Demon Stalkers

Last updated
Demon Stalkers: The Raid on Doomfane
Demonstalkerscover.jpg
Developer(s) Micro Forté
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts [1]
Platform(s) Commodore 64, IBM PC
Release1987: C64
1989: IBM PC
Genre(s) Role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player, two player

Demon Stalkers: The Raid on Doomfane is an action role-playing video game released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 and in 1989 for IBM PC compatibles. The game is a top-down dungeon crawl about killing monsters during the descent. A sequel, Fire King , was released for the same systems.

Contents

Gameplay

The game can be played in either single player mode or two player co-operative mode, using two joysticks, or a joystick plus keyboard. Players can choose to control either the hero, armed with throwing knives, or the heroine, armed with a crossbow. During the game, players will find various relics which permanently increase attack power, defense, or magic power, as well as an arsenal of magic scrolls, and special amulets that create temporary effects. Food can be picked up to heal damage, but occasionally turns out to be poison which hurts the player. Similarly, some scrolls turn out to be a "slow death curse," which takes a way the player's health continuously until death, unless the exit from that level is found. Enemies in the game include rats, ghosts who can walk through walls, dervishes who can steal a player's possessions, snappers who remain dormant until disturbed, and mad mages, who shoot fireballs. These monsters emerge from special spawning areas called vortexes, which can be destroyed by the player with several shots, except for the rats, who emerge from indestructible sewer grates.

The dungeon consists of many interconnected maze-like levels which rooms, hallways, and doors. There are several multi-level mazes, where the player must ascend and descend between levels several times before finding the correct path. The collecting of keys to open doors is a fundamental part of the game, while fighting against a horde of monsters. Most of the levels entail some sort of puzzle solving, involving clues in the form of scrolls that are picked up along the way. These scrolls also tell the story of an unsuccessful group of adventurers who journeyed through the dungeon before the current players. This ill-fated party included members Arthur, Bloodaxe, Grindlewald, Furrowfoot, and Imelda, as well as Mellack, a mage whom the previous adventurers met along the way. Correctly answering some questions after each story section yields bonus health points.

Level 100 is unique in the game, as its geography includes large, irregularly shaped caves, rather than straight or diagonal walls as in the other levels. Level 100 also only features one enemy, the demon boss, Calvrak. Demon Stalkers includes its own level-editor, allowing the player to modify all levels except 100.

Reception

A review in Computer Gaming World , comparing the game to Gauntlet , noted "Gauntlet seemed to have ten times more monsters than Demon Stalkers. Thus, despite the similarities, Gauntlet is primarily an action game and Demon Stalkers is a search game with action thrown in." [2] The review concluded by saying neither game would disappoint. [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Bloodwych</i> 1989 RPG video game

Bloodwych is a dungeon role-playing video game, a dungeon crawler, developed for the Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum. Its box featured artwork by Chris Achilleos. The plotline identifies the player as a champion of Trazere who, after recruiting up to three fellow champions, travels through dungeons and mazes fighting creatures along the way to find and destroy the evil Zendick, and banish the Lord of Entropy.

<i>Pool of Radiance</i> 1988 video game

Pool of Radiance is a role-playing video game developed and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc (SSI) in 1988. It was the first adaptation of TSR's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) fantasy role-playing game for home computers, becoming the first episode in a four-part series of D&D computer adventure games. The other games in the "Gold Box" series used the game engine pioneered in Pool of Radiance, as did later D&D titles such as the Neverwinter Nights online game. Pool of Radiance takes place in the Forgotten Realms fantasy setting, with the action centered in and around the port city of Phlan.

<i>Gauntlet II</i> 1986 arcade video game

Gauntlet II is a 1986 arcade game produced by Atari Games that serves as the immediate sequel to the original Gauntlet, which was released the previous year. Like its predecessor, Gauntlet II is a fantasy-themed top down dungeon crawler game and was released as a dedicated cabinet, as well as a conversion kit, both available in 2-player and 4-player versions.

<i>Realm of Impossibility</i> 1983 video game

Realm of Impossibility is an action game created by Mike Edwards for the Atari 8-bit family and published by Electronic Arts in 1984. It was originally released in 1983 as Zombies and published by BRAM, a company formed by Edwards and a friend. BRAM previously developed and published Attack at EP-CYG-4.

<i>Gauntlet</i> (1985 video game) 1985 arcade game by Atari Games

Gauntlet is a 1985 fantasy-themed hack-and-slash arcade game developed and released by Atari Games. It is noted as being one of the first multiplayer dungeon crawl arcade games. The core design of Gauntlet comes from 1983 Atari 8-bit dungeon crawl game Dandy, which resulted in a threat of legal action. It also bears striking similarities to the action-adventure maze game Time Bandit (1983).

<i>Sword of Fargoal</i> 1982 video game

Sword of Fargoal is a dungeon exploration video game by Jeff McCord, published by Epyx for the VIC-20 in 1982 and the Commodore 64 in 1983. The game was originally released on cassette tape and 5¼" floppy disk formats.

<i>Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum</i> 1986 video game

Might and Magic Book One: The Secret of the Inner Sanctum is an early role-playing video game, first in the popular and influential Might and Magic franchise. It was released in 1986 as New World Computing's debut, ported to numerous platforms and re-released continuously through the early 1990s.

<i>The Bards Tale II: The Destiny Knight</i> 1986 video game

The Bard's Tale II: The Destiny Knight is a fantasy role-playing video game created by Interplay Productions in 1986. It is the first sequel to The Bard's Tale, and the last game of the series that was designed and programmed by Michael Cranford.

<i>Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord</i> 1981 video game

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord is the first game in the Wizardry series of role-playing video games. It was developed by Andrew Greenberg and Robert Woodhead. In 1980, Norman Sirotek formed Sir-Tech Software, Inc. and launched a beta version of the product at the 1980 Boston Computer Convention. The final version of the game was released in 1981.

<i>Rod Land</i> 1990 video game

Rod Land, known in Japan as Yōsei Monogatari Rod Land, is a 1990 platform game originally developed and published in arcades by Jaleco.

<i>Xybots</i> 1987 video game

Xybots is a 1987 third-person shooter arcade game by Atari Games. In Xybots, up to two players control "Major Rock Hardy" and "Captain Ace Gunn", who must travel through a 3D maze and fight against a series of robots known as the Xybots whose mission is to destroy all mankind. The game features a split screen display showing the gameplay on the bottom half of the screen and information on player status and the current level on the top half. Designed by Ed Logg, it was originally conceived as a sequel to his previous title, Gauntlet. The game was well received, with reviewers lauding the game's various features, particularly the cooperative multiplayer aspect. Despite this, it was met with limited financial success, which has been attributed to its unique control scheme that involves rotating the joystick to turn the player character.

<i>Gateway to Apshai</i> 1983 video game

Gateway to Apshai is an action-adventure game for the Commodore 64, ColecoVision and Atari 8-bit family, developed by The Connelley Group and published by Epyx as a prequel to Temple of Apshai. It is a more action-oriented version of Temple of Apshai, with smoother and faster graphics, streamlined controls, fewer role-playing video game elements, and fewer room descriptions.

<i>Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters</i> 1989 video game

Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters is a multidirectional shooter released in arcades by Atari Games in 1989. The game is styled after campy science fiction B movies of the 1950s. It was ported to the Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, SAM Coupé, and ZX Spectrum.

<i>Gemstone Warrior</i> 1984 video game

Gemstone Warrior is a video game written by Canadian developer Paradigm Creators for the Apple II and published by Strategic Simulations in 1984. It is 2D action-adventure game where the player controls an armored figure searching for treasure and the pieces of the stolen Gemstone. Gemstone Wariror was SSI's first game to sell over 50,000 copies in North America.

<i>Savage</i> (video game) 1988 video game

Savage is an action game developed by Probe Software and published by Firebird Software in 1988 for ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, and MS-DOS. In 1989 Firebird published a version for the Amiga.

<i>Aztec Challenge</i> 1982 video game

Aztec Challenge refers to either of two early action video games published by COSMI, as well as two subsequent remakes. In all game versions the player takes control of a running Aztec warrior. The first was a side-scrolling platform-jumping game created by Robert Tegel Bonifacio and released in 1982 for the Atari 8-bit family. Subsequently, a different game with the same title and overall theme was created by Paul Norman and released for the Commodore 64. It includes a level in a modified-first-person 3D-style.

<i>Dandy</i> (video game) 1983 video game

Dandy is a dungeon crawl maze game for the Atari 8-bit family published by the Atari Program Exchange in 1983. It is one of the first video games with four-player, simultaneous cooperative play. Players equipped with bows and unlimited arrows fight through a maze containing monsters, monster spawners, keys, locked doors, food, and bombs in search of the exit leading to the next level. If a player dies, they can be revived by finding and shooting a heart. The game includes an editor for making new dungeons.

<i>Gauntlet III: The Final Quest</i> 1991 video game

Gauntlet III: The Final Quest is a home computer game by U.S. Gold and Tengen it was released in 1991 for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC. Besides the standard four main Gauntlet characters, Thor, Thyra, Merlin, and Questor, four new playable characters were available: Petras, a rock man; Dracolis, a lizard man; Blizzard, an ice man; and Neptune, a Merman. The game is viewed from an isometric perspective and the cooperative multiplayer mode only supports two-players.

Pool of Radiance is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms campaign settings of Dungeons & Dragons; it was the first Dungeons & Dragons video game series to be based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules.

<i>Wayout</i> 1982 video game

Wayout is a 3D first-person perspective video game programmed by Paul Allen Edelstein, originally published for the Atari 8-bit computers in 1982. It was released for the Apple II and Commodore 64 in 1983. Wayout is among the first maze games to offer full 360 degree 3D perspective and movement, and its graphics were considered state-of-the-art upon its release. There were many pseudo-3D maze games at the time, but they used a fixed perspective and limited the player to four orientations.

References

  1. Kosek, Steven (December 11, 1987). "Here are the absolute, absolute latest computer games". Chicago Tribune . p. 210. Retrieved November 25, 2021 via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 Choi, Yung Min (April 1988), "Ramparts and Rodents: A Look at Two Action Adventure Dungeons", Computer Gaming World , pp. 40–41