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Demon's Crest, known in Japan as Demon's Blazon Makaimura Monshō hen (デモンズブレイゾン -魔界村紋章編-, "Demon's Blazon: Demon World Village - Crest Arc"), is a side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Capcom in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third video game starring Firebrand (an enemy character from the Ghosts 'n Goblins series, known as "Red Arremer" in the Japanese version), following Gargoyle's Quest and Gargoyle's Quest II.
Storyline
Firebrand is on a quest to collect all of the elemental Crests, magical stones which preside over their respective elements (Fire, Earth, Water, Air, Time, and Heaven). It is said that when all crests are combined, the Crest of Infinity will appear, allowing its holder infinite power, and the ability to conquer any and all realms with it. However, during his quest, he is gravely wounded in a battle with the Demon Dragon in his efforts to claim the Crest of Heaven, and his nemesis Phalanx uses Firebrand's moment of weakness to attack him and steal all of his crests for himself, with the exception of the Crest of Fire which was broken into pieces in the fight (Firebrand still has one shard of it at the game's outset). Having fallen back to earth in the coliseum where he fought the Dragon earlier, Firebrand is forced to destroy him for good to survive, so that he can go after Phalanx and reclaim the Crests. Whether Firebrand wants them for power, glory, or some sort of revenge is never stated. However, during the True Ending, which you attain once you defeat the "Dark Demon", it is stated that "Realizing that his true power is not derived from the crests, Firebrand disposed of all the crests." With that information, it can be inferred that Firebrand was perhaps collecting the crests in an attempt to discover said "True Power".
Gameplay
The player collects different 'crests' which, when equipped during the game, allow to change into different-ability Firebrands. Some of the possible powers are Earth, Wind and Water. The player also collects talismans, magic potions and other equipment during the journey.
The gameplay is a mix of standard platforming, with mild RPG elements. Each level can be played multiple times, and often the player has to revisit a level with new Crests to access areas, items and bosses that he or she could not before.