Between the hackneyed dialogue, voice acting, and sprites, many classic arcade games offer up a certain vibe of 80s video game storytelling. At PAX East this weekend, Demon Throttle throws those ingredients into a blender and distills them into a knowingly campy callback to classic titles. The old-school shooter offers up the chance to play as one of two bizarre heroes, a gunslinger or a vampiress. Oh, and they’re married.
Starting up the demo, I hear sensual moaning, accompanied by a goofy image and a caption, which of course reads, “Sensual moaning.” The newly minted vampiress remarks, “Those demons stole my chalices!” Her husband’s response, “That demon kissed my wife… or something.” Even the acting evokes the barely audible recordings that would come from arcade cabinets, further evoking a bygone era and mining it for comedy. Demon Throttle previously appeared at E3 last year, but PAX East gave a longer look at the shooter game.
The faux-retro title played fine on my own, and without a computer playing as my partner I could switch back and forth between the gunslinger and vampiress. The two both blast out little fireballs, but these have different trajectories for each. The gunslinger fires his projectiles along a straight path while the vampiress sprays hers diagonally. Switching to co-op proved the ideal way to go, as both characters could inhabit the screen at one time. Shooting the enemies cleared the way until arriving at the the boss, while shooting the terrain provided power ups and hearts.
If all that wasn’t old-school enough, developer Doinksoft and publisher Devolver Digital partnered with Special Reserve Games for a physical only release. That’s right, Demon Throttle will arrive for Nintendo Switch solely on a cartridge. However, players still have options. There’s a $30 physical edition of the game and a $40 special edition that comes in unique packaging, which is currently sold out. However, both editions come with reversible jacket artwork, an instructions booklet, and even stickers.
Demon Throttle evokes classic NES and arcade titles and will consist of four stages each with a final boss. Players can get to shootin’ later this year when the game releases in 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.
