A little bit Okinawa Rush, part Shinobi, and a slice of Ninja Gaiden, Demon Crush is the upcoming side-scrolling action game from Reverting Castles, set in feudal Japan. At the time of writing, a playable demo should be available on Steam. Knowing a few ninja in the shadows, I had the chance to run through this before its release, and here are some thoughts.
Instantly, the game casts a good impression on retro fans. I'm smitten with Antstream Arcade and accustomed to pixel art visuals and unforgiving gameplay for these past couple of weeks, so I'm in familiar territory when I find myself dying a lot. "This isn't my isn't rodeo" and other cliches, but that didn't prevent the game design from catching me with my warrior pants down.
Demon Crush Demo
The demo is a segment from Kenzo's Fury, where you play as the guardian of Gochima Village and must protect it from invaders using tonfa, kusarigama, and staff, which should be the go-to weapon for crowd control. In respect of control(s), the mechanics will be familiar to anyone who's played any game of this ilk, more so 80s/90s types. Attack moves come from pressing an attack button and a direction, and a grappling hook can cling onto gargoyles to gain height or bring an assailant up close and personal.
Jeitaro
Naturally, there's a rhythm to attacking and moving around, and it this mimicked my movements in real life (arse over elbow), and found it somewhat hard to get used to it at first. When Kenzo jumps, you must press both the jump button and the direction. This might sound normal, but in a retro setup, it feels like you're doing two of the same, and it's a little tricky to time at first. However, the frequent insta-deaths into a chasm were enough incentive to learn it. The second challenge wasn't flying enemies, for once, but the projectile-wielding ones.
Source: Steam
Direct Your Attacks
Very early in the Demon Crush demo, you're introduced to directional attacks to hit enemies above you and break guards. This is great, though there are typically foot soldiers who rush you, and while they aren't so tough when firebombs are raining on your head, it can get irritating. Friendly NPC soldiers will mainly serve as a distraction as they also rush the other enemies, allowing you time to slip past. Interestingly, the higher-up projectile enemies are not the hardest, but those protected.
Samurai types wielding heavier armour require shield-breaking, and when someone is throwing things from behind, it can involve a lot of lost health. The rhythm for attacking enemies works well, however, and the directional attacks add to the variety, and before long, you're familiar with enemy types and how to deal with them effectively. The same goes for platforming. Unlike Ninja Gaiden, you can't climb the same way, yet you can bounce off walls with finesse.
Back Demon Crush On Kickstarter
Demon Crush is a nice-looking game and fits the bill thus far for the side-scrolling retro genre. It isn't brutally tricky, though cosy gaming types looking for bean bags and drinks topped with marshmallows might find it challenging. On the other side of the spectrum, die-hards will be pleased to know that you can have your performance ranked, and there's a speedrunning element. I'm not part of the latter (we touched upon rhythm), though I can see the appeal of dashing through as fast as possible, strategically balancing the platform elements and combat sections.
Demon Crush is currently in development and launching a Kickstarter campaign - which should be an instant success if the right people see it. If you're into classic titles such as Ninja Gaiden and Shinobi, this should appeal to you, and I would encourage you to try the demo on Steam and then sign up/bookmark the Kickstarter page.
