Demon Blue

STORY / GAMEPLAY
Harrison, a mischievous schoolboy, felt that school lessons are just boring, so he took his fishing equipment and headed for the local pond. While he was sitting on the bank side, he saw a big fish jumping out of the water! And there he was! Trying to catch this fish and show to his friends how clever he is! Unfortunately the hero slips and falls into the water and that was the last someone ever saw poor Harrison! All of the sudden, the young boy finds himself into a fantasy world swarmed by strange creatures. Hidden energy pots for food and eight scattered keys will help free Harrison from this trap and bring him back to land as an older and wiser person! OK, all you have to do is to collect the key for each level exit and make a hasty escape. You jump over several platforms collecting jewels (for bonuses) until you finally find the key needed. Although its catchy story, the game fails to "catch" your interest for too long. There is no shooting! You just jump over the enemy sprites! It's seemingly impossible though to guide Harrison into safety, as the enemies dominate the screen in such a way that, there is no chance to avoid collision with them and thus, losing energy easily! More on that, you can only jump forwards so you need to turn before you can jump on the opposite direction! It's a difficult platform game and, although it's great visuals, the gameplay can tease your...nerves!

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The game runs on either EGA or VGA mode. I have placed side by side a few shots below to compare (VGA to the left, EGA to the right). Both versions look pretty good. The EGA version has up to 12 colors on-screen while in VGA mode the number is increased to 16 (only). Note that VGA mode is also superior due to its few extra details, mostly on the backgrounds, but still, both versions look quite the same. All backdrops are nicely detailed while the sprites move fast and smooth. The game's sound is equally great, with excellent tunes at the main menu and a few nice sound effects during gameplay (but no in-game music at all). The game supports AdLib and Sounblaster sound hardware.