ST: Demon Front ( PGM ) -WIP-

For posting and requesting strategic gameplay tips on shmups!
Post Reply
User avatar
jcmorris
Posts: 91
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2015 1:45 am

ST: Demon Front ( PGM ) -WIP-

Post by jcmorris »

I would like to create a thread where we can compile a comprehensive list and share relevant information about
Demon Front Strategy!


This is a WIP and will be updated as new information is available. Im not some superplayer or the like, just a guy who loves this game and wants to create a place to source information about it! I will be adding photos for context as well. Everything here is based off of my personal experiences playing the game. If you see something missing or wrong please speak up!! I greatly encourage other to chime in and bring to the table what they know that can be added to this guide! :mrgreen: For reference, please be specific as to which version of the game you are playing (v1 Cart, or V1.1 PCB) and the region. I am using v1.1 PCB (Korean).

Table of Contents:
1) General Game Information
a) Other notes
2) Items and Score
a) Score
3) Weapons
4) Stages
5) Key and Cave Locations
6) Hidden Shortcuts
7) Secrets

General Game Information:
Based on what path you take, the enemies and patterns vary. More enemies, more difficult patterns, different attacks. For example, if you choose “Chapter Eyes” as the third stage, there is a Plasma Gun that retracts from the ceiling and fires at you in the first room with the Wall Guns, or whilst riding the cart small “fire demons” will fly to the center of the top of screen and drop fire bombs on you repeatedly for the duration of the ride. None of this is present if you choose it as stage 1 or 2.

Each Stage (1-5) has a Sacred Item hidden in a cave inside a Glass Display. The names of the levels correspond to the item of the Stage (Chapter Claw is a Claw, etc.) To collect the Sacred Items, a Key must be found on each stage. Typically it is found by performing a special task. See below for information about how to obtain each key.

After the key is found, you must locate a secret cave and blow the door/boulder away and enter. Inside this cave, the Sacred Item is hidden, usually inside a breakable object of hidden above view at top of the screen; this differs on each level.

Other Notes:
-The final bosses form is dependent on which Character you played through the game with.
-Killing enemy with different type of attack can yield different "rewards". (If you kill certain enemies with your Melee attack, you will receive better drops)

Items and Score:

Black Coin: 2,000
Small Gold Coin: 5,000
Large Gold Coin: 10,000
Gemstone: 20,000
Diamond: 50,000

Score:
Score is all about maintaining a high Combo meter. To do this you will need to use a combination of Melee attacks, pet attacks, and gun attacks. A kill with your Pistol or Machine Gun will temporarily boost the meter then drop back to its previous position. A kill with a special weapon (Shotgun, grenade launcher, etc) or Melee attack will boost the Combo meter to full. You will see the Combo meter begin to drop if Melee attacks are not preformed, and if enough time passes the meter will drop completely and your combo will go back to 000.

When killing your enemies, a number of different factors combine to give you points along with Hearts or Skulls. Here’s a breakdown:

-Kill Normal Enemy with Gun +1/2 Skull(s)
-Kill Large enemy with special Gun +8 Skulls
-Kill Enemy with Pet +4 Hearts
-Kill large enemy with pet OR Melee attack +8 Hearts
-Kill enemy with Melee attacks +1/2 Heart(s)

Collecting hearts fills up the Orange “Heart gauge” on the top left of the screen; once the gauge is full, your pet will level up. At certain levels (I believe it’s 3 and 7), you will see your pet evolve into a bigger badder creature and notice his attacks have grown stronger. Once your pet reaches Level 9 it will no longer level up when the Heart Gauge is filled, but rather cause your pet to go into “Berserk” mode temporarily.

Collecting Skulls fills up the blue “Gun Gauge” on the top left of the screen directly beneath the Heart Gauge; when this meter is full your gun will level up and increase in bullet size (and possibly the amount of damage done, this theory has yet to be proven).

Weapons

Pistol
Damage: 1 Combo: 1 bar

Machine Gun
Damage: 1 Combo: 1 bar

Ice Gun
Damage: 2 Combo: 3 bars charge

Grenade Launcher
Damage: 3 Combo: 3 bars charge

Electric Gun
Damage: 3 Combo: 5 bars charge

Shotgun
Damage: 4 Combo: Full recharge


Key / Cave Locations:
Chapter Eyes (Forest): You will see a pink fruit about half way through the level that is hanging in the background, jump up and use your melee attack or pet attack to destroy it. A key will drop out. The cave is on the same screen on one of the platforms.
Image Image
Chapter Horn (Station): When you arrive in the “Town” portion of the level, you will briefly see a floating platform above you that ascends above the viewing area. Shoot up and destroy this platform to unlock the key. The Cave is located behind a detroyable Fan (see photo)
Image Image
Chapter Claw (Valley): You will see a flying ship enter the screen from the right side, you must destroy the ship with either your pet or melee attacks (or combo of both) in order to receive the key. Once the explodes the key drops to the ground. The cave is located behind a Boulder further in the level (see photo)
Image Image
Chapter Tooth (Snow): (WIP)
Chapter Heart (Temple): (WIP)


Secrets spots for bonus coins etc:
Chapter Eyes (Forest): (WIP)
Chapter Horn (Station): Shoot up in the first large room with the Gun Wall where you see the Demons face to receive coins. Shoot up directly after entering the “Town” to receive lots of coins.
Chapter Claw (Valley): Beginning of level, dont move and shoot up to destroy Boulder (has Demon Front Logo) containing Grenade Launcher. Theres a structure on next screen that will drop ELectric Gun if killed with Pet or melee attacks. After the Cave and destroyable wall, you encounter a platform with 3 guys. If you rush this screen, 4 golems will drop down. The two golems on the left will yield a 2 machine gun drops (the golem who doesn't attack and drops his arm can be melee attacked for a Shotgun). Immediately after them, face up and fire (a few steps before the face on the background) for a bunch of gold coins. You can milk the "Mid-boss" for score and Hearts/Skulls for a long time, as long as you dont destroy the main dark ship in the top center the smaller brown ships will continually spawn.
Chapter Tooth (Snow): (WIP)
Chapter Heart (Temple): (WIP)


Hidden Shortcuts: Below are the shortcuts that we know of:
Chapter Eyes (Forest): (WIP)
Chapter Horn (Station): After you finish up the Wagon ride, you will encounter a Red colored stone Golem. If you run past him and jump up onto the platform you can skip to the Town area.
Chapter Claw (Valley): (WIP)
Chapter Tooth (Snow): (WIP)
Chapter Heart (Temple): (WIP)


Extra Lives: It is unknown if there is any way to trigger any extra lives.


TLB: You have to complete the game in under 30 minutes, and collect all 5 Sacred Items. (This needs to be checked may be other factors).

Much more to come!
Last edited by jcmorris on Mon Jul 03, 2023 12:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Sumez
Posts: 8478
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:11 am
Location: Denmarku
Contact:

Re: ST: Demon Front ( PGM ) -WIP-

Post by Sumez »

Nice! I've been looking for a good breakdown of Demon Front, but few people seem to ever talk about it. Will keep an eye on this thread!

Funkdoc is very knowledgeable about the game, and likes to talk about it as he plays. I've recommended a playthrough of his before - was able to dig up this video, not sure if it's the same one, but I think it may be:

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/202871089

Might be some more useful information in there.
ChrisBEANS
Posts: 13
Joined: Sun Aug 15, 2021 1:11 pm

Re: ST: Demon Front ( PGM ) -WIP-

Post by ChrisBEANS »

Nice topic, I’ll keep an eye on it, thanks!

Sadly I’ve got nothing to add myself.

My plan is to 1cc all of the Metal Slug games and I think I’ll throw this in the mix for a bit of variety.

I’ve got the PCB version (I’m pretty sure it’s Korean) and I’d be interested to know what differences there are (if any?) besides Korean script on the menu.

As an aside… what a great attract mode this game has!
Sometimes I put the PCB in just to watch it.

https://youtu.be/1DK8SLc270I
thyerry
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2023 10:28 pm

Re: ST: Demon Front ( PGM ) -WIP-

Post by thyerry »

Hello guys! I found this post trying to find something like a complete guide of this game. But turns out I have more information about it than the internet does.

I was one of the lucky ones who used to play this game in the arcade cabinet here on Brazil. I always loved having the highest score on the Metal Slug machines where I lived, so when I saw this game back in 2005-2006, I dove in head first trying to find out everything about this game that I could. And there was plenty of things to be found!

So, I know a lot about this game and I'm going to list everything I can remember off the top of my head. And I only could play on the standard difficulty, so all I will say is based on this difficulty.

Let's go!

- Theres is no extra lives.

- Its common knowledge that you can make your pet as a shield, and its health is shown in the same place as the heart gauge. If it is depleted, your pet is gone until you lose a life.

- If your shield isn't entirelly depleted, there is an item that can heal your shield back, the barrier crystal (used to call it just barrier). This is one of the better drops that you can receive if you kill things with your pet or melee attacks.
Image

- I'm not sure about this one, but if I remember well, when the shield is on, your hit box is increased.

- There is a way to make diamonds rain from the mini boss on Claw Stage. I'm not so sure what can cause it, but I'm pretty certain that is destroying the gun of the mini boss.

- The higher the combo count, the higher the points 1you make per kill or melee/pet hits (I was searching for an explanation for how this works, and then I got here).

- As far as I know, the only shortcut in this game is the one mentioned by OP. The Ice stage has something like that, but it is more like an alternative path than a shortcut.

- On the Horn Stage, there is a lady from the same race as Maya. You can save her from these things, then hit her a few times and she will give 3 eggs. You can do this again further in this same place of the stage, but it is a bit harder to do.
Image
Image

- There is a LOT of hidden spots that you can shoot to get some items that gives extra points, like Metal Slug does. But unlike Metal Slug, however, in the majority of the cases, you make more points by hitting the spots with pet projectiles than with the items you get.

- If you are going to do a high score run, pick Maya. His pet can shot way more projectiles than the others, and every shot gives points and hit counts.

- If you want to make the game easier, pick Dr. J. His pet work as a shield to projectiles and go throught obstacles, killing some enemies before they even appears on the screen.

As far as I can remember, this is it. Maybe I will post some videos of how to get the key and the locks of the Ice and Temple Stages in the future, who knows.
Post Reply