Demon Killer

Video game stars, heed my words: if you're in a relationship, end it now.

History dictates that however well it may be going, however close the bond between the two of you, someone somewhere is going to come and snatch that princess away from you, using her as bait to drag you through a series of levels pumped with peril.

In Demon Killer's case, that someone happens to be a demon lord named Malaki, who steals your other half in an attempt to sap her blood and open the door to the Kingdom of Twilight.

Like the most bizarre episode of The Jeremy Kyle Show ever, the game tasks you with chasing him down, using your ability to change into a demon summoner to wipe out his minion legions and free your paramour from his clasp.

If that sounds like complete hokum, it is. Demon Killer is, in fact, a fairly plain side-scrolling beat-'em-up that resembles the love child of Altered Beast and Streets of Rage. The problem is, it has the subtlety of neither.

A good kicking

The majority of levels are fairly standard affairs, where enemies - which range from typically savage degenerates to WWII zombies - appear on screen in small packs, your primary action being to give them a solid thwacking with the '5' key.

Each beastie takes several kicks before they fall for good, any contact with them naturally depleting your – initially meagre – health.

Every brute you take down adds credit to your tally that you can trade in at any time to upgrade your HP, or even extend your abilities or magical prowess.

As play moves forward, such additions to your arsenal become vital – tapping the '7' key, for instance, unleashes a brief burst of energy that takes down multiple opponents at once, while the '1' key summons your inner powers, causing wings to sprout from your back and blue fire to burst from your arms.

In short, it makes taking down your foe a touch easier, but also saps your energy.

This makes Demon Killer a typical case of choosing just when to transform and use the easy way out, and when to battle on the old fashioned way, punching and kicking through the hordes while risking being taken down yourself.

While some stages put a unique spin on this setup – an early level charges you with firing missiles at a dragon while in flight – Demon Killer generally plays the same trick from beginning to end, the only difference being each new level is slightly harder than the last.

Simply hammering the '5' key level after level does not an inventive side-scroller make, and while Demon Killer is free of any slip ups or gaffes, it's also lacking when it comes to creativity.

From the banal, almost self-deprecating storyline to the plain manner in which the game's challenges are delivered, Demon Killer plays out like a lukewarm attempt to capture an old skool magic it doesn't quite understand.