Dezaemon Plus (1996)

Developer: Athena
Publisher: Athena, MonkeyPaw Games
Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation, PlayStation Portable
Genres: Shooter

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

Playing Dezaemon Plus feels like fiddling with a toy box of icons and sprites to build your own vertical shooter rather than simply blasting through someone else's.

creativeexperimentalopen-endedtinkeringcustomizablesci-firetro arcademodest pacing

About

Dezaemon Plus is an updated PlayStation release of Dezaemon on the Super Famicom. Both games allow players to create their own vertical shooters through use of an icon-driven tool set. Players can control enemy placement, behavior, weapons, powerups, boss firing points, and so on. A graphics editor allows players to draw backgrounds, along with sprites for players, enemies, and even explosions. A music editor, very similar to the one in Mario Paint allows players to construct background themes for each level. Players are limited to a maximum of five levels, and a limited amount of shared memory for all graphics.

Screenshots

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More by Athena

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.