Play Devil World Online

Summary

Devil World is a quirky maze chase that feels like a twisted Pac‑Man, but with a distinctly Nintendo flavor. Shigeru Miyamoto directed the project while Takashi Tezuka, fresh from his full‑time start at the company, handled the pixel art – he didn’t even know Pac‑Man at first and had to follow Miyamoto’s step‑by‑step sketches, which is why the player sprite ends up being squashed against the walls. The game’s most infamous quirk is its use of religious symbols, a detail that blocked a North American launch for decades until Nintendo’s content policies relaxed enough to let it finally appear on Switch Online in 2023. After its original Famicom debut, the title resurfaced on the Wii Virtual Console across PAL regions, where critics praised its inventive graphics and oddball charm; IGN even placed it among the top Pac‑Man clones, and Eurogamer gave the re‑release a solid 7/10. All of this makes Devil World a rare glimpse into Miyamoto’s early console‑only experiments and a reminder of how cultural standards can shape a game’s journey.

Storyline

In Devil World (often just called Devil World on the NES), Player 1 pilots Tamagon, a green dragon, who sets out to attack the Devil’s World, with a red‑colored version available for Player 2. Tamagon must thread his way through a series of maze‑like stages filled with monsters, and he can only breathe fire and eat the scattered dots after touching a Cross, which grants him temporary power.

A massive winged demon known simply as “the Devil” hovers at the top of the screen, pointing in a direction that directs four of his minions. These minions shift the maze using pulleys and ropes, and their movements can trap Tamagon between a wall and the moving outer boundary. After clearing the first maze, the goal changes to locating four Bibles, placing them into a seal, and thereby gaining the same abilities the Crosses provide.

Once the seal is completed, the Devil flies to the next maze. Between each main stage, a bonus maze appears where Tamagon must collect six Bonus Boxes before time runs out.