80
PLAYERS 1
STAGES 9
SKILL LEVELS 3
SUPPLIER Dream Machines
Robin Wyles wondered if the Game Gear could in fact be just an Arkanoid machine in disguise
Just a few releases into the Game Gear's life and it has already cloned one of its games. Chronologically, Woody Pop was the first Break-Out game to appear so Devilish could, technically speaking, be described as a Woody Pop clone. But after the initial disappointment of seeing that familiar bat and ball at the bottom of the screen, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Devilish is probably the best, most innovative Break-Out variant on any console.
Devilish consists of two bats stacked on top of each other. The bottom one behaves like a normal bat and moves along a horizontal plane, while the top one can move in all directions, even splitting up into smaller ones or turning 90°.
The main premise of Devilish is to direct a ball through a maze of obstacles - including walls, moving scenery, aliens, etc. The maze is made up of a massive scrolling area around which the ball must be directed (hence the turning bat). Bulldozer tactics are generally the best if you can control the ball with the movable bat and bash your way through walls.
Visually the game is very reminiscent of the PC Engine game Devil Crash, with tombstones and deformed corpses littering the backgrounds. Combined with the nine multi-directional scrolling play areas, this makes a very addictive and onginal Break-Out derivative.
GAME GEAR
GRAPHICS 82
✔ Detailed backdrops and sprites.
✔ Fast and smooth scrolling.
SOUND 69
✘ Effects are very average.
✔ Music throughout the game.
PLAYABILITY 79
✔ A bit easy on lower levels.
✔ Extremely addictive and original.
GENKI 80
£18.95 • IMPORT
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