Demon Turf is the story of a feisty young demoness vying to become the ruler of the underworld, developed by Fabraz and published by Playtonic Games. It's buoyed by a unique spirit and experimental gameplay, but it tries to reinvent the wheel one too many times. A very specific audience is going to enjoy what's on offer immensely, but others won't need more than a brief sojourn into its dazzling world to burn out on the novelty of its actual game mechanics.
Demon Turf's tutorial lays out a plethora of movement and combat mechanics with no rest in between, expecting players to master a complex control scheme instantaneously. This has the benefit of giving players the full arsenal of moves right from the get-go, but it can be overwhelming for anyone not going after the demanding trophy times in each stage.
It's virtually effortless to get protagonist Beebz from place to place, thanks to sharp controls and leniency in air movement. That freedom comes at the cost of level design, which is meticulously overdesigned to let players show off just how much freedom they have. Thin walkways and giant vertical rooms make Demon Turf challenging from the onset, and despite colorful graphics that would seem inviting to a younger demographic, the core gameplay caters only to those who've spent significant time with similar 3D platforming.
This feeds into one of Demon Turf's signature innovations. Instead of checkpointing players throughout a level automatically, the game takes a page from Shovel Knight and gives full control to whoever is holding the controller. Beebz has a handful of flags she can plant throughout levels that serve as checkpoints, but they're all completely optional. The difference from Shovel Knight is that while Yacht Club's game had checkpoints built-in before challenging sections, Demon Turf makes players guess what lurks ahead.
The first world does give suggestions on where to plant flags, but then Demon Turf lets go of the reins, which feels like a mistake. It's frustrating to traverse several complicated sections and get in the zone, only to die once and warp back to the beginning. That experience will almost certainly happen on loop over the course of the game's 15-20 hours, especially if Demon Turf players switch back and forth to other modern games that save every few minutes. As an optional hard mode designed for the speedrunning crowd, this would be a cool feature, but having this as a standard implementation further pushes the game away from accessibility.
While it's clear that Demon Turf isn't for everyone, it does serve its hardcore audience very well. There are tens of stages to go through, each with a second run that mixes things up à la fellow nostalgic platformer Yooka Laylee. This is on top of a wealth of side missions that provide even more challenging platforming scenarios, even if it doesn't seem that way going in. From a soccer match to a retro arcade game, each devolves into some sort of platforming reminiscent of the main game.
One aspect of gameplay even Demon Turf's ideal audience may dislike is its combat sections. Stages typically have at least one or two arenas to face off against demonic pigs, and Beebz can push them around with a powerful shove that has a few different variants. Like the rest of the game, the combat looks smooth and exciting, but the gameplay degenerates quickly into mashing a single button. Stopping the entire level in order to perform this command at seemingly random intervals is awkward, especially since it never feels engaging or rises to the challenge level of the rest of Demon Turf.
Beyond the platforming, Demon Turf's strongest trait lies in its presentation. Just like the demons in classic FPS DOOM, Beebz and the demonic residents of her underworld home are 2D sprites living in a 3D space. The effect is consistently stunning to look at and provides plenty of opportunities to express lots of character emotion. This boils down to a thick layer of '90s attitude that permeates through the proceedings at every turn. From characters with distinctive vocal barks and the tendency to rap, to the inexplicable ability to have Beebz sit on chairs throughout the world, Fabraz nails the feeling of a character-driven game.
Despite a welcoming graphical style, Demon Turf prides itself on the type of challenging gameplay that defined the platforming genre in years past, and that excludes a whole host of potential players as a result. Anyone looking for simple fun rather than a new obsession will find only frustration in Demon Turf's platforming layouts and its checkpoint system - even as they take in the impressive visuals and funky soundtrack. Demon Turf feels like a missed opportunity for its engaging, interesting new world to be catered to such a niche audience. Perhaps these lost levels can give way to an adventure with Beebz that's more up to speed with the general public, but for now, Demon Turf is well worth a try for hardcore platforming fans and difficult to recommend for those less fond of the genre.
Demon Turf will release on November 4 on PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. Screen Rant was provided on Xbox Series X copy of the game for the purposes of this review.