NES Alphanumeric! #062: DEMON SWORD
9I live stream 8-bit Nintendo games on original hardware at least once a week, usually WedNESdays from 10–11 p.m. Eastern, and I sometimes play other games on Friday nights or whenever the mood strikes and I have time.
MINI-REVIEW: DEMON SWORD was unexpectedly a ton of fun! From a few minutes of playtime in the past and some videos, it looked like it might be a confusing mess, but it's actually quite a breezy platformer with fair challenges and some neat features. As Adam Heine commented in the chat, the powers you get make you feel cool — and there are a lot of powers. It was a little disorienting at the beginning, and the controls are undeniably floaty, but rather than poor programming, it feels like it was all designed this way. Despite the mystifying hit detection (I still haven't figured that out), the nonstop action, bright and colorful sprites and levels, and the fact that the game is forgiving (especially for more skilled players) but doesn't hold your hand, I highly recommend trying this game out. For $5 to $10, you can't go wrong. I definitely plan to play more of this, and dig into my copy of the similar (but unrelated) Legend of Kage, as well as the Famicom version of this game, Fudou Myouou Den, which apparently has an additional six levels and some other differences throughout.
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UPCOMING "NES ALPHANUMERIC!" LIVE STREAMS
Dick Tracy - 5/2/18
Donkey Kong 3 - 5/9/18
Dr. Chaos - 5/16/18
Dragon Power - 5/23/18
Dragon Spirit: The New Legend - 5/30/18
Dragon Warrior II - 6/6/18
Dragon Warrior III - 6/13/18
Dynowarz: Destruction of Spondylus - 6/20/18*
BONUS STREAMS (usually Fridays) | Current Game: LUIGI'S MANSION
"Front-Loaded": Misc. NES games, including and especially homebrews
"Play it Old!": SNES, Gamecube, Wii, and games for other retro systems
"Dot Matrix Reloaded": Game Boy games via Super Game Boy 2/SNES
"Too Many Buttons": Modern games
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EQUIPMENT LIST
Consoles:
Nintendo Entertainment System — NES-001 (Front Loader)*
Super Nintendo Entertainment System — SNS-001 + Super Game Boy 2
Wii — RVL-001
Gamecube — DOL-001
Raspberry Pi 3, Retropie
Monitor: RCA E13320 (13" CRT)
Capture: Dazzle DVC 100 (composite)
PC: Asus Zenbook UX305
Software: OBS Studio
Mic: Audio-Technica ATR2100-USB
Headphones: Sony MDRZX100 ZX