Nintendo
Demon Sword

Graphics:
Sound:
Gameplay:
Overall:
6.87
6.20
7.27
6.80
Votes: 15
Reviews: 3


Rate this game

Review this game

 

Reviewer: Omega Warrior Date: Jun 19, 2010
The NES is an old system, but let it be known that it was never short of good, fresh ideas. Some have lived on into newer and newer systems, others have (unfortunately) been all but lost to the annals of gaming history. Demon Sword fits squarely in the latter category, a great idea that never saw the light of day after its time was over. The game is a miniature marvel of ingenuity, a literal leap of conceptual gameplay in a beautifully detailed package.

Graphics: 9
In spite of its 8-bit era style, Demon Sword pushes the envelope in all aspects of its visual style. From the swarms of enemies and the hero himself to the meticulously detailed environments of seven separate locales, you are immediately immersed into the world as seamlessly as any game can manage.

Sound: 9
At times, it feels as though you could play this game by ear alone- the level of detail in the music and sound effects pushes the limits of the system, and sets a high bar even in comparison to games on the next generation of consoles. When you pick up a powerup and split into three, for instance, you HEAR the three Victars separately instead of one. To this day, I have never heard anything out of the NES quite as cool or satisfying as a fully-powered dart throw's hum in this game.

Gameplay: 10
Ah, now THIS is where the game truly excels, in my opinion. You see, in Demon Sword, you don't just hop and chop on a linear, well defined set of platforms; you leap in every direction, climbing incredible heights and clearing bounds that would make Mario look about as bouncy as your average stone. Darts can be thrown in all EIGHT directions, a great tool to have when enemies drop constantly from every angle to assault you. The bosses are creepy as hell, a hard feat for an 8-bit to accomplish. And did I mention the fact that the game is sure to keep you from standing around dilly dallying for too long? Believe me, the invincible demon dogs that will come after you if you do are some of the scariest enemies you'll ever face on the NES. Keep moving, or be eaten by hell hounds. Move too fast, and you might not pick up enough stuff to make it through alive. Riding the balance of sticking around just long enough to get enough stuff without letting those dogs catch up with you is one of the more challenging and intense experiences of NES gaming.

Overall: 9
If this game had come out in a modern form, in this day and age with all the frills that modern games have to offer, I can almost guarantee it would become an instant classic. The gameplay is both incredibly freeing and surprisingly tight, and though the NES was on its way out by the time of Demon Sword's release, this game makes for an incredible sendoff by any measure.

I still want a sequel on a newer system, though.

 

Reviewer: SlowMotionRiot Date: Dec 14, 2002
It wasn't always so easy to find a platform game on the NES that could suck you right in with it's versatile gameplay and non-stop pacing. Sure, the Mario series of platformers was impressive and lengthy, but it always seemed too cartoony to take seriously. Then along comes Demon Sword in '89, with its rich fantasy world and extensive gameplay options. Sadly, by this time the NES was beginning to show its age, and everyone knew stronger, more robust consoles were on the horizon. I propose that Demon Sword was one of the games that did push the NES to its limits, and comes up with a relatively decent game in doing so. Just don't expect a very immersive experience--the game's waaaay too short to get too involved.

Graphics: 9
Demon Sword takes place in a world rich with the textures and visuals of some ancient, East Asian culture, like China or Japan. One look at any of the buildings you come across--or even, looking at the hero himself--and you'll realize this is a land of samurai, ninja, and the horrible creatures of Asian folklore. Each stage you traverse is distinct and varied, offering the player a great variety of locales to leap across. Trying to stop you along the way is a collection of varied enemies, so what you're fighting never gets too repetitive. Slash down anything from skeletal and zombified warriors, to star-throwing ninja-women, to lightning fast ""demon dogs."" The bosses are quite big, and meticulously detailed. The only let-down in this department is with the cut-scenes between each chapter (and this is merely a personal pet-peeve of mine, actually); it appears as though Conan the Barbarian is watching some skull-headed falcon fly off with some jewel into the distance. I pictured the hero of the story coming from East Asia--not East Germany.

Sound: 8
The sound effects and music for this game are also done rather well. Each swing of your ever-growing blade produces a satisfying ""ssshing!"" The title screen, I maintain, has some of the eeriest action music I've ever heard...it actually sounds like a sample is being played backwards. Each stage has distinct, action-oriented music, to accompany your exploits of slashing and shuriken-throwing. The distinctive Oriental vibe of each tune helps further cement the locale to the ancient Far East. Sound and music were very effectively conditioned for this title, indeed.

Gameplay: 6
Well, I had to be brutal somewhere, didn't I? Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of elements that make this an effective action title. First off, the character leaps through each level like you wouldn't believe--he's obviously the origination of the nickname ""grasshopper."" Powerups abound: red orbs will heal you, black orbs will add more strength to your hero (although you don't activate these powerups until you actually lose all your health--what's up with that?). A phoenix token will rescue you on chapter 1, where bottomless pits await you under every bridge (but what about the other levels? It's like they forgot about them or something). You have a selection of three different spells you can cast, each one producing a wave of impenetrable deadly force or simply killing everything that moves on-screen. On top of that, you can turn invincible and split into three identical heroes, shoot shuriken in four different directions, and lengthen your sword to become a five-tined Blade of Overkill. What does this all add up to? An enemy- and level-designer about ready to jump off a building! Seriously, with so many options afforded to the player, there's very little challenge. The levels are all very attractive, creative, and well-designed, but the player basically blurs over them with leaps and super-speed. The bosses? They're a cake-walk (except for chapter 2's mini-boss: the White Robed Death Guy. Avoid him and his impossible-to-block spinning staff at all costs. I'm serious!). If you can't slash them, then blast them with spells or distance-kill with shuriken. If they ever attack you with a bolt of energy or a spell, simply swing your sword and it's nullified. Most people would complain that the controls suck in NES platformers, but in this one, the controls and options make the game just too easy for the player. And another thing...Since the game's so easy to beat, it'll take less than an hour to do so. That's a terrible shame, especially for a game that looks and sounds so good.

Overall: 7
This action-packed platformer really does deliver, but in an itty-bitty package. The multitude of options available for the player means that many different styles of gameplay can be experimented with, each with successful results. Wandering through the mythic landscape can be a great joy to those looking for some old-school eye-candy. That being said, the serious gamer will not spend much time at all beating this one; any difficulty is left in the dust by the ""Monty Haul"" assortment of power-ups the player eventually collects. And by the time you're really getting into the story, it's already over. You realize you just beat the last boss and won. It's a victory before you know it.

Taito really did the Legend of Kage proud by updating it's engine and producing Demon Sword from it's ashes. Unfortunately, I imagine it turned out to be a project just too intense for the hardware the makers put it on. I'm really stretching my imagination here, but I think that if this game had been released on the Super Nintendo instead, it would have been at least three times as long, even more gorgeous, and with sound that could bring tears to your eyes it was so moving. It would have rivaled the CastleVania series. Alas, that was not meant to be, and Demon Sword was released as an aging dynasty was nearing its end, and developers had maxed-out graphical and sound production on a system that could only handle so much. It's a case of plenty of bells & whistles, but not much depth--but only because you can only fit so much into a game pak.

 

Reviewer: Zero72 Date: Aug 8, 2001
Graphics: There seems to be a bug that sometimes makes the character's face transparent. Other than that, pretty good. The backgrounds are very detailed and the way the skeletons lay when you kill them(?) is kind of cool.

Sound: It's...ok...

Gameplay: You can jump really high and climb trees. It takes some getting used to, but eventually it becomes very managable.

Overall: The difficulty really keeps itself in check; when the enemies are weaker, the sword is shorter, but when the strong ones roll around, you're ready for them with this big-ol' sword. Different. Anyway, the game is ok, but not necessarily great.