DemonStar - Classic Demo

The shoot ‘em up genre can trace its roots back to classics like Asteroids and Space Invaders, although they have come a long way since then. On the other hand, the underlying formula did not change all that much in the meantime, given the fact that you do more or less the same thing nowadays as well. You don’t need much to have fun in space, though, which is why it’s always a blast to shoot lasers at alien spaceships.

DemonStar - Classic is a retro shoot ‘em up that tries to revive the genre and keep the gameplay as classic as possible. There are not many original concepts at play, but the game can still be tons of fun in the right hands. In short, the formula is more or less the same, which means that you have to pilot a spaceship and use your onboard arsenal to destroy everything in your path.

The story is nothing out of the ordinary either, since it’s the same old rant about the future and wars between species. You do not need to know too much about the plot to have fun, on the other hand, so you can pretty much just ignore the story altogether. In fact, the game is just a series of levels put together with no real connection between them, with the end goal being to clear them all.

Gameplay-wise, all you need to do is survive the constant onslaught of enemies and shoot back to destroy them as quickly as possible. The ships get more powerful as you manage to reach the later stages, and you have to pay attention to their deadly attacks. Boss fights are very challenging as well, although they get a lot easier to handle once you figure out their attack patterns.

Speaking of which, your ship can be upgraded as well by collecting power-ups dropped by destroyed enemy ships. However, your weapons are reset if you die, which means that you revert back to the most basic attack. The visual quality is nothing out of the ordinary, but it should be enough to keep your imagination active all the way through.

All things considered, DemonStar - Classic is exactly what you expect it to be, especially if you are familiar with the genre. Even if it looks a bit too old nowadays, the game can still hold its own, and the difficulty level should keep you on edge level after level.