Demon Stalkers

Game Meta:

Other Names:

The Raid on Doomfane (subtitle)

Release Year:

1987

Genre:

Action, Editor

Creator:

Steve Wang (Design, Programming), John Reidy (Design, Programming), John De Margheriti (Design, Programming), Stephen Lewis (Design, Programming)

Company:

Micro Forté Studios (Developer), EA (Publisher)

Platform:

Commodore 64, DOS

“Demon Stalkers” is an action RPG / editor – construction set game. It is essentially a “Gauntlet” clone. You must travel through ninety-nine mazes before meeting the final demon. The game features different enemies as you progress through the mazes, with clues to progression built in. There’s a two-player co-operative mode. The in-built level editor uses pull-down menus and offers a high level of flexibility. As well as creating actual levels, you can create an integrated storyline and game world, as the text on scrolls can be edited. You can choose to control either the hero, armed with throwing knives, or the heroine, armed with a crossbow.

The game shipped with a “Magic Cipher” three cardboard wheels that when dailed to the correct positions revealed the passwords that were needed to access some of the lower levels of the dungeon. It worked as a basic form of anti-piracy as without the passwords players could not unlock new areas of the game. Some of the vital text on the cipher wheels was in a tone of blue which at that point could not be photocopied. De Margheriti lamented that in a year you could photocopy the blue, but EA liked the gesture.