morgue slab in Shadowrun<\/i><\/a>. It immediately cuts in with Firebrand (the localized name of Red Arremer) standing aimlessly in a ruined colosseum. Suddenly: zombie dragon.<\/p> Before you\u2019ve even established the difference between jump and shoot in your brain, you\u2019re fighting a huge undead dragon. After you kill it, you break out of a window, and then the dragon\u2019s head pops out behind you. Firebrand could just leave the dragon to be stuck there, but Demon\u2019s Crest<\/i> wants you to know one thing about the humpable piece of demon meat; he\u2019s an absolute badass. So, he melts the head off the dragon before setting out.<\/p>
Demon\u2019s Crest<\/i> quickly establishes that you are in control of the most amazing creature to walk the demon realm. There isn\u2019t a lot of dialogue, but if you\u2019re not talking to a shopkeep, usually the NPC is saying something along the lines of \u201cHoly shit, you\u2019re awesome!\u201d One of the main recurring baddies is General Arma, and every time you kick his butt, he invariably says, \u201cI am left aroused by your combat prowess. We must lock in naked, sinewy combat again sometime.\u201d<\/p>
And yet, the goal of Demon\u2019s Crest<\/i> is to become more powerful<\/i>.<\/p> Screenshot by Destructoid<\/figcaption><\/figure> Irresistible force<\/h2> The narrative picks up some time after Firebrand tried and failed to assemble the eponymous Demon\u2019s Crests. Each one contains special powers, and he nearly has the last one when someone finally takes him down. This is an important lesson. No one is perfect. Even the most irresistible forces sometimes fail. You just have to get back up and try again.<\/p>
So, that\u2019s what you\u2019re doing. Firebrand has re-awoken, and it\u2019s time to regain the crests that are rightfully his. As is law in video games, he does this by beating bosses.<\/p>
The weird thing about Demon\u2019s Crest<\/i> is that it isn\u2019t linear, nor is it heavily gated. You select your level by flying over a Mode-7 landscape and landing somewhere that looks interesting. The action stages themselves actually fork in many places, with some only being accessible when you have a specific skill. It\u2019s rare that the game will outright stop you, but to be helpful, it tells you the ideal path if you hit the start button while flying.<\/p>
The worst that is going to happen is you\u2019ll get your fantastic, chiseled butt kicked by a boss. There isn\u2019t much of a penalty for death. You can either try again or go elsewhere. The goal is to keep on gaining items, crests, and power-ups to overcome anything that gets in your way. This can be a little frustrating for a couple of reasons, including the fact that it has worse endings if you take on the final boss too early.<\/p> Screenshot by Destructoid<\/figcaption><\/figure> A real firebrand<\/h2> As a platformer, Demon\u2019s Crest<\/i> is great, but it isn\u2019t the best. Don\u2019t get me wrong, in terms of gameplay, it\u2019s definitely top-shelf. The level design is rather routine, and it doesn\u2019t do much that wasn\u2019t already established in the NES and Game Boy titles that came before it. It starts you off weak, and then it doesn\u2019t take long before you live up to the name of Firebrand. After that, it doesn\u2019t really know what to do with you.<\/p>
You get your most important powers before the halfway mark, and then you’ll spend the rest of the game just getting health power-ups and inventory items. These are necessary to get the best ending of the game, but it makes the latter half of the game feel a bit flat when your rewards are just more on top of a lot. It thankfully doesn\u2019t drag on long. Like the previous games in the Gargoyle\u2019s Quest <\/i>series, Demon\u2019s Crest<\/i> is a pretty short game. Despite this, it doesn\u2019t feel truncated or short on content. It just gets its point across efficiently and doesn\u2019t drag things out.<\/p>
However, aesthetically, it\u2019s one of the greatest things committed to grey plastic. The title screen alone is worth seeing. Everything about the visual and audio design has extra flare to it that is both uniquely gloomy and incredibly Super Nintendo. It has a lot in common with Super Castlevania IV<\/i> in that it\u2019s a surprisingly dark look on a console known for its bright colors. Yet, it still does a lot of audio and visual effects that were common on the console, such as chain explosions and that weird farting noise bosses sometimes do when they die.<\/p> Screenshot by Destructoid<\/figcaption><\/figure> Sexy gargoyles<\/h2> Demon\u2019s Crest <\/i>is among my favorite games on the SNES, and I feel like I appreciate it even more each time I return to play it again. Thankfully, Capcom is pretty respectful toward the title. It landed on the Wii U and 3DS Virtual Consoles, and it’s currently on the Switch Online SNES app. Considering an original cartridge copy is worth hundreds of dollars, having it more accessible on other platforms is really appreciated.<\/p>
Despite this, I find that it\u2019s still overlooked. I had never heard of it when I was growing up with a Super Nintendo in my household and only tried it years later as I gradually uncovered the Gargoyle\u2019s Quest <\/i>series.<\/p>
Strangely, there are no in-game credits to Demon\u2019s Crest<\/i>. Outside the music composers and the fact that the fantastic Julie Bell did the North American artwork, I can\u2019t find information on who designed Demon\u2019s Crest. Capcom wasn\u2019t the best at crediting their development teams in the \u201890s, but they at least usually did a roll with pseudonyms. Not with Demon\u2019s Crest,<\/i> which is almost distressing.<\/p>
Nonetheless, if you dig sexy gargoyles and gloomy demon visuals, then Demon\u2019s Crest <\/i>is something you should check out. Actually, even if you don\u2019t like those things, that\u2019s weird, but you should check it out anyway. Demon\u2019s Crest <\/i>is the Super Nintendo and Capcom at their best. It received an honorable mention when Destructoid\u2019s Timothy Monbleau made his 15 Greatest SNES Games list<\/a>, but I\u2019d go even further than that. At the very least, I would give it a very<\/i> honorable mention, but depending on the day, it could also have a number next to it.<\/p> For other retro titles you may have missed, click right here!<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":382099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"article_type":"","gamurs_wordpress_blocks_hide_tags":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[22566],"tags":[20328,468,1025,1312,172,274],"internal-label":[],"invoiceable_action":[],"article_type":[],"coauthors":[{"id":17,"display_name":"Zoey Handley","user_login":"Adzuken","user_nicename":"adzuken"}],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDemon's Crest for SNES is a 16-bit power fantasy – Destructoid<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n