipable items. The forms have varying combat and environmental ability (such as one that allows breathing under water), and you can freely switch between them by pausing. I found it disappointing that only 1 form made a change to the way the projectile is shot; the earth form allows it to travel along the ground and drop from gravity if shot while on solid ground. There are no forms that shoot otherwise differently, such as at different angles or in an arc. I also did not notice any description of what the equipped items do.

Perhaps the largest flaw is that each level contains a sub level, and you cannot do both in the one go. Therefore, you must traverse areas multiple times from the beginning, even in one level where the entrance to the sub level was directly before the boss fight of the main level. You mean I can’t just go back 1 screen after beating the boss? The other main flaw is lack of saving, instead using a password system.

Overall, the game was fun and well worth playing, but could have been more in depth, more varied and longer.

Got the normal ending because I missed so many things. I also did the levels in a weird order because I did not realize there were levels within levels, so I had the flying form very early.

Later went online to get the code to fight the optional boss, and beat that. Of course I hardcore save state scummed it; I only had 1 healing potion and did not want to grind to max them out.

Platform:

Super Nintendo version.

Graphics/Sound:

The graphics, although I am not particularly fond of the change in character artstyle compared to the first 2 games in the series, look gorgeous. These have to be among the best on the system. The soundtrack has a lot of church organ sounds which fits the style, but it's overall a bit repetitive.

This time around they changed the formula a bit. The stages are still the signature platforming stages with all the unique gargoyle skills present, and a lot of new ones too. But there is practically no adventure aspect left in this game. Close to no dialogues, the game isn't streamlined at all after the first level, you can just basically go anywhere and try any level without any clue as to what you are supposed to do. Beating some Bosses grants you different skills that open areas to you in levels you already played, so there is different exits to every level. The overwold map is now in mode7 3D much like the Final Fantasy entries on the system, and this feels unnecessary and gimmicky.

Difficulty:

It's, judging from the skill you need to beat enemies and bosses, much easier than the previous game, and your gargoyle is much more overpowered. It gets even easier over time when you unlock even more powerful skills, up to the point where you can pretty much play the entire game in your sleep. But it's much more obscure as to what you are supposed to do. The first two were neatly streamlined, and while they offered a certain freedom where to go next, it was always clear where you had to go. In this game you're totally lost, and you can try every level over and over, or just look it up on the net, but you won't get any clues from the game itself.

Conclusion:

It looks outstanding, the controls are solid, so this should basically be a masterpiece game. Sadly the story is non existent and there is no streamlining whatsoever so playing through it on your own becomes tedious. Which is sad because if they had kept the story progression from the previous game, and maybe balanced a bit some of the skills this would have been a 5 star game.

Gameplay, Story and Value:

Demon's Crest is a platforming game from Capcom as part of the Gargoyle's Quest series of games. In it, you play as Firebrand (Of Ghouls 'n' Ghosts fame) as you explore stages, fight bosses, become more powerful and eventually save your world from even badder demons than yourself.

Controls are tight, though as your repertoire of abilities grow they can occasionally become a touch unwieldy. That's not to say they're bad, only that I found myself needing to spend a couple minutes practicing with each new crest before I was comfortable enough to take them into combat. I'm getting ahead of myself though... Demon's Crest controls handle more than a little like one of Capcom's other major franchises on the console, Mega Man X, and as a result playing through each stage is very enjoyable. B jumps, Y shoots, X uses your currently equipped item or spell and A activates your special ability which varies between each crest.

The titular "Crests" of Demon's Crest are earned through beating bosses and occasionally through fulfilling special requirements. Each crest transforms Firebrand into a different demon form, each with its own unique characteristics and abilities. Your default Fire Demon form lets you hover in the air and headbutt objects in the background, while the Earth Demon allows you to dash forward and unleash powerful ground attacks, though it also clips your wings. You'll eventually find crests that let you fly through the air and swim through the water, as well as two secret crests with even more powerful abilities.

Like Gargoyle's Quest before it, Demon's Crest splits up its platforming stages with world map exploration. Areas are relatively easy to find on the map, which is good since you'll be revisiting each area at least a couple times. I think the game's biggest achievement is that it managed to build itself around non-linear platforming and backtracking and I still managed to love it. My biggest complaint with games like Gargoyle's Quest and Adventures of Link was that I felt like I couldn't just play the game, but had to go through all these arbitrary non-platforming sections between each stage.

Instead, I always had a strong sense of where to go and what to do there, even though the game never felt like it was stopping me from playing it in whatever order I wanted. You would often clear a stage and get a new crest which would allow you to explore different areas in other stages, and sometimes you'd even play through the same stage twice in a row. What saves this from feeling monotonous is that each branching path through a level almost feels like it's own unique level by itself. This is further exemplified by the fact that each path through a stage has it's own boss!

The boss fights are a lot of fun, and beating particularly difficult ones is rewarding. That said, you'll fight the same bosses more than once throughout the game which can take away from some of the variety. Additionally, provided you've done just a little bit of exploration, you'll eventually come in possession of the Ultimate Gargoyle Crest which multiplies your damage and armor to the point of trivializing most encounters. One moment in particular where this was most apparent was with an underwater boss. Unless you're using the Water Crest, Firebrand will take a constant stream of damage while underwater. I found myself having trouble with this boss using the Water Crest, which is the "proper" way of fighting him, so on my next attempt I just switch over to the Ultimate Gargoyle and was able to outrace the damage I was taking both from the water and the boss himself!

It's still a pretty rad form though...

The story is pretty light and takes a backseat to the gameplay, which is fine. Basically your old arch nemesis has resurfaced and it's up to you to stop him... again. What's great is that the game sports four different endings depending on how complete your performance was when you engaged the end boss. The best possible ending involves a showdown with one of the craziest game bosses of the time, the Dark Demon!

Presentation, Music and Sound:

The game looks really good, much like Capcom's other entries on the SNES. Despite being set in a dark and dreary demon world, colors in the game seem to pop out and everything just looks really good. Sprites are varied and well animated and the environments make great use of various parallax and lighting effects.

Levels are crafted in such a way that secrets are never so secret you can't actually find them without a bit of hunting, and stage layouts always make it clear as to where you can go, provided you have the means to go there. Each stage looks like it's part of one cohesive world, yet manages to stand out on its own. Areas range from traditional graveyards to fiery forests to ice fortresses to cathedrals.

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While the game's soundtrack is appropriately haunting and generally well done, the music would often just fade into the background for me. This is likely due to a slight lack of variety more than anything, as each track sets a generally similar tone. Again, that's not to say it's bad by any stretch, only that it didn't really stick with me.

Sound effects are all appropriate and do their jobs just fine.

Afterthoughts:

I went into this game honestly expecting the worst. Sure, I liked Gargoyle's Quest okay, but when it comes to platformers I just prefer a more linear experience. However, everything just came together so nicely that I couldn't help but have a great time from start to finish. Navigating the world map never felt like a hindrance and revisiting stages always managed to be exciting rather than tedious. Add on to all that the excellent platforming, crest collecting and the fact that I didn't even get the best possible ending, and I have a game in my collection that I'm actually looking forward to playing again down the line!

Review:

Playthrough:

Due to some video connection issues my PVR crapped out at the end of my playthrough deleting a good two hour run... I replayed through the first twenty minutes or so to grab screenshots but unfortunately my playthrough is lost. I did beat the game, getting the Normal ending, and would like to go back for the Dark Demon at some point!