It’s time to jump into one of the new NES online games that has surfaced. Devil World is interesting because the gameplay is really not what you’d expect when you jump into it. It plays a whole lot like Pac Man to the point where they copied the fruits (switched to desserts) idea as well as the monsters chasing you. I like it but it doesn’t beat the original.

The gameplay is easy to describe, you have to eat all of the pellets in a maze before you get tagged by one of the monsters trying to destroy you. To protect yourself you have to pick up a cross which allows you to shoot blasts of fire at these creatures. You also aren’t able to pick up pellets unless you are holding the cross so keep that in mind. The cross only lasts for a few seconds so then at that point you have to pick up another one or you are really going to be a sitting duck there. So don’t let the opponents get the upper hand or you’re doomed.

Each stage has 2 levels to it. Once you beat the first level then the second has you collecting 4 Bibles to seal up the portal of doom. You basically have to carry the book over to the entrance and you’re good. In some ways this level is a lot easier than the first because it gives you unlimited firepower until you drop it off and then you just repeat that until you’ve done it 4 times in total. Of course the one tricky part is being patient here because if you go to the center too quickly you may find yourself surrounded.

There is one big change compared to Pac Man though which is that the devil is constantly moving the screen. If you get caught being a little too slow then you will be squished and that will be game over. Additionally this mean some pellets will go off screen and you have to wait until the next rotation in order to grab them. It’s actually a pretty interesting gimmick that does help to differentiate this from Pac Man. Granted I really don’t think you needed this gimmick but it’s a good way to really test your skills. I would make the case that it increases the difficulty level right out of the gate compared to Pac Man. In a lot of ways for Pac Man you’ll probably master the first 20 levels or so after playing it enough times while the screen shifting here adds a whole other dimension to it.

The graphics are fun enough for the NES. You can easily tell where everything is and the screen is always clear. The game never lags and the screen never gets too cluttered either. The music isn’t particularly memorable though. Pac Man at least has the fun stage transitions and such which have iconic sounds but this one is a lot less memorable. Fortunately the gameplay itself makes up for that and of course there is pretty much unlimited replay value to be found here. You can be playing the levels over and over again for pretty much forever. I can especially see this being fun to play with friends and trying to get the highest score.

Overall, There’s not a lot more to say about the game beyond that. It’s a very simple game and that’s what makes it fun. You can jump into the adventure at any time and just work on getting as far as possible. It’s easy to just pick up and play and from there it all comes down to your strategy skills. So even if someone has a 1 year head start on you, it’s completely possible that you could just go in and start getting a higher score. I love strategy titles like this. Again that’s why Pac Man is the better game though since without the screen moving it is complete strategy but this is still a fun little rival to play from time to time. I bet it would be a hit at parties since most people don’t even know about it. The best tip I can give is to just be really patient here and wait for the right path to open up.

Overall 6/10