The land of Urican is a peaceful one, protected by the almighty Urican Demons. In this world, demons are the protectors of peace and prosperity, fraught with the power of crystals as their lifeline. Of course, that peace is disrupted by the arrival of mysterious, evil entities, causing the land to be usurped into a storm of chaos. Ghouls, wraiths, and other fiendish foes roam the lands. Seeing the chaos unfold, it is up to you and three heroic demons to rid the world of these monstrosities and secure peace upon the land. The method is quite simple: grab a gun and shoot absolutely everything you can. This is the world of Demon’s Crystals, developed by Bytes 4 Games and published by Badland Games. While the premise may sound reused from other games, especially in the sea of other twin stick shooter available out there, Demons Crystals surely packs a resounding punch, especially for those looking for a quick, but solid good time.
Demon’s Crystal is a twin-stick shooter, where you and up to three additional players volley across multiple levels, slaying an assortment of supernatural enemies in an effort to rid the land of evil. Players can choose one of three demons, each with their own look and shooting ability. Upon choosing your demon, your are immediately placed onto the battlefield that is your home, and go straight to work, slaying dozens upon dozens of enemies. The levels are divided into three sections of the world. At the end of each section, there is a boss fight that players must contend with. The goal is to defeat the three mysterious entities that have inhabited the land of Urican.
Demon’s Crystals challenges players to complete specific objectives in each level, over several waves. These range from collecting crystals to destroying all the enemies to slaying a particular type of enemy. As you are a demon with supernatural powers, you are swift and have the ability to move quickly across the board. However, you must keep to the objective, or the level will start over again. As Demon’s Crystals is a twin-stick shooter, players will utilize a fantasized firearm and magic power to dispatch foes. For some reason, guns are still the preferred method for successfully eliminating magical foes. What that reason is, does not matter as there are a plethora of enhancements to be made.
During the course of each level, players can gain access to different kinds of firearms and attributes. Different machine-gun spreads are available, such as the classic, three-dimension spread as made famous in Konami’s Contra games. however, there are multiple ones that can have players shoot in multiple directions, from circular patterns to an almost spider-like direction. Additionally, players can gain access to rocket launchers, shotguns, and mega-sized bullets that can level the playing field in a pinch. As this is a magical adventure, there are other magical power-ups, such as turning big and crushing your enemies across the board. These powerups do vary the experience and keep players on their toes as the gameplay is fast and swift. Finally, players can level up during each play, as their experience allows their health to expand and defenses to be raised. This is important as the game features 8 game modes, including local co-op and couch multiplayer.
As an avid player of twin-stick shooters, Demon’s Crystals is a good experience. Every bullet dodged and enemy downed feels exciting, and the further you go, the more you want to play. Out of the other shooters, I have played, the game’s speed is what sets it apart. As mentioned several times before, the game is fast which is written into the gameplay mechanic. If players do not move quickly enough, they will lose. This also goes doubly for the boss fights, which despite being a handful, are still fun and engaging in each level.
Finally, the presentation is solid. The game has a distinct look and sound, from the world levels into the isometric view of the action. The graphics are pretty standard, with nothing extraordinary. However, the most important aspects in these games are gameplay, which is what you’ll be focusing on the most during your playthrough of Demon’s Crystals. If there are any drawbacks to the game, it would have to be for a lack of boss fights and online connectivity. Having an online co-op server would have been fantastic and more levels would have allowed showcasing more of this unique fantasy world.
Demon’s Crystals is a solid twin-stick action offering with fast, frantic, action, good combat, and an interesting fantasy world to fight your way through. The game is good fun, despite its shortcomings, and those looking for good old-fashioned couch co-op will certainly find plenty of entertainment here. And at $4.99, it’s pretty hard to argue the value for the fun. Demons Crystals is a good time with a touch of shooting magic.