Devil World - 10/5/84

Pac-Man in hell. That's the quick synopsis of this bizarre game. You are some manner of lizardish thing who must pick up hell-dots while avoiding one-eyed creatures. There are a few important differences from Pac-Man. The first is that your creature can't just pick up dots on his own. He requires the help of Devil World's power pellets - crosses. Picking up a cross allows you to eat dots. They remain even after they are picked up. They also give you the ability to shoot fire, which is the way you can turn the enemies into something that you can eat. The other change is that the playing field scrolls around, restricting your freedom of movement. The devil at the top stamps his foot and the field starts to scroll in a different direction. Getting caught between the edge of the screen and one of the walls will cause a life to be lost. There are a few different kinds of levels. The first is the eat the dots type. The second has your lizard picking up books from the corners of the screen. The books must be taken to the stone in the center of the screen. There are also bonus rounds where you are given only a short amount of time to pick up items for points. This game is one of the few variations on Pac-Man that actually has enough differences to make it a new experience. Keeping track of the scrolling playfield, and having to always have a cross active makes the game a tense experience. Also, the change of having to shoot the enemies mean that just because a power-up is active you aren't necessarily safe. Lots of fun, highly recommended.