Disambiguation: For the PS2 game see Maken Shao: Demon Sword.

Demon Sword (不動明王伝, Fudō Myōō Den, "The Legend of Acala") is an action video game developed by TOSE and published by Taito in 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The caption on the box says to "Release the Power". This is consistent with the game's method of powering up the character's abilities.

The game contains three worlds, with two stages in each of them plus a final stage making 7 stages total. In order to regain the pieces of the shattered sword and advance in the game, the player must defeat a boss at the end of every stage. As more pieces of the sword are recovered, the sword itself grows in length and power. The player will also encounter enemies on the way to the boss, which must be defeated with a variety of weapons and magic spells, such as the character's Demon Sword (which he begins the game with), arrow darts, and power beams. The player can also jump over enemies and change direction in midair, as well as land in and run on top of trees. However, the player must be careful when jumping, as there are various traps, such as holes, that the player can land in.

Regional differences

• There are six more stages and several bosses in the Japanese version that are unavailable in the North American version.
• The player in the North American version has a vitality gauge for each life remaining, while the player in the Japanese has only life count.
• There are more items and magic spells available in the Japanese version.
• The ending in the Japanese version has extra scenes and text cut from the North American version.
• The cover used for the English release of Demon Sword features a muscular bare-chested bronzed man, whereas the sprite in the game appears to be a paler lithe man wearing a red kimono, the Japanese release features a character more similar to the in-game sprite.