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Developer: Capcom
System: Super NES
Year released: 1994


The story (from the U.S. instruction manual):

A Legend of Two Realms

Many, many years ago it was a time of fantasy and intrigue. Legends passed from generation to generation. People loved to spin tales of great warriors rising up against the tyrannical forces of those who ruled.

One such legend spoke of a world that was once divided into two different lands. The two realms existed in harmony: one ruled by humans, the other ruled by demons. There was rarely conflict between the two realms until one fateful day.

Six magical stones fell from the sky into the demon's realm. Inscribed on the stones were the Crests of Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Time and Heaven. These crests, when united, would grant unimaginable power.

Soon the demons began to fight over these magical crests. The demon realm erupted into civil war. The land was in turmoil over the stones until finally one red demon emerged with five stones by defeating the others. This demon was known as Firebrand.

Firebrand was not satisified that possessing the Crests of Fire, Earth, Air, Water and Time would end the war. He then challenged the Demon Dragon for the Crest of Heaven. After a long and desperate battle, Firebrand slayed the Dragon and gained the final Crest. But the price of victory was high. Firebrand was critically wounded.

Firebrand also did not realize that while he was obtaining the Crests, his success only moved him closer to failure. The jealous demon Phalanx secretly trailed Firebrand and waited for just the right moment.

"I have defeated the Red Demon!" Phalanx cried. "I shall reign supreme! With the power of the Crest, both the demon world and the human world are mine!"

Firebrand vowed revenge on Phalanx. Phalanx was clever, though. He separated the crests in case someone did rise up to challenge the power he possessed.

And now someone has risen to the challenge. The legend of Firebrand is about to unfold in the search of the Demon's Crest!

Firebrand

The red demon awakens to excude revenge on Phalanx and recover the stones of the Demon's Crest! It's up to you to guide Firebrand through the demon realm to locate the stones and gain spells, potions, talismans and coins.

* * *

Read the review that Bryan Cord wrote for the Classic Review Archive here.


Screenshots:

Click on any screenshot to see it fullsize.


Weapons:

Crest of Fire weapons:

Firebrand begins his quest with a portion of the Crest of Fire, but must find four other weapons to complete the crest. Each weapon of the Fire Crest has a different function but all are activated by pressing the B button. Here is a description of the weapons.

  • Fire - Firebrand's normal fire weapon has long range but little effectiveness against enemies.

  • Buster - The buster has the same range but much more power. Allows Firebrand to blast through stone blocks.

  • Tornado - Use the tornado to reach higher areas. Only two tornados may appear at a time.

  • Claw - The claw will grab onto walls with spikes. Shoot the claw at the spikes, and Firebrand then can grab onto the claw and climb up the dangerous walls.

  • Demon Fire - This is the most powerful fire in the realm!

    Powers of the Crest:

    Find the stones that make up the Demon's Crest and Firebrand can morph into another form. Not only is it important to find the stones to save the Demon Realm, but there are many abilities and special powers granted by each stone. Here is a description of each stone and its powers:

  • Crest of Earth:

    Morphs Firebrand into the Ground Gargoyle, who has great speed and the strength to break stone statues.

  • Crest of Air:

    Firebrand becomes the Aerial Gargoyle and can soar much higher in the air. Weapon is very powerful disc. Aerial Gargoyle cannot grab hold of walls or platforms.

  • Crest of Water:

    Allows Firebrand to survive in the water as the Tidal Gargoyle. When morphed into any other form, Firebrand cannot survive underwater. The Tidal Gargoyle allows him to breathe and search the depths. His tidal weapon can break some stone blocks that are submerged.

  • Crest of Time:

    Slows time down and allows Firebrand to become the Legendary Gargoyle. It decreases the amount of damage inflicted by enemies. Also, Firebrand's skin shall become like iron to help reduce damage. Overall, the Legendary Gargoyle reduces the damage by one-half.


    Potions:

  • Mercury (costs 6 Gp) - Escape from an enemy

  • Sulfur (costs 10 Gp) - Flee from a battle

  • Herb (costs 25 Gp) - Restores some vitality

  • Elixer (costs 100 Gp) - Grants an extra life

  • Ginseng (costs 140 Gp) - Restores all vitality


    Spells:

  • Shadow (costs 10 Gp) - A barrier of darkness will surround you.

  • Hold (costs 20 Gp) - All enemys will be held in place for a short time.

  • Imp (costs 25 Gp) - An imp will appear and work for you. You must have money to keep him employed.

  • Shock (costs 50 Gp) - The earth will quake and all enemys on the ground will be damaged.

  • Death (costs 80 Gp) - All enemys on screen will die.


    Shops:

    Trio the Pago's Gaming Shops

    Throughout the realm, Trio has set up gaming shops for demons. As you enter the gaming shops, you see many torches burning brightly above Trio. If you pay Trio his fee, you may earn more G.P. by head-butting a certain number of skulls that appear and quickly disappear throughout the holes in the wall within Trio's shop. Depending on the skill required, Trio will ask for a larger fee, but you may earn more G.P. or other prizes if you are successful.

    The Black Lotus, Wise Man and Talisman Shops

    These shops allow you to fill your velliums or urns. The Black Lotus shop is run by Phorapa, who sells potions to fill your urns. The Wise Man shop is run by Morack and offers spells for your vellums. The Talisman Shop is run by Malwous. While you find talismans in the realm, Malwous will identify the talismans and tell you what they do for you.


    Tips and codes:

    Stage One bypass:

    Enter the following code to bypass level one and automatically receive the first crest:

    F K K P
    G R K Z
    W Q R G
    N Z C M

    Play the game with only bosses:

    To fight only the first dragon and the bosses, enter the password:

    R B N L
    X H G B
    V G B B
    L Y L D

    Secret stage:

    After you obtain the Time crest and the map screen shows, go north to the ice palaces and enter the palace(land there). When you start go straight. Fall into the pit, before you fall off the screen pause the game. Press L, R, X, X, Y, X, X, B, A, B, Up, Down, Start

    Start with all 5 vials:

    To start will all five vials, press and hold A at the title screen (the burning background). Keep holding A until you press START to select a new game. You can't do this when starting a game with a password or using options.

    Ultimate Gargoyle:

    To get the Ultimate Gargoyle that combines the skills of all your forms, enter this password:

    Q F F F
    K N R R
    D D L R
    X G T Q

    The Ultimate Gargoyle also has a charge up attack similar to Megaman's X-Buster. Press and hold the fire button to gather energy and when you're ready release the button to unleash a devastating blast.

    General Arma


    Ending screens:

    Normal ending
    Bad ending
    Good ending
    Ending pics courtesy of Rey of the Video Game Museum

    News from Sara Jones - there's a fourth ending to Demon's Crest that features General Arma! According to her, this is how you get it:

    In Demon's Crest, when you first start out, you should NOT beat all three forms of Arma. Keep one of his forms alive and beat Phalanx before you even get the Tidal Gargoyle. When you beat round one of Phalanx he'll try to summon the Ultimate Gargoyle... but it doesn't work. Phalanx will just die. THEN THE AWESOME PART COMES!!! It will tell you that without Phalanx, the Demon Realm will be in great chaos. Then a REALLY KICK BUTT pic of Arma shows up. He says that with Phalanx gone that he shall become ruler of the Demon Realm. You gotta beat Phalanx REALLY early to see this. IT'S AWESOME!!!

    Check out the link below to see this ending (pics courtesy of Sara)!

    Arma's ending


    Additional media:

    U.S. front cover
    U.S. back cover
    U.S. cart
    Japanese front cover
    Japanese back cover
    Japanese manual cover
    Japanese cart


    *all info from the instruction manual is © 1994 Capcom*

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