Nintendo was a different company in the 80s and 90s than it is now. Whereas now a series like Bayonetta has become synonymous with Nintendo, Nintendo of America once was very averse to ever letting in even a mention of anything religious. Something with the word Devil was definitely out, and as such America missed out on Devil World.
What is Devil World though? Well, Devil World is a game made by the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto himself and was an interesting one. This is a game that was heavily inspired by Bandai Namco’s Pac-Man but also managed to have some very unique ideas and create a very different experience.
The game sees you played as a dragon named Tamagon who must attack the titular Devil’s World, a world composed of mazes that the Devil can manipulate by moving them around while his minions chase you. This is a major difference from Pac-Man as it is now the maze itself here that is the threat to you.
Levels would also have you locate and use bibles and crosses to get new powers, and you can defeat the enemies chasing you for a time when you have one of these items, but without them, you cannot collect the pellets that dot the maze and your cross and bible only last for a set amount of time and must be recovered. It is easy to see why Nintendo of America at the time declined the game, since while the hero is most certainly not a satanic figure and the devil is the bad guy, Nintendo of America just shied away from anything religious back then. and the use of crosses and bibles as power-ups meant that the game just wouldn’t pass censorship. That said there is another theory.
Indie Gamer Chick has put forth a theory that the game was passed over for a North American release, not due to its content but due to its gameplay. Devil World may be an innovative maze game but as a maze game, it was still similar to Atari titles. Considering that this game was released early in the NES lifespan and Nintendo had some Atari-like games already on the system, they may have simply chosen to not bring Devil World to America because of the fear all their games would be seen as Atari-like, and due to the North American video game crash having been only a few years before, this was still a major concern.
Looking back on it, I feel this is a shame. The game is often written off as a Pac-Man clone but that is unfair, as it took its inspiration and went in a new direction. The game was localized for the West in Europe, but now for the first time, it has come to North America on the Nintendo Switch Online service. This is an excellent Nintendo classic that all can now experience and all should to see just how innovative and great this game truly is.
Disclaimer: Image was taken from an online search prior to the release of the game’s NSO release and was used for an earlier article.
