Devil World (デビルワールド Debiru Wārudo?) is a maze video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in Japan on October 5, 1984 and in Europe on July 15, 1987. The game was also released on the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on January 22, 2008 and in Europe and Australia on October 31, 2008. The game has similar gameplay to that of Pac-Man. It is the only game designed by Shigeru Miyamoto that has not been released in North America, despite the fact that the game is simple and in English. This was due to Nintendo of America's strict policies on the use of religious icons in games, which were at their strictest level at the time of the game's original release.
Gameplay
Screenshot of gameplay
Players control Tamagon, a green dragon who decides to "attack the Devil's World", along with a red Player 2 version of him. He navigates through a series of mazes and touches Crosses to power up and summon the ability to breathe fire and eat the dots in the maze. Without a cross, he is completely helpless, and cannot complete the maze. The large winged demon simply called "the Devil" dances at the top of the screen, pointing the direction for his minions to move the maze. This can be dangerous, as Tamagon can be squished by getting caught between a maze wall and the moving outer boundary. After the first maze is cleared, the next objective is to get four Bibles, and put them into a seal. The Bibles give Tamagon the same powers as with the Crosses. After carrying them all into the seal, the Devil flies to the next maze. In between, a bonus maze shows up where Tamagon collects six Bonus Boxes under a time limit. The pattern then repeats.
Development
Devil World was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. The game was Tezuka's first job when he joined Nintendo full-time. Initially, Tezuka did not know of Pac-Man at that time, a game that Devil World resembles, but enjoyed the game when he played it for the first time. Among Tezuka's tasks then was to create pixelated images based on Miyamoto's instructions. During the development, Tezuka suggested holes the player's character would fall into, causing him to lose a turn. However, when they made a version to test his idea and tried it out, Tezuka was told that it is "a bit flat", and so they went back to the original feature of the character being squished against the walls.
Reception
On IGN's "Top 10 Pac-Man Clones", Devil World was ranked fourth. Eurogamer rated the Virtual Console release 7 out of 10 points. The reviewer stated that Devil World is "worth experiencing just for the bizarre nature of the concept", but also commented that its "abundance of ideas ultimately get in the way of the simple gameplay."
Appearances in other games
Super Smash Bros. Melee
- A trophy of Tamagon can be obtained in the Japanese release. Though it was removed from the North American release, his trophy can be unlocked with the Action Replay (with the game erroneously referred to as Demon World). The PAL version has completely removed the Tamagon trophy, despite the game being released in Europe.
Tetris DS
- In Marathon Mode, the backdrop changes to a Devil World theme at level 17.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
- The Devil appears as an Assist Trophy. He causes the screen to scroll in the opposite direction to the way he points.
- There is a collectable sticker of Tamagon artwork from the original game's cover.
- The music from the title screen of this game is included in a medley of NES/Famicom games.
Captain Rainbow
- The Devil appears as one of the forgotten Nintendo characters on Mimin Island. His wish is to become the number one villain in hell.
Art Style: PiCOPiCT
- Two puzzles in the game are based on Devil World, with sprites on the top screen and music from the game. There are a further two Devil World puzzles in the "Dark Stages" mode.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
- The Devil returns as an Assist Trophy, using the same strategy from Brawl.