Demon's World is a platformer

Platform game

A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...

 arcade game

Arcade game

An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...

 that was developed by Toaplan

Toaplan

, sometimes written as Toa Plan, was a video game developer from Japan. They were responsible for the creation of a wide array of relatively famous scrolling shooters and arcade games, yet the company declared bankruptcy in 1994.-Games developed :...

 and published by Taito

Taito Corporation

The is a Japanese publisher of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito has their headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company....

 in 1989. This game is multi-regional, meaning that it can be configured for different regions via the DIP switch

DIP switch

DIP switches are manual electric switches that are packaged in a group in a standard dual in-line package...

es. These settings change the legal warnings, can display the Taito licensing message and can change the title between the English version (Demon's World) and the Japanese version (Horror Story). http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=7554

Gameplay

Demon's World consists of several linear autoscrolling stages. Armed with a gun, complete with energy pack similar to the Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters (franchise)

Ghostbusters is a supernatural comedy multi-media franchise created in 1984. Its inception was for the movie Ghostbusters, released on June 8, 1984 by Columbia Pictures. It centered around a group of eccentric New York City parapsychologists who investigate and capture ghosts for a living...

, the player must shoot or jump on various ghosts and monsters that infest each area. Along the way, the player can collect a power-up to change his gun to fire lasers, bombs, or even 3-way bullets.

The game's opening stages begin in an eastern setting, featuring various spirits and creatures of Japanese folklore

Japanese folklore

The folklore of Japan is heavily influenced by both Shinto and Buddhism, the two primary religions in the country. It often involves humorous or bizarre characters and situations and also includes an assortment of supernatural beings, such as bodhisattva, kami , yōkai , yūrei ,...

. Some of these include karakasa, chochinobake

Chochinobake

' are a type of Tsukumogami, a form of Japanese spirit that originate from objects reaching their 100th year of existence, thus becoming animate. Chōchin'obake in particular are created from the chōchin lantern, composed of bamboo and paper or silk...

, kappa, hitotsume-kozou and rokurokubi

Rokurokubi

are yōkai found in Japanese folklore. They look like normal human beings by day, but at night they gain the ability to stretch their necks to great lengths. They can also change their faces to those of terrifying oni to better scare mortals....

. The game then changes course, moving to a ghostly pirate ship and then the haunted American Old West

American Old West

The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...

, featuring a ghost town

Ghost town

A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...

 and a canyon inhabited by traditional ghosts and monsters familiar to western culture like Frankenstein's monster

Frankenstein's monster

Frankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name...

, Dracula

Dracula

Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...

, and even Jason Voorhees

Jason Voorhees

Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. He first appeared in Friday the 13th , as the son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S...

 look-alikes. The game's final stretch takes place in a medieval

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 setting complete with cursed castles and dungeons infested with haunted armor, goblins and dragons.

Ports

Horror Story was ported and released, only in Japan, on February 26, 1993 for the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² video game console

Video game console

A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...

. This port was published by NEC Interchannel (then NEC Avenue).