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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/demonwld.png]]
2 [[caption-width-right:350:''Who you gonna call?'']]
3
4When ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' meets ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}''.
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6''Demon's World'' (known internationally as ''Horror Story'') is a 1989 RunAndGun action game developed by Creator/{{Toaplan}} and Creator/{{Taito}}, one clearly riding the coat-tails of the then-recent ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|1984}}'' franchise [[note]] the first film came out three years before; coincidentally it's released a month ''after'' the second [[/note]] where instead of having aliens, robots, or terrorists in the usual role of {{mooks}}, the game features supernatural forces as enemies instead.
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8Anyway, the ExcusePlot this time have a demon lord (one which is unnamed, the whole game) unleashing his brood on mankind, and it's up to the player(s) - an expert Ghost-Buster armed with a laser cannon (powered by a generator on his back that looks ''suspiciously'' like the proton pack) capable of hurting the supernatural to clean the streets. Stages leads from America (where battles against the supernatural in the city leads to a Red Indian burial ground) to Asia and Europe (ranging from a Meiji-era Japanese garden to a Chinese palace and a Medieval-style castle) before confronting the demon lord in his domain.
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10An emulation port of this game was released in 2023 as part of ''Zero Fire'', a CompilationRerelease alongside ''VideoGame/Hellfire1989'' and ''VideoGame/ZeroWing''. It requires a digital purchase for the digital edition of the game, and is included with the physical edition.
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12Not to be confused with ''VideoGame/DemonFront''. Same genre, but different setting.
13----
14!! Demon's World contain examples of:
15* AirborneMooks: Crows and bats, winged demons, floating skeleton archers, hovering ''chōchin-obake'', Chinese dragons and the like.
16* AnimatedArmor: Floating, sentient armor appears as enemies in Europe, fittingly in a stage set entirely around a gothic castle.
17* AsteroidsMonster: Vampire mooks, upon being hit, turns into a small handful of bat mooks and continue attacking.
18* AutoScrollingLevel: All of them.
19* {{Balloonacy}}: Occasionally in-game, a gigantic balloon (whose sprite is as large as your character's) will float into view, where you can jump to grab onto them to float a bit, either to cross platforms too wide to leap across, avoid enemy attacks, or grab bonuses out of reach.
20* BatOutOfHell: Small bats are a common flying enemy that can be killed in just one shot.
21* BossOnlyLevel: The final stage simply consists of the FinalBoss.
22* CaptainErsatz: Your playable characters wants to be ''Ghostbusters'' so much, that it ''hurts''.
23* CartoonBomb: One of the possible weapons, its explosions stay on the screen for a while and thus are particularly effective against enemies like the segmented dragon mooks.
24* ChineseVampire: They appear in (where else?) the China stage. On ''bicycles'', somehow, and are lethal to the touch.
25* CreepyCrows: Crows are another recurring flying enemy that swoops around trying to peck you. They're faster than bats or imps, though.
26* DemBones: Walking skeletons are a recurring enemy the entire game, from skeleton archers in Japan to pirate skeletons in Europe. And at least the first two bosses, the Red Indian skeleton shaman and the samurai skeleton warrior (see below). The PC Engine port adds a mid-stage boss in the United States stage: an undead skeletal cowboy floating up and down while shooting scorpions.
27* DetachmentCombat: The Japan stage ends with a boss fight against an animated undead {{Samurai}} warlord, appearing as half a floating body holding a spear and can [[LosingYourHead detach it's cranium, which floats around]]. It can attack you as two entities, the body trying to skewer you with it's spear while the head floats around attempting to bite you.
28* {{Dracolich}}: One of the Western dragon bosses appears to be undead, since you can see its ribs jutting out from the torso.
29* FlyingOnACloud: You encounter Chinese sorceress enemies (resembling Princess Iron Fan from the myths) who ride on clouds and can shoot projectiles on you using their fans.
30* FlyingSeafoodSpecial: Taking a break from the undead-themed ghosts or zombie enemies, one area set atop a lake have floating jellyfishes and squids as enemies.
31* FrankensteinsMonster: An occasional enemy who's pretty slow on it's feet, who appears early on and crumbles into dust after defeat.
32* TheGoomba: The pink, dopey-looking ghosts that you encounter right at the first stage, whom are slow, attacks by floating towards your direction trying to touch you and reasonably easy to kill. They appear in large numbers early on but you'll stop seeing them after the first boss.
33* GoombaStomp: Interestingly enough, this is one of those run-and-gun arcade games that allows you an alternative of stomping enemies instead of shooting them; in fact large enemies that takes multiple shots to defeat (e.g. Chinese dragons) can be dealt with instantly with a well-timed head-stomp.
34* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe:
35** The skeleton enemies in Japan have only half a body, for some reason. Just a floating skeletal torso with nothing under the waist.
36** Europe have animated armor enemies missing their lower halves. All of them.
37* HauntedCastle: The setting in Europe have you infiltrating one of these, filled with ghouls, living armors, skeletons and the like.
38* HelpfulMook:
39** Stages in Japan have lakes and rivers too wide to jump across, and no balloon to grab and use for floating across. But conveniently there are occasional {{kappa}} popping out of the water allowing you to use them as a GoombaSpringboard for crossing.
40** Europe have fiery pits ''without'' platforms, which would be impossible for you to advance over, if not for the various coffin-carrying ghosts passing by allowing you to hop over the coffins they're carrying.
41* HitodamaLight: Floating blue flames based on hitodama appears in Japan, and can damage you with a single touch. Interestingly, they're the only ''yokai''-themed enemy that made it out of their level, showing up in China and Europe.
42* HockeyMaskAndChainsaw: One of the mook-level zombie enemies wears a hockey-mask looking exactly like Jason Voorhees, though without the chainsaw, preferring to attack you with a knife instead.
43* InvincibleMinorMinion: The helmeted heads going back and forth on the platforms before the haunted castle's entrance can't be destroyed, only jumped on.
44* MagicalNativeAmerican: The first boss is an ''undead'' version, an animated Red Indian skeleton sorcerer (wearing a Native American Headdress and poncho) who floats around and drop stone heads from above as an attack.
45* ManOnFire: The headless zombies in the European stage stop and catch fire after being shot, turning into another obstacle.
46* MonsterMash: The game employs pretty much every classic monster as minor enemies within the game, from zombies and ghosts to Frankenstein's monsters, vampires and skeletons, you name it. Though it starts spicing up things halfway through by adding ''yokai'' and Chinese mythological monsters in the mix.
47* MookMaker: The level in China ends with you battling a massive stone Chinese dragon boss, who spends most of the battle dispensing smaller Chinese dragon mooks from it's mouth as it floats around the boss area until you destroy it.
48* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Of both the Eastern and Western variety.
49** The stage in China have elongated serpentine Chinese ''long'' as recurring enemies, requiring multiple shots to take down - their bodies decrease in length after being hit, until they're a single head left. The stage's boss notably dispenses these enemies en masse.
50** Europe have two huge European dragon as bosses, of the bipedal draconic variety, appropriately enough fought in a room filled with flames where you need to jump around platforms to avoid getting hit.
51* PornStache: Player 1's attire includes this and sunglasses.
52* ReformulatedGame: Some versions have the levels shuffled around, starting in the China stage instead of the United States one. The European medieval castle is always the final stage, though.
53* SnotBubble: The small sleeping vampires in the United States and Europe stages have these before waking up.
54* SpreadShot: An upgrade grants your weapon the option to fire spreads of three per shot.
55* StationaryBoss: The Demon Lord FinalBoss who's behind all the supernatural activities, when you face him in the final stage, turns out to be confined to a fleshy, cage-like structure in one side of the screen, where he's entirely unable to move. Though he does have the ability to sic homing fireballs on you.
56* UniqueEnemy:
57** The first stage has a one-of-a-kind zombie / ghost (it's not really made clear) carrying a lantern and in a black suit balancing itself on a barrel that you randomly encounter.
58** {{Man Eating Plant}}s are encountered in ''one'' area within the entire game.
59** There are several fat ghosts resembling ''Ghostbusters'''s Slimer, but only one of them is green like its inspiration.
60* WaddlingHead: A recurring enemy type, either as those gigantic skulls moving on spider-legs, or detached zombie heads who can move on their own, or sentient medieval helmeted heads...
61* {{Yokai}}: The stage in Japan is filled with these enemies, from pools infested with ''{{kappa}}'' to hopping ''{{karakasa}}'' to burning ''chōchin-obake'' and ''rokurokubi'' who extends their necks while trying to breath fire at you...

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