Clash at Demonhead
NES
Vic Tokai
1989 1990
Clash at Demonhead is something of an oddity, being a true Fami/NES exclusive. No ports, not found in a collection, never even officially emulated. The only way to play this bastard is to track down a cart or fire up NESticle and use the severed hand cursor to navigate to your ROMz collection (I'm dating myself here). One could call this an obscurity, though it gained a small boost of popularity some years ago when it was referenced in that terrible, corny Canadian comic/movie about the guy who inexplicably wants to date a woman with a LETHAL body count. I won't mention the name. Clash was developed by Vic Tokai, who also made those two Fami/C64 oddballs (Aigina's Prophecy and Chester Field), the dreadful Kid Kool plus its successors, and the (actually pretty good) shmup Trouble Shooter plus its OBSCENELY expensive sequel (hellooo repro carts).
This is one of the precious few 8-bit games whose plot is the defining and best element of the entire experience. Clash at Demonhead is funny, in a very specific way that can't be replicated: a melding of lol random Japan and whoa radical dude it's the 90s now America. The protagonist is some cool dude named "Bang" who's interrupted on a beach date with his hot woman and is told he must rescue the inventor of the doomsday bomb (this person is worth rescuing??). This takes him on an adventure with a bunch of odd NPCs, each with a surprisingly loquacious disposition. Quirky characters aside, the game's odd nomenclature is the most endearing part. NPCs will exclaim NO if shot, the "cut scenes" are affectionately labeled TALKING TIME, and the talking skeleton is given the "normal man" name of Tom Guycot.
This is a platformer, and something of a nontraditional Metroidvania. Rather than containing a single seamless massive interconnected world, Clash is instead comprised of 42 short replayable stages (or "routes"). Completing a route (and many have two exits) will give access to others, selectable from a cursor-driven world map. The goal is to collect all the essential items (most notably six medallions) before besting the worst of the bad guys in route 42. Bang can jump and duck and crawl and has a default blaster with infinite ammo. When visiting the shop, additional guns and suits may be purchased. The big guns have ammo limits but are pretty strong. Suits are used for otherwise inaccessible areas and have time restraints. A jet pack for flying, an aqua lung for swims, and a super suit for deflecting lava burns... there's also a set of boots for faster runs and jumps though I never found much use for it. There's additionally "force" -- the "magic" of the game -- the ability to shrink (mandatory), teleport (sanity-saving), and do a few other cool things. Shopping is an unusual ordeal. There's only one store with a fixed location, in route 5. Beyond that you must summon the store by buying a "call" item... at the store. In other words, you need to do this every shopping trip; it's a bit tedious. Receiving a password to continue also requires a purchase and use of an item, though this seems moot in today's world of emulation (NESticle, right?). Speaking of route 5, it holistically feels like the game's intended "hub" -- it's extraordinarily easy to farm for gold here, and every item can thus be obtained early in the game.
Now, I see this game receiving high ratings from places like GameFAQs and whatnot, and it's a bit mystifying. There are a couple of serious flaws that drag Clash down a few pegs. First, while the basic gameplay isn't bad per se, it's far from exemplary. Combat feels fluid in some stages, awkward in others. And always a tad slippery. There are far too many flickerin' flyin' enemies that are tough to avoid; often I found that I'd take fewer hits by just barreling through specific routes as opposed to stopping to engage in combat "properly." Difficulty is also front-loaded, as it often is in games of this style. That initial life bar is pitifully small (it grows eventually), making some of the earliest environments the toughest. This rule extends to bosses too: I found the first to be the most difficult while the final few could be bested by simply equipping decent gear and then button-mashing. Second, is the issue of navigation. There's no consistency here. Example: imagine you're in route 19. Exit on the left and you're given the choice to visit route 13, 26, or 28. Exit on the right and you can get to route 16 or 18. Excuse me?? Even teleporting is a bit more awkward than one would imagine. God help anyone who tackles this without the help of Nintendo Power issue #10. And the aesthetics? Music is shrill and repetitive, without a true standout track. Graphics are a mixed bag. Enemy sprites look okay, but backgrounds range from plain and forgettable to downright hideous.
Clash at Demonhead is ultimately equal parts campy and janky. Too amusing to hate, too deficient to love.
Rating: 3/5
Reviewed: 07/09/25