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Irem's Holy Diver is a Famicom action/adventure game that was due to be released in the U.S. in 1989 but was canceled due to reasons still unknown to us. There was even a picture and a short writeup run in Electronic Gaming Monthly that year stating that it was due out here, but for some reason the game was pulled. As is usually the case with most Japanese games that aren't released outside of Japan (except for the really high profile ones), we'll probably never know why. If you happen to stumble across a copy, though, grab it. It's a very fun game in the vein of Castlevania.

The resemblance to Castlevania is what attracted me to Holy Diver in the first place: the main character resembles a Belmont, and a lot of the enemies have attack patterns like the ones in Castlevania. For that matter, the game has a supernatural feel to it - you fight demons and monsters while descending into what appears to be the underworld. The game itself plays like a cross between Castlevania and the first generation Sega Genesis game Mystic Defender, and it reminds me of a lot of some NES games that came out right around that time (Kabuki Quantum Fighter, Shatterhand, Shadow Of The Ninja and the first NES Batman specifically). Your character (I'm not sure of his name) shoots fireballs out of his hands like Joe Yamato (the hero of Mystic Defender).

There are five levels in the game, and unlimited continues. There are no passwords, though it would have been nice. Graphically, the game is nicely done, having some of the better-looking graphics I've seen come out of the NES. The controls are fairly smooth, although jumping and switching weapons in the middle of battle can be a pain sometimes. The game is tough, so don't expect to walk right through it, but the unlimited continues definitely help. A lot of the enemies take several hits before they go down, so I'd recommend using a controller with a turbo setting for your regular weapon. Also, the music is quite good... although a little annoying at times.

I've had a copy for several years now, and have yet to really make a lot of headway in it - the furthest I've made it is to level three. It's a definite keeper, though... and to think, I almost sold it back to the guy I got it from. That would have been a mistake, as there's very little chance I could track down a copy of it these days. However, the ROM is readily available for download, so why not track it down and give it a shot?

- Rob