Overview
- Number of Players
- 1 (Single Player)
- Genre
- Release Date
NES
- 5th Oct 1984
- 15th Jul 1987
Wii (Wii Shop)
- 31st Oct 2008, 500 points
- 22nd Jan 2008, 500 points
3DS eShop
- 17th Apr 2013, ¥500
- 20th Mar 2014, £3.49
Wii U eShop
- 30th Oct 2014, £3.49
Nintendo Switch Online (Subscription)
- 31st Oct 2023
- Tags
- Controller Support
- Wikipedia
- en.wikipedia.org
Reviews
Review Devil World - A North American Debut For Nintendo's Curious Pac-Man 'Clone'
Heaven a good time
This review was originally published in November 2014. We're updating and republishing it to mark the game's arrival in the Nintendo Switch Online NES library — and its official debut in North America nearly 40 years after its Japanese launch on Famicom. As far as obscure releases within the NES library go, Devil World is...
Screenshots 10
Devil World Guides
Guide Best First-Party NES Games
Nintendo-developed NES games, as ranked by you
Looking for a list of Nintendo's first-party NES games? Wonder what the best first-party NES game is? You've come to the right guide. Our ranked list of the Top 50 Best NES Games Ever covers every game on the system, but here we're looking specifically at Nintendo-developed NES games released in the...
Devil World News
News Nintendo Expands Switch Online's NES & Game Boy Library With Three More Classics
Revisit Castlevania Legends & some other special titles
Nintendo has announced a new batch of games to the Switch Online service. The latest additions are part of the standard tier - adding two NES titles, and a Game Boy title. The titles added in the latest update include The Mysterious Murasame Castle (1986), Devil World (1984) and Castlevania...
Nintendo Download 30th October (Europe)
Stealth Inc 2, Shin Megami Tensei IV, Rare DK treats and much more
With this coming weekend being the spookiest of the year, the latest Nintendo Download Update details for Europe show us that the big N's keen to keep us all entertained in the safety of our own homes, avoiding the ghouls outside. This week is packed with new titles on Wii U and 3DS,...
Nintendo Download 20th March (Europe)
Cross-platform chess, retro Dracula slaying, discounts galore and more
It's that time, Europe, and after two weeks of being delayed by a day the Download Update information has been unleashed promptly to kickstart our week. It includes an intriguing cross-platform release on Wii U and 3DS that could fill a nice gap in the eShop library, two NES...
Feature The Spooky Denizens of the World of Nintendo
We run down the scariest of scaries the Big N has cooked up
We here at Nintendo Life love Halloween. Despite the fact it was originally a time when the dead were believed to cause sickness to the living and damage their crops, but nowadays it's just a good excuse to gorge ourselves on delicious, delicious candy. As part of our All Hallows’ Eve...
News EU VC Update: NES Halloween Trio
This week's update falls right on Halloween - Nintendo of Europe would be fools not to take advantage of this! Thankfully they are aware of it - All three games released today have a horror theme.
Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is the final NES installment of the Castlevania series. After the rather mediocre Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Konami...
About The Game
In this hidden gem of an action game from Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, you play heroic dragon Tamagon, who must defeat evil by collecting boa-boa dots inside a maze and destroying enemies with his fire breath.
However, keep an eye on the devil at the top of the screen, who instructs his minions to move the maze in random directions, trying to squash Tamagon within its walls!
Comments 51
Before anybody asks - Yes, that is the Devil from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
I sure hope this is the next import game!
I wonder why the Devil is called Demon in Smash Bros on the UK site...
I think i may download this if it comes out here. Looks pretty cool.
I'll never figure why America has so big problems with crosses, devils and other religous symbols.
Okay, Satanism is a serious prblem, but why forbidding a game just because there are crosses and fat demons in?
But I welcome the changes they made on the Topis in Ice Climbers though...
Not that I mind imitation, but it's pretty obvious that this title borrows its core, gameplay mechanics from Pac-Man. The weird religious aesthetic coupled with its limited release have piqued my interest. Devil World certainly has superior, visual appeal to Pac-Man, but I find myself wondering if the gameplay is as outdated as Ice Climbers or Donkey Kong.
It's a Christian Pac-Man. Ha!
Probably will be released on import in North America since the NOA has gotten their heads on right since the 80s.
NOA are not as censortive as there were in the past .
I played this game on one of those "Power Players". It was a TV game that pirates sold at malls with NES games on them and could be played on N64-esque controllers. i will definately be buying this when its released. For more information, click on this url: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Player_Super_Joy_III
@Kawaiipikachu: Look at One Piece and Yu-Gi-Oh! censorships and then say that again
Hells yes! An unlicensed classic that Nintendo refused to touch because of its inclusion of religious imagery. This game goes for as much as $200 now; Hella stoked that its coming to VC. While it may have borrowed as much as, say Mario borrowed from Pitfall, or Sonic from Mario, its not the Pac Man copy it may appear to be. Devil World features a unique constantly shifting playing field, a weapon system reminiscent of Bomberman, and a Donkey Kong-esque villain who looms over the top of the screen. You may find yourself nostalgic over certain other classic titles as you play through Devil World, but to call it a mere Pac Man rip off is short changing the game for sure. Worth the 500 (600?) for the difference in price tag alone.
An unlicensed classic
It's not unlicensed, it's a first-party Nintendo game.
didnt the hero Tamagon have a trophy in smash melee?
Zinjak: Yup, but only in the Japanese version. For some odd reason it was removed from the US and PAL versions, although you can use a cheat device to hack it into your game if you have a US copy (It's impossible in the PAL one).
I actually had this on one of those 32 in 1 pirate carts back in the day. I hope it doesn't have an extra 100 points tagged on it seeing as their is no japanese text in it whatsoever and its also a bit mediocre (Still fun though).
@LordBowser
Knowing Nintendo, it will. But frankly I could care less about this game
How long has this been OFLC rated yet?
I hope we get this as an import soon. I too played it on one of those bootlegged Power Player Thingys. The controls are iffy (i don't know if that's a controller problem or a game problem) and it was nothing special really, but was still fun. It's a Miyamoto game. I MUST HAVE IT!
Edit: Also, I downloaded a ROM for it quite a long time ago and still haven't found the proper emulator to play it...
I think the technical term is confused
@Terranigma - There are several people who argue that evolution is part of God's plan, they call it 'Intelligent Design'.
I'm religous myself and believe in evolution. I'm sure there's a term for that (I seem to recall my R.E. teacher mentioning it many, many years ago) but I can't remember it right now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnostic
I wonder hen this will finally hit us. I mean, it has been OFLC rated for ages, and hasn't even been brought to Europe yet!
@Bensei
Yup, this shows how accurately you can estimate release dates from ratings
Due to its Satanism theme, I am surprised that this is seeing a rerelease Not too sure if I'd get it though.
i just played it because i wanted to get as far as possible, maybe a challenge for me, and wanted to make it through, so no matter how many times i died, i had to try again and again
SSBB reminded me of this annoying devil, some ssbb levels get hard with this one from assist trophy
it was a nice challenge for me, so i give it 4 stars
Edit: ps. its from my birthyear
@ Terranigma
I actually agree with Creationism and not evolution.
I don't think this little game will challenge your faith in anyway since its just a Pacman clone. However, if the content bothers your family it probably just better to get another game since there are plenty of other titles to play
Sorry, I'm not getting your review scores, here - this game gets 4 stars, while classics like Donkey Kong are given 2 because "there's not much substance to them, being aged arcade games". What makes Devil World such a special case? It's the same type of gameplay found in these other great, score-based games you refuse to give high scores.
@lockelocke: "This game goes for as much as $200 now"
Seriously? Wow, Americans sure are gullible, this game isn't particularly rare. I should start building a collection and sell them on Ebay.
I can't really answer that because Dazza reviewed Donkey Kong before I even worked for the site, but I would give Donkey Kong a 2/5 as well, just because it's such a sloppy port - One entire level is missing!
@Adamant - We just try and review each game on it's own merits. The fact is the NES port of Donkey Kong isn't great and besides that the gameplay gets much too repetitive. It's not like we give all aged arcade games poor scores, Bubble Bobble scored quite well for instance.
I know - that's the substance part. Bubble Bobble has a lengthy quest with tons of tricky levels, rather than a pure hi-score focus, like Devil World. I agree Bubble Bobble is awesome, but it's not really the same type of game as these others. Look at games like Balloon Fight (3 stars), City Connection (2 stars), Clu Clu Land (2 stars), Dig Dug (3 stars), Donkey Kong (2 stars), Donkey Kong Jr (2 stars), Donkey Kong 3 (2 stars), Galaga (3 stars), Mario Bros (2 stars) and Pac-Man (3 stars) - all the same type of "endlessly repeating levels with a hi score being your only goal" gameplay as Devil World, and all criticized as "too simplistic/outdated/short/substance-less". What does Devil World have that none of these games have?
I'm not complaining about the 4 star rating given Devil World, it's a great game, but so are a lot of the other games I listed - what makes them so much worse?
@TheLuigiDude
"Knowing Nintendo, it will. But frankly I could care less about this game"
No offense to LuigiDude meant but am I the only one that doesn't get why Americans use this phrase. Its a complete contradiction in terms. If you "could" care less then that means you do actually care, no?
$200? Is that the Japanese or EU version?
Maybe if the EU cart is rare like I heard, but I remember paying around $20 for the JP cart, which still felt high.
@Betagam7
Totally agree with you there mate, it's so annoying - You couldn't care less. Not could. Couldn't. Think about it.
20$ is about par for your average non-supercommon PAL NES cart. Game prices on average being higher in Europe - just because a game might seem a tad pricey to you doesn't make it rare, it makes your expectations wrong. You can get a complete PAL Devil World for 30-40$, that's not particularly expensive.
I don't get why religious people would see fighting the devil as bad... that sounds a little backwards to me. Of course fighting the devil as a weird little dragon is a bit abstract, but I still think this would be more offensive to people who don't like Christians than it would be for people who are Christians. I guess some folks are just so sensitive they don't bother to look at the details, and just get scared off by the "Devil World" title.
But then it does seem like the loudest members of a given group are also usually the silliest.
I would download this for the Christianity alone. (Now if only my parents would know that, though the game says "Devil World," THE DEVIL IS A BAD GUY THAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DEFEAT. Then again, they do not know about this game...)
EDIT: By the way, dragons represent the Devil in the Bible, so some will call this game blasphemy due to the Christian/Catholic dragon....
And yes. I am Christian. (Protestant, to be more specific.) Please do not perform a Brutality on me.
So you play as a dragon, who represents the Devil, and you're fighting against the Devil? He kills himself?
just downloaded it , now i dont dissagree with the 3.75* rating but... i think this is a great game , all thouse who like pac-man will enjoy this tital:)
@Betagam7 and dufftastic
It is not "Americans" that use the phrase. Please don't generalize it like that. It is some Americans who don't know the phrase and write/type/say it wrong. It should be "couldn't care less," but some people just don't know this. They have said it a certain way for a long time and no one has corrected it either because they were trying to be polite and not offend, or they didn't know themselves. I am American and it bothers me as well.
Other things that bother me that I've heard people say or seen people type...
"A lot" is two words. It is not "alot." Try looking "alot" up in a dictionary. It's not there for a reason. It's not a word. What really bothers me is when I try showing this to my students and they see the word "allot" and think it is the same thing, refusing to actually read the definition and see that its meaning is not even close to what they are saying.
The contraction "could've" is short for "could have" not "could of." This is something that people type based on how it sounds. They say could've like "could of." So instead of writing "could have" or "could've" they write "could of."
I've heard people say that something is a "mute point." No. It's a "moot point."
My point is, there are a lot of sayings and phrases that people say or write the wrong way either out of laziness or ignorance. Sometimes, people just don't care enough. "It's just an online post, it's not a doctoral thesis."
I also mean no offense to anyone. I am certainly not in the majority. For the most part, it is not your fault, you just don't know and no one has corrected you.
Saisinkolimonadin-san: "So you play as a dragon, who represents the Devil, and you're fighting against the Devil? He kills himself?"
That seems to be the point in a lot of games, but not here. The dragon is apparently Catholic/Christian here, yet you made a point.
By the way, Jesus did say something about "a house divided against himself cannot stand" regarding someone casting out demon in the name of the Devil...
@MarkyVigoroth: Abe Lincon also said the same about the USA. Makes sence; I never connected the Bible passage to the Presidential quote before.
Moving on... People are delving way too deep into this, turning it into a theological discussion. The game has little Devils (foes) and crosses (power ups). Just take them for the face value that this is merely just a cute game.
Anywho, in responce to the religious debate, I am adding my 2 cents. Christianity and Science can and do coexist - as much as fundamentalists try to bash evolution, there is nothing in the Bible that actually refutes it. In fact the logical order of the "seven days" in the Creation story in Genesis actually support the notion of evolution, with varying stages ranging from the formation of the planets to the dawn of life, ultimately resulting in humans being the pinnacle of creation. Also, the Big Bang theory is all the more proof that a God exists, as there is no other scientific explanation as to the supernatural force that triggered it. I am a Christian who believes in GOD as well as science.
And I think Terranigma and Damo can back me up on this one: Just like the Catholic Church excommunicated Galileo for his "blasphemous" idea that the Earth was NOT the center of the universe, so too are modern Christians dismissing the concept of evolution as part of GOD's creation. Galileo was pardoned by John Paul II. Maybe someday three or four hundred years from now, they will pardon Darwin as well, but I don't see it happening in my lifetime. I am done ranting.
@StarDust: Actually, I'm pretty sure that Benedict XVI pardoned Darwin not too long ago. I'm not sure, but I recall hearing something about it.
StarDust-san: In reality, the Bible says that every creature reproduced after its own kind, so evolution is excluded. (And besides, if a perfect God created everyone in a perfect design to the point of making man after his own image in a separate act, is there a need for evolution?)
Anyways, true science is in harmony with the Bible; the atheistic "authorities" simply try to exclude the Bible from science as an attempt to "prove" that God does not exist. Unfortunately for them, Creation is easier to believe and prove than evolution.
In another point, yes; this is turning theological, yet people always seem to take a lot of attention to Christianity. (People always bash Christianity, by the way...)
About this whole science vs. religion issue: Scientists try to create a model of the universe that works by itself, according to logical laws, without outside assistance (to put it bluntly, without a god who frequently needs to wind it up or tinker with it). That does not disprove god, nor do they wish to do so (you could just as easily say that god created the universe to work independently, without his continued maintenance). Unfortunately, the church(es) take offense at this, because they claim it's reducing the influence, and thus the power of god, although it is mainly reducing their own influence (if praying doesn't result in celestial interference, why bother with donations?). Therefore, the clash is mainly science vs. church (the organisation), not science vs. religion (the belief system). This is my personal opinion and observation, and it is not intended as an insult, merely food for tought.
But before this board gets even more theological, we should consider why this game features this Christian theme in the first place. Because I think that they merely wanted to create a game with a moving maze, and when tinkering with the level designs, they realized the most interesting shape to put at the "center" would be a cross-shaped one, because it forces the players sidewards and acts as a good divider. And then, when they saw this prominent shape, they thought "Hey, what with the cross and such, why not give it a Christian theme? Makes it more exotic (the game originates from Japan, after all)". So I don't think we should try too hard to find any sort of religious symbolism in it, and merely enjoy this rather interesting little gem (and it would also make it easier to explain why it features a cute little dragon as a hero character, even though St. George clearly showed how the Christians thought about dragons).
Of course, as I so frequently point out, I might be dead wrong
So now the whole pointing gimmick in Brawl makes sense. And here I was just thinking that Devil was in the nWo.....
Why dosen't the usa have this game yet I can't wait to play it any longer.
I think I'm going to get this game when it comes out. The Devil World levels are my favorites on PictoPics
There is no such thing as evolution. That's my argument.
About the game: It's a decent little Pac-Man clone.
STILL waiting for this game...also, for the record, I agree with Eltigro. "Could care less" and those other things he ranted about are all stupid lingual butchering, and I will have no part in it.
Arrg, when is this coming out?
It's only the best pac-manesque maze game ever made :C
Two and a half years since it released in Europe and it still hasn't come to North America.
It also hasn't gained any further controversy either, which should support a North America release, especially since I imagine that North America is a less religious place then Europe (At least the generally Christian countries). So those saying that it hasn't released due to religious reasons are just arguing someone as it if was an issue, when it isn't at all.
And another thing, The Devil from this game did appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I don't see a lot of complaining about it either from religious fundamentalists.
I have no clue why this hasn't shown up in NA. Maybe it'll be NA's last Hanabi festival game, but hopefully they will release it, as there is no reason not to release it in today's society.
...Or at the very least, in Canada and South america if the US may have problems with it.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...