Dark Adventure

Dark Adventure is a dimetric action-adventure game where an archaeologist named Dr. Condor discovers the coffin of a demon in ancient ruins. During a press conference, he opens the coffin and is transported into another world alongside a reporter named Labryna and another archaeologist named Zorlock. The three heroes must fight through the Devil World to defeat the evil Demon King. The game can be played by up to three players simultaneously, each starting with a different weapon: Labryna wields a sword, Condor uses a whip, and Zorlock carries a spear. Players use an eight-way joystick and three buttons for jumping, attacking, and throwing dynamite. The goal is to collect keys and unlock exits across 40 areas, fighting minotaurs, skeleton warriors, swamp monsters, giant spiders, and rats. The game features limited lives and a health gauge that gradually drains, requiring players to pick up soft drink cans to survive. Power-ups include flamethrowers, laser guns, speed boosts, shields, and magic orbs.

Arcade

Released in North America on May 22, 1987, and in Japan on October 14, 1987, Dark Adventure was the first Konami arcade game to allow three players simultaneously. It runs on hardware featuring two Motorola 68000 CPUs and a sound system with a Z80 chip, Yamaha YM2151 FM synthesizer, and custom Konami IC. The game was also released as Majū no Ōkoku in Japan and as Devil World in Europe, but these versions differ significantly. Due to the complexity of the North American version, it never fared well in arcades, leading Konami to update the game just one month later. The updated versions reduced the player count to two, replaced melee weapons with firearms, used a Gradius-style power-up meter, and restructured the stages to a linear 19-level format.