Holy Diver

The Good
In the 666th year, Ronnie IV, the 16th Crimson Emperor, realizes that he is on his last legs so one of his final acts is to hook his two infant sons, Randy and Zakk, up with his faithful servant, Ozzy. Together, they are transported to another dimension in the hope of defeating Black Slayer, the Demon King of the Underground Dark Empire, who has planned the destruction of the Crimson Kingdom. Over 17 years, the three train themselves to become wizard kings. Something happens to Ozzy and Zakk, leaving Randy to defeat Black Slayer, who had eventually ruled over the countryside. To do this, five Crimson Emblem Seals must be obtained in order to end his reign.

Holy Diver is an action game reminiscent of Castlevania, featuring characters named after rock legends. It never saw a release outside Japan, probably due to the use of the word “Holy” in the title and religious imagery throughout the game. That remained this way until Retro-Bit released the collector’s edition of the game for a limited time. It is also one of the few games from Irem not to debut in the arcades. In the game, you go to the end of each of the game’s six stages, killing enemies unique to each stage and defeating one of Black Slayer’s henchmen at the end of each. Coming into contact with them drains your health, and the player loses a life when you run out of health. When killed, enemies leave behind red and blue potions; when collected, they award you with more health and mana, respectively.

The difference between this and Konami’s game is the use of magic spells needed to overcome most of the obstacles, and you get a new one when you defeat a boss. One of the first spells turns lava pools into blocks of ice which you can walk on, and you can even shoot your way through them. Another one lets you destroy a huge demon face, which prevents you jumping up to a platform. There are a total of five spells, and you can select them by pausing the game and activating the spells on the status screen. Next to the name of the spell is a number indicating the mana you will use when the spell is activated.

Each stage in the game has their own backdrops, and these look impressive. Also impressive is Randy’s appearance, as well as his walking animations. The enemies and the bosses look good, too. Some of the music pieces in the game have a beat to them, while some of them are much darker in tone, such as the music for each boss battle. As I have mentioned earlier, Holy Diver has a lot of religious imagery. For example, you see Zakk pinned to a crucifix when you are defeating the boss in the fifth stage.

The Bad
The music is the same for each boss fight, and it did my head in. Also, there is some kickback when you are hit by an enemy, and it is annoying when you are on a narrow platform and one of the enemies makes you fall off, into whatever dangers lurk below.

The Bottom Line
Holy Diver was an extremely rare game because it was only released in Japan. The game plays similar to Castlevania. However, to get through most of the levels, you have to put several magic spells to good use. The game is very good, but I found the kickback annoying and there is some irritating music, such as that used in the boss battles. If you like Castlevania, then this title is worth checking out.