Firebrand is back! Yep, there are more games that followed the Game Boy classic "Gargoyle's Quest" which I previously uploaded. I particularly enjoyed the platforming parts where you had to grab onto walls, jump off, shoot stuff, maybe lower your altitude a bit and continue to navigate through the level. I briefly checked out the sequel on the NES which is basically the same game and it was kinda weird since the stages consisted of 80% spikes. Maybe I'll do it next to complete this trilogy on my channel. Now, with Demon's Crest Capcom re-invented their franchise on the SNES in glorious 16-bit! The gameplay is similar. You are Firebrand, a gargoyle, who can spit fire, fly (as long as you like) and grab onto walls. The overworld map has been replaced by a Mode 7 map where you can select a stage directly so it's not that linear anymore. Also, most stages have alternate paths, mini-bosses and hidden secrets. Capcom increased Firebrand's abilities and inventory items a lot too. There are: - Fire Crest upgrades: Mostly useless except for the Buster. - Transformation Crests: Useful depending on the situation. - Talismans: Increase money/health drops, defense, damage or rate of fire. - Vellums: You can use spells with these. The only useful spell is the Death spell and it doesn't hurt bosses much. - Urns: Use these for your health refills. With some of these crests you can swim, fly, dash... Kinda like Wonder Boy III. You can fight the main villain Phalanx at different points of progress through the game and will get different endings (which I will upload as the last episode). - Bad ending: If you made it through the first few stages, Phalanx's tower will appear. There, you just have to beat his first form and not even the stage before him. The internets say that you get this ending if you don't have all the crests. I could never get it to work this way. After a lot of googling, I got it to work by beating Arma, Belch, Flier and Flame Lord. - Normal ending: Have all crests, but not all items (urns and such). You will have to go through three phases of Phalanx, all really easy. - Best ending: All crests and items. Then you get a fourth form of Phalanx and boy, get ready for a ride. He's pretty hard because of all the stuff on the screen that can kill you. If you don't panic and stay focussed he's certainly doable. - True ending: After the best ending you will get a password. Enter it and you have a new crest and another stage unlocked with the true last boss, the Demon King. He will devour your soul in real life! He's certainly not the hardest boss I've ever seen, but he's still really hard. So, I said glorious 16-bit? Hell yea! The graphics are amazing! The mood is really dark, much more sinister than Castlevania. The backgrounds are very detailed. The bosses are interesting. It also reminds me a lot of Actraiser 2, though, I'm not sure why. Probably because of the (mini-) bosses. In my opinion these are some of the best graphics on the SNES. Unfortunately, some are so dark that you can't see the details very well. I hope your screen is well calibrated. The music? Kicks butt! There's really not much to say about this. The only issue I have with one particular sound effect is Firebrands wings that flap if you don't move on the map screen. It can get somewhat annoying, but if that's all I have to complain about then I'm happy. Life in the GameBoy version, the controls are very fluid. If you die, it's probably your own fault. There are, however, a few issues that really test your patience: - Money: Why didn't Capcom just increase the money drops off monsters? I would prefer to re-play a stage I have already cleared rather than having to smash windows in the town over and over. That's boring and silly. - Switching between Crests: OK, you need different abilities for different situations, but you find yourself constantly switching between different crests in many places. Maybe they could have used L and R to cycle between crests or something. And the worst thing: You enter a stage and you have the basic Fire Crest equipped. Every single time. Can't it just remember what I had equipped when I left the last stage? It gets annoying if you need to farm money. I want the Buster by default. I think that's all I have to complain about. It would easily get into my Top 20 favorite games I've played. It's just the mix of gothic visuals, fantastic artwork and music, fluid gameplay and a good challenge. Also, I love to explore and usually "collect 100% of stuff" is pretty boring with no reward. This extra boss and true ending rocked and was totally worth it. If you can find a copy of this game or you see it on the Wii Virtual Console, don't hesitate. It's worth every cent. If you would like to see a specific game played through on my channel, just let me know in the comment section below. Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

• published: 30 Sep 2011
• views: 30202