Golden Axe Warrior

Early action-RPGs like Ys The Legend of Zelda proved to be very influential, with numerous other companies trying their own takes on the format - some quite successfully.  Most people know about titles like Crystalis and Neutopia and Lagoon and Wonder Boy, but considerably less well-known is a fairly rare Master System title known as Golden Axe Warrior.  Already having a dark fantasy hit in Golden Axe, it was a fairly simple matter to translate it world and characters to an action-RPG format, and they did an admirable job replicating Zelda's gameplay - the action is smooth and the hit detection solid, though the Master System's two-button controller means you're limited to equipping just one item at a time (used with button 2) and bringing up the menu with button 1 whenever you need to switch.  The hit detection is also a bit spotty - enemies can seemingly clip you almost every time they come near while your own weapons require near perfect precision to land.  There are a few improvements on the original Zelda format, though - one is that there are towns with interactable NPCs and shops, which makes the world feel a bit more alive.  Another is that you have a magic meter, which proves handy not just for attacking enemies at range, but clearing some obstacles from your path.  You're also given two types of melee weapons - axes can chop trees and have a wider swing, but shorter range than a thrusting sword.  A solid, well-made Zelda clone that actually improves upon the original in a few ways.  It's also quite a spendy title these days if you're looking for an original copy, but thankfully there is a cheaper alternative - the game is an unlockable bonus on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for XBox 360 and PS3.

Developer: Sega

Publisher: Sega

Released: 1991

Platforms: Sega Master System

Magician

Magician is a fairly obscure NES RPG by Eurocom and published by Taxan with some unique design elements and a notorious difficulty level among those who have heard of it.  But is there some merit to be found in this mostly forgotten game, or should it just be left buried in favor of other, better known 8-bit titles?

Magician is a mostly forgotten RPG these days, and even among fans of retro console games it's not really one that comes up much in conversation. Not for a lack of trying, though, as it's one of the more unique RPGs on the platform. Taking place in a sidescrolling view, the game also utilizes a stage-based format, with nine levels in total. However, there is no way to backtrack to a previous level, so if you miss a key item from an earlier stage it can potentially mean restarting the entire game. Numerous things can also kill you instantly, from falling in a pit to triggering a trap to starving to death; that's right you have to manage your character's food and water meters, and both deplete at a surprisingly rapid rate, effectively putting your progress on a strict time limit. Shops to replenish food and water supplies are also very few and far between, and though you can occasionally find more supplies as part of treasure hordes, that likewise means being constantly wary of traps and enemies that can deplete significant amounts of your health, shields and magic. While you can save your progress at any time and there four slots to save to, you only get fifteen saves per playthrough, so one must ration them carefully throughout the game.

Magician features a relatively novel spell-crafting system - you create spells by combining different syllables in the pause menu, then click the spellbook to memorize them.   Unlike Dungeon Magic, however, not all combinations are viable.  In fact, the vast majority result in an "unknown spell" that will have completely unpredictable effects; usually instant death to your character with a surprising number of different animations exclusively for this purpose (although on rare occasions you may also get a full heal or other beneficial effect).  The manual only tells you how to access a basic attack spell, while the rest must be discovered in-game by finding or purchasing scrolls at hefty cost (though the manual does also provide spaces to write discovered spells down, saving you money on later playthroughs).  Spells can also be adjusted to four levels of power, which annoyingly plays into some puzzles; the swamp stage is one notorious example, requiring you to constantly adjust the power of your Jump spell to leap to the next platform, with a level too low or too high usually sending you plummeting to an instant death.  (Just casting the Fly spell to avoid this isn't an option either, as you'll be struck by lightning the moment you leave the ground for - yep - another instant death.)  

Combat is Magician is pretty bland and monotonous.  There are four elements in the game (Physical, Venom, Fire and Power) and four varieties of shields to cast which completely block those elements, depleting themselves as they do.  Thus, battles typically boil down to casting shields to block the enemy's attacks, then spamming one attack spell repeatedly until you knock your way through the enemy's shields and eat away all of their life; preferably before they do the same to you.  Thankfully it's not nearly as prevalent as it is in many other NES RPGs - all encounters in the game are fixed events - but it's still something you end up becoming annoyed by rather than looking forward to.

All in all, Magician is a fairly clunky game with some annoying trial-and-error puzzles, irritating difficulty compounded by limited saves, and underwhelming combat that mostly consists of raising shields and spamming one attack until your enemy falls.  However, it is very well presented, with detailed backdrops, smooth character animations and some stellar music by Neil Baldwin.  In fact, I dare say it ranks among the best soundtracks on the NES, lending the game a heavy, foreboding atmosphere throughout and showing off some impressive technical tricks, like simulating wind sounds for the forest stage theme.  So while the game itself isn't really anything special, the soundtrack is well worth a listen for fans of chiptune music.  The source code has been released by the developer too, which may be of interest to those interested in making their own NES games (or possibly improving on this one's clunkier aspects).

Developer: Eurocom
Publisher: Taxan
Released: 1991
Platforms: NES

Recommended Version: N/A

Tombs & Treasure

Tombs & Treasure is another relatively obscure game, and it slipped below my radar for a long while, largely because it barely even qualifies as an RPG; in fact, its original iteration on the PC-88 didn't at all.  It mostly serves as a point-and-click style adventure game, having you decipher clues, collect items and search for hidden passages around various mazelike tombs while uncovering the larger story.  The NES version adds in some (very) light RPG elements, though - every now and then you'll have to battle a monster in a very simple turn-based system, consisting of little more than trading blows until one of you drops.  That said, you do have to equip your weapon (by entering your inventory and Using it) or you'll fight barehanded and do far less damage, and you can run at any time, which restores you to full health so you can try again.  That said, the latter option can also save you from a game over, as the game is constructed in such a way to discourage sequence breaking - if you go somewhere you're not supposed to be yet, the enemies you face will be much tougher than you can handle; the only way to power up to beat them is to visit each area in order and defeat the enemies there, so it is an effective (if somewhat clumsy) means of showing the player the correct sequence of areas to visit.  Aside from that, the game does have some quite detailed visuals and good music for a 1988 release, and the guide included with the game isn't a blow-by-blow walkthrough, instead giving you a series of riddles to decipher.  So, if you enjoy these old adventure games that rely on untangling clues and a fair bit of trial-and-error to complete, you'll probably have some fun with Tombs & Treasure.  Those looking for a meatier RPG experience, however, should probably look elsewhere.

Developer: Nihon Falcom, Compile
Publisher: Nihon Falcom, Tokyo Shoseki, Infocom
Platform: PC-88, Famicom, NES
Released: 1986, 1988, 1991

Eye of the Beholder II

The first Eye of the Beholder was a pretty well-received game, taking the familiar first person dungeon crawling format of numerous earlier games (particularly the genre classic "Dungeon Master"), adding a dash of real-time action and a heavy focus on puzzles, though it was pretty minimal in terms of storytelling, with its very abrupt ending being heavily criticized by many reviewers and fans.  The sequel (released the same year) utilizes the same engine and makes few changes to the overall gameplay, but puts significantly more focus on the storytelling element.  There are now substantially more NPCs to interact with and dialog options to pick from, and a larger variety of areas to explore from forests to caverns to temples, which adds quite a bit of variety visually.  Its more streamlined and linear design overall may be a turn-off to some, but even with that it's a fine dungeon crawler that showed off Westwood's talents as a developer.  It's a shame that the third Eye of the Beholder would be farmed out to SSI, who were on the verge of shutting down at the time and ended up rushing it out just to try and make a quick buck...

Developer: Westwood Associates
Publisher: Strategic Simulations, Cybille, Capcom
Platform: MS-DOS, Amiga, FM Towns, PC-98
Released: 1991, 1992, 1993

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow Sorcerer

The third and final game in the Dragonlance adaptation trilogy, the only one to never be ported to consoles, and a stark departure from the first two games in terms of style.  Indeed, it does away with the sidescrolling element completely to focus on real time tactical combat.  You lead a point team of four units (picked from a roster of about twenty) and attempt to escort refugees to a safe haven, traveling across a sprawling map and encountering various events as you go; mostly in the form of battles with bandits and monsters. In battle you can select a unit's general (automated) strategies as well as temporarily pause the action to pick individual actions for them to take, and after winning a fight you can simply select a command to fully heal up any injuries you sustained.  There is some light dungeon exploration, NPC interaction and item management involved too, though the main focus is on keeping your refugees alive, keeping morale up and getting them to safety, earning a higher score the more you keep intact; sort of like an early take on the Banner Saga. It's overall a bit repetitious and not especially deep, but for taking the action-driven D&D experience in a fresh new direction (one that would be replicated in later games like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights to much greater success), Shadow Sorcerer is easily the best of the trilogy.

Developer: US Gold

Publisher: Strategic Simulations, US Gold
Released: 1991
Platform: Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS

Downtown Special: Kunio-Kun's Historical Period Drama!

Kunio was a relatively short-lived but still surprisingly popular series in the late '80s through the mid '90s, getting a surprising number of games that ranged from beat-em-ups to sports games with plenty of over-the-top violence mixed in. River City Ransom quickly became a cult classic for blending RPG elements and open-world design into the mix, but not too many people talk about its followup; probably becauses it only came out in Japan. It offered a significantly revamped UI, listing special moves in a separate screen from your items so you could build up an impressive arsenal, and you even had a computer-controlled partner aiding you in battle with surprisingly good AI (though as in RCR, the game tends to lag a lot with so many characters on-screen). But perhaps best of all, it had a battery backup now instead of that awful password system from the original. It doesn't break a lot of new ground, but it brings a new level of polish to a game that's already a big NES fan favorite.

Developer: Technos
Publisher: Technos
Platform: Famicom, Released on Switch, Playstation 4, XBox One and PC as part of the Double Dragon & Kunio-Kun: Retro Brawler Bundle (which also includes options to reduce sprite flicker and lag).
Released: 1991, 2020

Dragon Crystal

Developed concurrently with Fatal Labyrinth and, in fact, sharing several assets with it, Dragon Crystal was a similarly-themed roguelike for the Master System and Game Gear, released one month after its counterpart. Gameplay between the two games is quite similar overall, putting heavy focus on its randomized dungeons and loot with shuffled effects each game. Nevertheless, it does have a few enhancements - gold actually serves a practical purpose now (buying continues when you die), you don't have to fear death from overeating, and you're constantly accompanied by a dragon that slowly evolves as the game progresses; while he does not help you in combat, the fact that he trails behind you at all times can help prevent you from being surrounded.  On the downside, the game does have a significantly worse UI; you have to stop the game to see your health and there's less text-based feedback than you got in Fatal Labyrinth, even in the higher-resolution Master System version.  It's not a starkly different game from Fatal Labyrinth, but it fills the same niche - having a traditional roguelike for Sega's 8-bit platforms.  Collectors of Game Gear and Master System titles should have some fun with this one. 

Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Platforms: Sega Master System, Game Gear
Released: 1991

The Game Gear version was also released on the 3DS Virtual Console in 2012.  A sequel, Dragon Crystal II, was also briefly available on the Japanese-only Sonic Cafe service for mobile phones, but the service has been discontinued and the game has not been rereleased since. 

Fatal Labyrinth

Roguelikes are a staple of PC gaming, but weren't seen very often on consoles until relatively recently.   Fatal Labyrinth was one of the first RPGs on the Genesis as well as one of the first console roguelikes to be made, and it's a pretty decent one to boot. Borrowing heavily from the genre-name Rogue, you venture around randomly-generated dungeon floors, battle enemies, collect new equipment, potions and wands with random effects (enchantments, curses, et cetera) and try to make your way to the end of the Labyrinth.  A bit of dark humor creeps in, too, as while there is gold in the game, there are no shops - instead, you just get a fancier gravestone when you die.  A rare console roguelike of the era, and while it doesn't have the fun personality of, say, ToeJam and Earl, it's still one that's worth a look for Genesis RPG enthusiasts. 

Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega

Released: 1991

Platform: Sega Genesis, various digital download platforms and compilations

Sword of Vermilion

An early Sega-produced RPG on the Genesis, which was heavily promoted on how much more advanced it was than similar games in the NES, bragging about its 5 Mb ROM size (the largest NES games had a maximum of 4), showing off its large, detailed sprites and boasting about having "Over 300 hours of gameplay".  Well, that last point is very obvious hyperbole (in fact, even a tenth of that is still a stretch), but Sword of Vermilion is at least a relatively unique combination of elements spanning numerous RPG subgenres.  Towns are viewed top-down and with a graphical style (and UI) remarkably similar to Phantasy Star III, outdoors and dungeons are seen in a first-person view a la Might and Magic (with unlockable minimaps!), and combat comes in two flavors.  Normal encounters are done in a top-down style, with the player able to fire spells with one button and swing their weapon with the other, and touching an enemy while swinging will cause them to take damage, but they will also damage you on contact; not dissimilar to the Ys games.  Finally, boss battles are seen from a side-view, with the player having to close in and attack with their weapon, then deflect or avoid the bosses' attacks before they land.  It is quite drawn-out and grindy per games of the era, with a lot of money farming and frequent random encounters, but combat does at least move pretty fast compared to most other RPGs of the time.  In addition, the music is catchy and the visuals quite good, with lots of large, detailed sprites and some downright awesome monster designs.  It's not one of the best RPGs on the Genesis by any means, but its uniqueness, strong presentation and being produced by Sega superstar Yu Suzuki make it worth a glance for fans.

Developer: Sega AM2

Publisher: Sega
Released: 1991
Platforms: Sega Genesis, Various compilations and download services

Uncharted Waters

Uncharted Waters is a bit of a cult classic among Koei titles, though like many of their games, it 's an in-depth simulation game which caters to a very niche audience - in this case, a sailing and trading simulation with a dash of story and turn based combat on top.  It's a pretty slow experience, particularly in the early stages where you're building up money through trading at various ports, gradually earning enough money to get a bigger ship, a sextant and a telescope so you can easily find new ports and sail longer distances without a break (like to the new world).  As you go you'll also slowly uncover plot threads to build up your fame, regain your family's nobility and eventually marry into the royal family, which is the game's win condition.  You'll also need to manage your crew, food and water resources, build up your character's skills, upgrade your fleet, avoid various sea hazards and keep everyone's morale up while you're juggling all this, so this is one only for the most die-hard stat-heads.

Developer: Koei
Publisher: Koei
Released: 1991
Platforms:  NES, Sega Genesis, SNES, MS-DOS, FM Towns, MSX, PC-88

Ultima: Runes of Virtue

 A spinoff of the legendary CRPG Ultima series developed in-house by Origin themselves.  Of course, being released on the lowly Game Boy meant that this wouldn't be the usual brand of adventure in a dense, well-realized fantasy world.  In fact, there's only the barest minimum in terms of plot or characters and the gameplay is changed up to be something more akin to Chip's Challenge by way of Zelda, putting heavy emphasis on traversing traps, solving puzzles and fighting monsters.  In that regard, the game is decent, but definitely not on level with the Zelda games - combat in the game is clunky at best, with the player only able to fire one projectile at a time and enemies attacking relentlessly, draining the player's health in moments (and crowding into doorways and teleport landing points, ensuring that you have to take several hits to get through).  You're frequently forced to take damage to progress and puzzles often boil down to tedious trial-and-error, with one mistake usually forcing you to either reset the system or exit the dungeon completely in order to try again - not a good thing when each one has multiple floors and several puzzles to complete.  It is at least notable for being the first Ultima game to feature multiplayer gameplay (via the system's Link Cable), but I doubt too many people have ever done that.  Runes of Virtue is a decent little crawl for the year and platform it came out on, but it's only worth a look for die-hard Ultima fans today.

Developer: Origin Systems
Publisher: Fujisankei Communications International
Released: 1991
Platforms: Game Boy

Shining in the Darkness

 Most people in the west probably associate the Shining name with the turn-based tactical RPGs on the Genesis, but much less talked about is the series' slightly more traditional origin as a turn-based dungeon crawl.  Similar to games like Wizardry, Shining in the Darkness mostly takes place in a first-person viewpoint, with the player making their way through an enormous dungeon, recruiting two allies to join them in their battles and making frequent returns to a hub town to purchase new equipment, revive fallen party members and so forth.  However, the Shining series' strong presentation shines through even in its earliest outing, with vivid colors, expressive characters with a lot of personality and quite a bit of animation even on enemies you encounter in the dungeons.  Even traversing dungeon corridors is a cut above most, with smooth animation and visible rotations as you turn corners to give it a true 3D feel.  The Genesis didn't have too many other games of this type, but SitD put the Shining series on the map , and proves to be a competent, if monotonous, take on the dungeon crawler format.

Developer: Climax Entertainment/Sonic! Software Planning
Publisher: Sega
Released: 1991
Platforms: Sega Genesis (and various Sega game compilations on later platforms)

Popful Mail

A sidescrolling platformer-RPG by Falcom, released not long after the controversial third Ys game that used the same format (Wanderers from Ys).  Popful Mail at least feels a bit more polished than that game, with some after-hit invincibility and sharper animations, and, in the Sega CD version, full voiceover and animated cutscenes.  It does still have some frustrating elements, though - your attack range is short, enemies often attack from angles you can't easily avoid, and bosses are often difficult to hit and inflict heavy damage, making them very frustrating to fight.  Being localized by Working Designs also ensures that there's a lot of rather childish humor and silly accents throughout, which may grate on some.  They also made the game even more difficult than its Japanese counterpart for no particular reason, so its frustration factor is compounded even further.  If you can play it for cheap, give it a go, but I don't really think it's worth the bloated asking price most Sega CD games go for these days.

Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: Nihon Falcom, NEC, Working Designs
Released: 1991
Platforms: PC-8801, PC-9801, Sega CD, Super Famicom, PC Engine CD, Mobile, PC

The Sword of Hope / Sword of Hope II

A short-lived and mostly-forgotten duology of RPGs for the original Game Boy, Sword of Hope was also a rare entry in the genre from Kemco, a developer mostly known for licensed tie-in games.  But does Sword of Hope have anything to offer RPG fans today, or is it one that's slipped into obscurity for good reason?

The Game Boy was of course Nintendo's big contender in the world of portable gaming, and it wasn't hard to see why it became such a big hit, having a huge battery life compared to its competitors (in no small part for lacking a backlight or color) and a surprisingly strong library of games; hell, it launched with Tetris, which is arguably the most popular video game of all time even today.  RPGs were a fairly uncommon sight for the platform, though, at least before Pokemon came along and became the worldwide phenomenon it is today.  The first three SaGa games were localized as "Final Fantasy Legend" and the first Seiken Densetsu as "Final Fantasy Adventure", but for the most part RPGs remained Japan-exclusive on the Game Boy.  

Sword of Hope was one of the few that tried to compete, though, and it was a decent enough effort for the time.  The game was created by Kemco, a company mostly known for licensed tie-in games; however, they did also publish well-received ports of three PC point-and-click adventure games on the NES, affectionately known as the Icom trilogy - Shadowgate, Deja Vu and Uninvited.  They were very much products of their time, with numerous puzzles that didn't make a great deal of sense (requiring you to use the spear to defeat a troll - sword, hammer or sling will all result in death.  Or more famously, opening an already-open star map, taking a star from it, then using it to kill a wyvern) and the barest minimum of animation, but were still pretty well-liked in their time and continue to get rereleases even today, most recently appearing on a compilation called "8-Bit Adventure Anthology".  Shadowgate even had a successful reboot in 2014, reworking it to a more modern style of design while retaining its iconic dark imagery and music, so it's clear these games, flawed though they were, have a lasting and unique appeal.

I bring this up because Sword of Hope is very much built on the same gameplay model, and even uses a similar UI - a small viewing window depicting the current scene, with a mini-map at the bottom showing the directions you can travel in from the current location, as well as a list of verbs to utilize in order to interact with characters and objects you encounter.  Mostly in the form of looking (also used to talk to characters), opening or hitting something, though you will also occasionally have to use an item or cast a spell to proceed too.  In a rather strange twist, the story explains that most people in the world have been transformed into trees, and indeed, they're a very frequent sight - almost every screen on the overworld has some visible, and you can speak with them to get bits of backstory or clues to progress.

The basic formula is interspersed with RPG elements, too - you have stats, experience points, levels, equipment and spells that can only be cast in the thick of fights.  Fights themselves occur randomly when you move to a new screen or attempt to, and at times you'll have to fight several in a row - sometimes as many as six or seven before the game finally gives you a break and lets you go the way you want to.  However, fights are at least relatively quick and painless for the most part, which is a good thing as you will frequently have to grind out levels to defeat bosses and farm money for upgrades from shops in order to stand a chance.  This design ends up being a bit of a double-edged sword - the world is more tightly designed than most RPGs of the time, largely free of huge swaths of empty land that had little to interact with; on the other hand, you still have to grind quite a bit to succeed, and that can get pretty tedious when you're getting into several fights in a row while barely managing to progress to where you need to go next.  It also doesn't help that you cannot sell your old gear to recoup some of the money - as soon as you upgrade to a new weapon or piece of armor, the old one gets tossed and never seen again.  Bizarrely you also don't seem to have the ability to pick targets for spells - they hit enemies or even yourself randomly, which is rather a problem and makes using attack spells rather useless when you can attack with a weapon and reliably do damage to an enemy without risking your own health.

Puzzles, as you'd expect from a point-and-click of the era, are not always clear, sometimes coming down to guesswork or just abusing the game's built in hint system (using the Grace spell at the temple).  The game's translation doesn't help either, with some clunky dialog and occasional inconsistent spelling, sometimes within the same scene ("alter" and "altar" both get used at the temple).  And of course, having to backtrack anywhere is always a pain when you're probably going to get into a dozen fights on the way there and back.  Finally, the game utilizes a password system rather than a battery backup, which isn't the worst I've seen (16 characters); however, it also uses Greek letters and symbols instead of just straight letters and numbers, which can make writing them down a bit trickier.

Not much has fundamentally changed in Sword of Hope II, which came out the following year in Japan but took another five years to appear in the west, debuting in 1996 - a time when the Game Boy's popularity was fading (and would continue to do so until Pokémon debuted in 1998) and the handful of people who had purchased the original game had probably forgotten all about it, especially since several high-profile RPGs like Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy III (VI), Phantasy Star IV, Shining Force II and Chrono Trigger were all out by then.  A bit of a shame, as the sequel is an improvement over the original in virtually every way.  With a revamped UI that features a much larger viewing window, far greater detail in its visuals, more animation, better music, a more polished translation with a lot more dialog and story to experience, and some basic features that were absent in the first (selling items, battery-backup saves, and you can save anywhere you like) being implemented.  You also get more party members this time, which makes combat a bit more varied and strategic.  It's a significantly better game than its predecessor, though its long-delayed release left it little hope of competing with other big names of the time, which resulted in it selling poorly and becoming a rare and expensive title in recent years (though it is available on the 3DS eShop for however much longer that lasts).

Kemco's Sword of Hope is a name that's rarely spoken these days, and after playing both games, I can definitely see why - the original was very much a product of its time, with clunky and rather dated adventure game design paired with a mostly forgettable, awkwardly-translated RPG experience.  Its sequel was denied its due owing to a long-delayed western release, so despite being a substantially better game and even a decent RPG for the Game Boy, it simply had no chance of competing with all the amazing titles that were being released on the 16-bit platforms in the intervening years.  They might be worth a quick look to RPG buffs or big adventure game fans as a novel and relatively obscure series, but if you're looking for high-quality '90s RPGs to add to your collection, there are simply too many better options to spend your money on over these.

Developer: Kemco

Publisher: Seika (SoH1), Kemco (SoH2)

Platform: Game Boy, 3DS Virtual Console

Released: 1991, 1996, 2012

Recommended version: The 3DS version is an emulated port of 2.

Lagrange Point

 A mostly forgotten Famicom-exclusive RPG released by Konami in 1991, which had some relatively unique elements and, per company standards, a fantastic presentation.  But is this overlooked game one that retro RPG enthusiasts should play, or should it simply be left alongside the dozens of forgettable Dragon Quest clones on the platform?

Lagrange Point was a pretty overlooked RPG in its time (and still is today), but a lot of that can come down to its Japan-exclusive release and for coming out in 1991, at a time when the 16-bit consoles were rising to prominence and the Famicom and Master System were starting to be phased out.  Still, it's a Konami game, and as they were known for making some extremely high quality games on the system, it attained enough of a following to get an English translation in 2014 by Aeon Genesis.

It took me a while to dive into this one proper, but I can say that Lagrange Point is definitely worth the small but dedicated following it has and then some.  Right from the word "Go", the game sets out to impress with its amazingly detailed visuals and a stunning soundtrack.  One of only two games to use the VRC7 memory management chip, Konami definitely put it to use here, creating a soundtrack rich with space ambience and nearly on quality with 16-bit SNES or Genesis titles in quality - it really is that good, and well worth a listen even if you have no interest in the game itself.

The setting and design are also relatively unique, especially by Famicom standards.  While most RPG-producing companies on the platform were just content to make a forgettable Wizardry or Dragon Quest clone and call it a day, Lagrange Point definitely does not take that route.  Instead, the game is set in the far-off future of the 22nd century, when mankind has colonized space and set up colonies at the lagrange points.  Rather than generic hostile RPG "monsters", you're also fighting something a bit more sinister - a human faction known as the Bio Corps, who have launched a campaign to overtake the colonies for themselves.  You begin as a group of soldiers who are sent to the colonies to assess the situation, but you end up being shot down and are one of the few survivors; so you must band together with the resistance factions aboard the satellite and take the fight to them.  Fittingly, your weapons are mostly futuristic in design (from acid guns to laser knives) and you traverse the world map with an escalating variety of vehicles right from the start and never have to go on foot.

The playable cast is actually a fairly diverse one, too, with five human characters, three cyborgs and two robots.  Humans have the unique weakness of having their mental states deteriorate during battle in varying ways, which can cause them to inflict less damage (Nervous) or even outright panic and become uncontrollable; some skills and items can reverse these effects, and even put them in a more positive state of mind (Hype) where they deal more damage than they normally would.  Robots, naturally, don't gain either the positive or negative effects from mental states and are generally more durable, but require specialized healing items to recover from damage taken.  Each also gets a unique skill set and Super move, so it's worth trying them all out as you get them to see which ones you like the best.  As with most RPGs of the time, though, some characters are much better than others, so you're often better off just finding a core team you like and focusing on leveling them up while leaving the rest behind at your base.

Core combat mechanics are pretty much in the same league as games like Dragon Quest - turn-based fare where you target enemies, defend against attacks, use techs to heal up or bolster your status when needed, et cetera, though a few twists are added.  The aforementioned Super attacks are one - each character gets one of these, and their effects vary quite a bit, inflicting differing elemental damage to a single target or all enemies, at the cost of some of their HP.  This can be worthwhile in some situations for characters who have a lot of HP to spare, but for the most part these are of questionable value; generally you only do slightly more damage than a normal attack at a cost of a big chunk of your health, which usually isn't a good tradeoff.  Techniques are not learned by gaining levels, but rather found in chests along the way, and only certain characters can use certain techniques (though you generally won't know who can use what in advance).  Each of the enemies in a battle also has a life gauge visible at the top of the screen at all times, which gives you a good gauge of how much damage you're doing to them and whom you should target next.

The other pervading mechanic is BP, which you'd think would function like MP in most RPGs - casting supportive and offensive spells.  You'd be right in that regard, but normal attacks consume it as well, with more powerful weapons generally eating it up more quickly.  Once it runs out, your attacks will be massively nerfed and you'll be unable to use any techniques until you refill it, either at an inn or by using items to recharge a portion of your meter.  Unlike most RPGs, it also does not increase with your character's level - instead, you buy batteries at the shop with higher capacities to carry you through.  Even that may not be enough if you have a particularly powerful weapon that quickly eats battery power, though, so finding a good balance between raw damage and power consumption is key.  One must also factor in the elements of specific weapons for specific areas - some enemies may be highly resistant to one type of attack but weak to another, so changing up your equipment accordingly (and having a good combination of types) will go a lot further than raw power.

Another fairly unique element to this game is that you don't simply buy new weapons at shops and be done with it.  That's fine for the early stages, but in order to unlock the best weapons you must utilize the game's weapon combination mechanic - combining two weapons of similar type to produce a higher tier one with greater power, with numerous recipes being revealed through dialog and books found throughout the game.  A relatively novel idea at the time, and one that later games like Robotrek and Dark Cloud 2 would attempt to replicate with varying degrees of success.  There is a catch, though, in that you can't simply fuse the strongest weapons in the game even if you know how - higher tiers of weapons have higher stat requirements to equip, and characters will typically require quite a few levels under their belt before they hit that threshold.  

Lagrange Point does fall prey to a few common RPG shortcomings of the time, though.  The encounter rate in the game can be irritatingly frequent, though thankfully combat is fast-paced so it doesn't drag things down too badly.  The difficulty is also uneven - you can easily go from an area where you dominate everything to one where enemies will deal far greater damage and quickly wear you down.  One particularly annoying example of this is actually very early in the game - a tunnel that is only a few screens long, yet is one of the most treacherous areas in the game.  Enemies there have techniques that will cut your HP and BP reserves in half and completely ignore your armor and defenses.  Even moreso if you saved on the opposite side of the bridge and have no access to a shop or items that will replenish them, forcing you to just brute-force rush your way through.  Objectives are also occasionally unclear, though you do get maps of the various areas you'll explore early on, which can at least give you a good idea of areas you should check in order to advance; another nice touch is that, unlike in most JRPGs, the world "wrapping" at the top and bottom of the map actually makes sense since you're on a cylindrical space station rather than (ostensibly) a round planet.  You'll also have to stop and grind more than a few times to have enough money for essential upgrades, though I never found it to take so long that it became a detriment to the experience; just as long as you don't die (which robs you of all the money you would have received at a save point when checking in), you'll make plenty of cash on each excusion.

So, Lagrange Point may be recognizable as a JRPG, but it certainly was a pretty novel one for the time.  Not only did it look and sound a cut above virtually every other example of the genre on the Famicom, but it had a relatively unique science fiction setting, worked in some unique mechanics and required quite a bit more careful inventory and character management than many others on the platform.  It may not be a standout classic of the genre, but it's an interesting and fun little title that's well worth a look; certainly much moreso than a lot of the mediocre Dragon Quest and Wizardry clones the Famicom had.

Developer: Konami
Publisher: Konami
Platform: Famicom
Released: 1991
Recommended Version:  N/A

Faria: A World of Mystery and Danger!

Game Arts is a beloved company to many old-school gamers, responsible for the Lunar and Grandia franchises, as well as for some other cult favorites like Silpheed on the Sega CD and Alisia Dragoon on the Sega Genesis.  One of their earlier outings on home consoles, however, was not so well received.  Faria has all the makings of a good 8-bit RPG - well-detailed visuals, charming characters and a creative fantasy world - but the gameplay unfortunately does not stack up.  Combat in the game, rather than a turn-based format, is done in real-time, with you trying to defeat enemies in an overhead battlefield before they deplete your HP.  Unfortunately, some spotty hit detection makes it difficult to take hits without being hit yourself, and you die very easily, especially early on, when you can go straight from an encounter with some weak bug enemies to getting your face punched in by a hulking red monster many times your current level.  Running from combat only docks you further, causing you to lose experience, gold, or even equipment you've picked up (which really sucks when you drop a piece of gear you just spent hours grinding for).  Pair that with uninteresting dungeon designs and a extraordinarily high encounter rate, and you have a game that just isn't fun to play.  You'd expect a lot better from the studio that brought us the legendary Lunar games just a few years later, but Faria is an RPG that sadly ranks among the system's worst.

Developer: Game Arts

Publisher: Hi-Score, Nexoft

Released: 1991

Platform: NES

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

A tie-in to the movie released in 1991, it was also Sculptured Software's attempt to mash action and RPG elements together into a single experience.  But does Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves prove to be a valiant adaptation, or is this just another bad licensed game that was doomed to be forgotten?

It's easy to dismiss movie-licensed games on their face; not only do they tend to be rushed to coincide with the film's release date to maximize profits, but they're often farmed out to low-end companies to boot, usually resulting in a lousy gaming experience overall.  Sculptured Software isn't exactly a company associated with quality, either - they were responsible for a lot of lousy shovelware games in the '80s and '90s, mostly licensed tie-ins and ports of forgettable sports games.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves one that's at least worth a closer look, though.  The game famously began its life under the title of  "the Legend of Robin Hood" that appeared to contain several hallmarks of computer RPGs - a large open world to explore, a dialog system not like that of Ultima, and even some minigames to add variety (like a first-person archery minigame).  As the film was being prepared for release, though, Acclaim purchased the license and it was quickly reworked to tie into the film, becoming a much more linear game and dropping a lot of the role-playing aspect.

Several RPG elements remain in the final build, though.  The game still utilizes an experience system, with Robin Hood and his allies gaining experience as you defeat enemies, which in turn will earn them levels once they gain enough, boosting their maximum HP, attack strength and carry weight.  Many enemies in the game are still decidedly fantastic and not connected to the film at all (with skeletons and fish-men being prominently featured in the opening demos).  Items can be picked up, dropped and equipped on a paper doll for each of your characters, not unlike Ultima 6, and there are bits of puzzle solving here and there - for example, you cannot enter Dubois Manor unless Robin is wearing the Locksley Amulet.  Surprisingly the game also has a minimap function, viewable via the menu, that keeps a handy navigation map of the area you're currently exploring - handy in some of the more maze-like dungeons.

There is a decent bit of variety to the game too; in fact, I drew a similarity to Suikoden in the fact that the game utilizes three different styles of combat throughout.  Much of the action takes place in a top-down perspective with real-time combat, not unlike Zelda.  However, for some story beats, the action switches to a one-on-one duel similar to a fighting game, having the player evade enemy blows and strike when an opening presents itself, with some surprisingly large sprites and fluid animation for the NES.  Finally, other story beats have the player and his comrades defeat incoming waves of foes from a bird's eye view, slightly similar to the old arcade game "Smash TV".  At a couple of points, the player must also flee enemies on horseback, turning the experience into a bit of a platformer where they must leap over obstacles in the road while staying ahead of their enemies; missing one of those results in an immediate game over, though, regardless of how much health one has left.

This all sounds cool on paper, and it is pretty nifty to see that level of variety in a game of the era.  However, the overall enjoyment factor is hampered by the fact that it all feels a bit undercooked.  Hit detection isn't terrible but feels slightly off in most areas, and most enemy attacks will very quickly drain your health (particularly archers, who fire arrows in very rapid succession and will shave your HP down to nothing given half a chance).  The inventory system and overall setup lead you to believe there will be a significant number of inventory puzzles and character maintenance, but that isn't really the case either.  Most puzzles just boil down to carrying and using a conspicuous key item at a particular place, gold and keys are scarcely ever used (the former almost always in the exact same area where you found them, usually a few feet away), and food and bandages are almost exactly the same in practice - both restore a character's HP.  Party maintenance is almost a non-factor too; your comrades don't help you at all save in the large-scale battles, and though they can die in these, death is not permanent for them - they will pop right back up the minute the battle ends and continue on with you as if nothing happened.  In fact, only Robin's death will bring the game to an end - an immediate Game Over, no less, with a limited number of continues available to finish the game.  There is no save feature, either, though there is a hidden password system that lets the player skip to particular moments of the story.  However, it is far from an ideal solution - you always start with the barest minimum of equipment, and if you use it to begin from the final castle, you will not have a key item you need to actually complete the game.

Visually, the game does at least look nice, with some detailed (if repetitious) environments to explore, identifiable enemy sprites and digitized likenesses of actors from the film for both dialog and cutscenes.  The music is also decent, if not amazing; few tracks stood out to me, but I didn't find myself reaching for the mute button, either.  Duels look quite good too, as mentioned, with large character sprites and some detailed backdrops for them to battle on.  Nothing really pushes the system to its limits, but all the same, there are definitely much worse-looking licensed games on the NES.

I think that also effectively describes the game as a whole.  I  wouldn't call it a hidden gem or even a particularly great game, but it's a competently made, relatively decent film tie-in and an interesting one from a developmental standpoint.  After playing a leaked prototype for "The Legend of Robin Hood", it's clear that Sculptured Software had lofty plans in mind, trying to create an ambitious open-world game not unlike the Ultima franchise (and ironically playing better than Origin's own port of Ultima 5 on the NES) with some action elements similar to Hillsfar, though better integrated into a cohesive experience.  Plans that ultimately never came to be as it was hastily repurposed into a linear licensed game with only the barest minimum of RPG elements surviving the journey, but we can at least wonder what would have been had they been left to their own devices.

Developer: Sculptured Software, Bits Studios
Publisher: Virgin Interactive
Platform: NES, Game Boy
Released: 1991
Recommended Version:  The Game Boy port is surprisingly faithful to the NES version, keeping almost all of the gameplay elements relatively intact.  However, the system's weaker processor and smaller screen resolution make the action parts much laggier and significantly tougher to deal with, so I'd recommend sticking with the NES.

Eye of the Beholder

Westwood's third attempt at a Dungeons and Dragons game, taking on a more traditional format after attempts at an action-driven design with Hillsfar and Dragonstrike.  But does Eye of the Beholder prove to be a worthwhile dungeon crawling adventure, or is this just another forgettable effort from Westwood?

Westwood took a couple of experimental turns with the D&D format, attempting to create something that would, at the very least, make their contribution to the franchise distinct.  Hillsfar was an interesting idea with a lackluster execution, while Dragonstrike opted for a more action-oriented style of gameplay, becoming something more akin to a medieval flight simulator.  It was better received than Hillsfar but not a strong seller for SSI, so it didn't really do much for either company involved in it.

Eye of the Beholder went for a more traditional format in many ways, being a traditional first-person dungeon crawler like many popular RPGs from the 80s, many of which were directly inspired by D&D itself.  Taking cues from the earlier dungeon crawling classic "Dungeon Master", the game uses a similar UI and moves in real time for the most part, though combat is still broken into distinct "turns" with players and enemies' actions locking the other out until the current animation is finished.  It also largely uses a mouse-based interface, so getting good at manipulating spell/equipment menus and clicking icons efficiently is a very essential part to winning battles.

Make no mistake, however; Eye of the Beholder is an old-school dungeon crawler in every other respect.  It's viewed from a first-person perspective and largely based around solving puzzles in between battles - finding keys, searching for hidden walls and scarce equipment to utilize and solving a plethora of puzzles to advance.  Traps come in many forms, from tiles that discreetly rotate your party's facing to pit traps (which damage you and can dump you into further danger) and, of course, enemy ambushes, which can be dangerous even for a very well equipped party.  Saving frequently is highly advised, as is utilizing basically any equipment you find - even a humble sling, dart or dagger can save you from some damage by taking out an enemy from afar, or press a switch you can't walk to by throwing it through a window in a gate.  There is no automap feature, however, so it would be wise to either have the hint guide handy or make your own on graph paper; it's very easy to get lost among the mazes of similar-looking walls.

Of course, the game is still quintessential D&D at its core.  You can create up to four characters at the start, with the usual class/race restrictions applied.  Most non-human classes have far fewer options than humans for classes, but often get bonus stats and resistance to some effects to compensate - Dwarves are more resistant to poison, for example, while elves are resistant to charm and sleep effects.  As usual, having a variety of classes will quickly prove essential - fighters or paladins or rangers for the front line, Clerics to heal and turn undead, Magic users to kill enemies, and Thieves to disarm traps and pick locks (which can skip some puzzles).  Amusingly, the generator also includes a Modify command that lets you tweak your characters' stats however you like with no repercussions.  Allegedly this is included as a way to import your characters from the tabletop game, but let's face it, nobody ever used it for that.   Experience is earned through combat, but the majority of it is gained by completing objectives and solving puzzles.  Each floor also has "Special Quests" that grant some bonus XP and useful items; these are often quite obscure and may require a guide (or a lot of trial and error) to figure out, but are very often worth doing.

This isn't always strictly enforced in-game, though.  Clerics can wield non-blunt weapons with no repercussions, for example, and almost any class can utilize throwing knives, darts and slings to attack from afar (useful as at least two of your characters are always relegated to the back row and out of direct attacking range).  You're also allowed to do things like change equipment mid-fight or pick up used projectiles and use them again, which is pretty uncommon for games of this type.  It's somewhat necessary given that the game gives you very limited resources to work with, but still a strange thing to see, especially in a D&D game.

Despite a few rules tweaks, though, this is a quintessential D&D experience in computer game form - you're put into a dungeon, given an objective, and the rest is a bunch of solving puzzles and overcoming obstacles in your path until you achieve just that.  Those who are accustomed to top-down perspectives or more action-driven design may not find a lot to appeal to them here, but for fans of old-school RPGs with a lot of emphasis on the journey rather than the overarching story, Eye of the Beholder has plenty to enjoy.

Developer: Westwood Associates
Publisher: Strategic Simulations, Capcom, Sega, Pony Canyon
Platform: MS-DOS, Amiga, PC-98, SNES, Sega CD
Released: 1991, 1992, 1994
Recommended Version: Most editions of the game seem to be relatively similar, though the computer versions are considerably easier to play with a combination of mouse and keyboard inputs.  The Sega CD version is notable for having an exclusive soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro that, while not really fitting the mood of a medieval adventure, is of high quality and worth checking out in itself.  (This version can also be run in ScummVM with some setup).

  The Game Boy Advance game called "Eye of the Beholder" is actually a loose remake based on 3rd Edition rules, with combat taking on a top-down perspective and tactical gameplay slightly similar to the Gold Box games.  It's also not particularly fun, so I'd say skip that one.

Final Fantasy IV

The fourth entry in the Final Fantasy franchise and the first to appear on a 16-bit platform, Final Fantasy IV (originally released as II in the west) is definitely the most prolific game in the franchise, being updated and re-released far more than any other game in the series.  But is it one that ultimately stands the test of time well, or is this just laying the groundwork for greater games to come?

Final Fantasy continued to be a popular series in the Famicom era despite its misstep with the second entry, and it managed to even gain a foothold in the west, too, with Final Fantasy 1 quickly becoming a cult hit.  So, in the early days of the SNES's lifespan, Square decided to release the fourth game in the series, albeit renumbering the game to spare confusion and simplifying its gameplay to appeal more to a western audience, as RPGs were still relatively niche at the time.  In the years that followed it would end up being rereleased on several platforms, each making their own changes and additions but generally providing a more faithful experience to the original game's level of challenge.

Final Fantasy moving to a new platform definitely allowed its developers to branch out and more fully realize a creative vision and storyline in their game, and this is evident right from the start.  The game opens with a lengthy cutscene setting up the plot and establishing the characters and scenario perfectly, and after a brief bit of tutorial at the start, even opens up with a newly-remastered 16-bit version of the classic Final Fantasy theme and an opening text roll slightly reminiscent of the famous Star Wars intros.  That certainly continues throughout, too, playing out with well-realized (if archetypal) characters, movie-like plot scenes and consistently good music to get you swept up in the narrative.  It's not the most amazing example of it on the platform, but for one of the first RPGs on the system, it's certainly nothing to be dismissed either.

Gameplay remains largely familiar, though a few new elements are introduced to keep things fresh.  Uniquely for the series, Final Fantasy IV is the first (and to date, only) game to feature a persistent five-character party.  Unlike Final Fantasy III, the player also cannot freely set characters in the front or back rows - there are always three up-front and two in back or vice-versa.  This generally makes sense as you almost always have a combination of casters and front-row fighters around, but it also means that you'll probably have to reshuffle your party each time a new character leaves or joins up, which can be slightly annoying.

The game itself is definitely more streamlined than its predecessors, with fixed classes for each of your characters, each with their own equipment restrictions and special abilities.  These are largely reminiscent of the earlier Final Fantasies, with Cecil taking on a new class in the form of the Dark Knight at first - wielding powerful darkness-element equipment and able to use an ability that damages all foes in a battle at the cost of some of his own HP.  The rest are largely reminiscent of the classes from 1 and 3, though with a few newer elements mixed in.  Rosa mostly serves as a White Mage, casting healing and supportive spells, but primarily wields bows like an Archer, while Rydia uses both black magic and summons to perform offensive attacks.  Some also get new commands, such as Edge's Mug command (which damages the enemy and steals items simultaneously) or Palom's Bluff (which temporarily bolsters his magic stat).  They tend to vary heavily in usefulness (Fusoya's Regen is basically worthless), but it does add some of variety to the overall gameplay even among characters that would otherwise be very similar.  There are a total of twelve playable characters overall too, so while it may not have the diversity of say, 3, there is still a lot of distinct gameplay to be found.  There is a heavy emphasis on grinding, though, particularly late in the game - underleveled parties will find themselves facing meatshield enemies who can kill them in 2-4 hits while taking numerous attacks per player turn, which can quickly get extremely frustrating.  Moreso as the damage enemies inflicts has a huge random element - one turn they can do around 300, and well over 1000 the very next, with the exact same move.  The encounter rate is frankly absurd too, forcing the player into battles every 1-3 steps at times, exponentially increasing the tedium and frustration.

Final Fantasy IV also marked the franchise's first use of the Active Time Battle (ATB) system, which made the game into a faster-paced experience than the simple turn-based menus of its predecessors.  Essentially, each character on the field has their own time bar that incrementally fills, and once it tops off, they can perform an action, temporarily pausing the passage of 'time' to let the animation play out.  However, other characters' bars will still fill while you're selecting an action, so becoming efficient at maneuvering menus quickly becomes important, especially if you're playing on Active mode.  IV does contain an element largely dropped in later versions, though - several of the more powerful abilities actually require some time to charge before use, which essentially can leave a character helpless for a long period of time (and if they get killed before their attack goes off, which they often will, it goes to waste).  One also cannot "pass" turns in this game - once a bar fills, they have to take an action with that character before they can do anything else.

This does lend itself well to the overall dynamic of the game too, introducing a lot of bosses that utilize unique tactics that the player must counter.  One example of this is the first boss the player faces, the Mist Dragon.  During the fight, the dragon will periodically transform into a mist form; they are invulnerable while in this state and, if attacked, will counter with a damaging attack that hits the entire party, so the player must wait for them to change back in order to resume their attacks.  Other bosses have multiple segments, each performing their own sets of actions, and figuring out which ones to defeat first (or not attack at all) quickly becomes key to success.  This is easily the game's best element, moving things away from bosses just being one-note tank monsters and serving as an example for, well, nearly every JRPG to follow.

In short, Final Fantasy IV is definitely another milestone in the franchise, introducing a lot of iconic elements to its gameplay that would be vastly influential to the genre as a whole.  But the cheesy story, monotonous combat and overall weird pacing make it one that hasn't aged quite as well as Square thinks it has; certainly not enough to get over a dozen ports/remakes and counting.  Still a game you'll want to play if you're looking to get into the franchise, but I don't think it ranks among Final Fantasy's best.

Developer: Square
Publisher: Square/Square Enix
Platform: Super Famicom, SNES, Playstation, Wonderswan Color, Game Boy Advance, i-mode, EZweb, Yahoo!, Playstation Portable, iOS, Android, Windows
Released: 1991, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
Recommended Version: Final Fantasy IV famously has many different rereleases and updates.  This started with three different versions on the SNES alone; two Japanese releases (the initial release and a toned-down "Easy Type" that makes the game simpler) and the American version which mage things simpler still, doing away with many attack items and most of the extra character skills and reducing the difficulty of most fights.  Later came the GBA port which restored some content and ideas cut from the original release as well as adding some original elements, the DS version that remade the game in 3D graphics, added voiceover and added some new content of its own, and the PSP version, which came packed with its sequel (After Years) and an original interlude story.  The 2021 Pixel Remaster is the one I'd recommend nowadays, though, as it features much crisper pacing and quite nice updated graphics that remain faithful to the original release in style.

Actraiser

One of the first major releases for the Super Nintendo, Actraiser was one part action, one part god game and one part RPG, putting the player in the shoes of a deity and having them reclaim a broken world from evil.  But does this inventive fusion of genres still hold strong today, or is Actraiser just a game to be cast off and forgotten?

Released only a few months after the Super Nintendo's debut, Actraiser is fondly remembered by many as one of the essential early SNES games.  Not only did it show off the system's capabilities with some amazing graphics, a huge sense of scale with its two distinct gameplay modes and some downright incredible orchestral music (composed by the legendary Yuzo Koshiro, no less), but even the concept was a relatively unique one at the time - sims and god games were starting to gain a foothold on the PC with games like Simcity, SimEarth and Civilization, so seeing one on a console was a pretty fresh experience for many.  Even the box art was eye-catching, showing a massive lightning storm over the pyramids of Egypt with the caption "Create order from chaos!", letting SNES adopters know they were in for something grandiose and epic.

Even with Nintendo of America's censorship policies in place, the scope of the concept wasn't difficult to grasp either.  Playing as "the Master" (God in the Japanese version), the player takes control of an angelic being and does battle with the forces of Tanzra (Satan) across two modes of gameplay.  The first one of these the player sees is the side-scrolling action game element, where the player starts off with a relatively meager health bar and a magic meter with one charge to start (though more can be found in stages).  These segments are relatively simple platforming fare, avoiding traps and dispatching minor foes, each capped off with a boss fight that often requires carefully-placed movement and attack timing to overcome.

That element is serviceable, if slightly clumsy to play and ultimately not much different than what was already seen before in several prominent NES titles.  But between action segments, one is treated to the sim element of the game, and this is what truly makes Actraiser into something special.  There are six locales to visit, each with a temple at its center, and the citizens of each town each face their own hardships that the player will try to help fix.  Most prominent among these are constant sieges from demon lairs - spaces on the map that constantly spawn enemies, which the player must eliminate with the aid of their angel servant until the lair is cleared, lest they destroy crops and houses and terrorize the populace.  Defating enemies also earns the player SP, which allows them to perform other godly feats, detailed below.

Just as important as defeating Tanzra's minions, the land around the cities is often not suited for expansion, with shrubs, deserts, marshlands and other deterrents preventing the city's population and crops from growing.  To combat this, the player utilizes a number of Miracles to clear the way for cities to grow.  Lightning burns away trees and bushes, rain sweeps away sand, and using the power of the sun to melt snow and dry up swamps are among your godly abilities.  One can also summon wind to blow enemies off the map, though this of questionable value as they will gain no SP (required to fuel more Miracles) for doing so.  Finally, one can also summon earthquakes, which devastates all low and mid-level buildings and crops on the map; this doesn't sound especially useful, but doing so does actually come in handy in the later stages of the game, forcing cities comprised of lower-level buildings to rebuild as high-level ones that support more citizens.

The city sim elements in turn help the player during the action segments; as populations grow and thrive, the people will begin to worship the Master more and his power in turn grows, expanding his health bar and total number of spell slots for the action segments and in turn improving his odds at overcoming the enemies within them.  The player will also gain more SP for the city segments, letting them use Miracles more freely and gain access to new ones, steadily allowing them to reclaim land for their citizens and power themselves up further.  A simple, but effective balance between the two major gameplay styles.

Actraiser's concept is certainly an interesting one that melds two gameplay styles in creative fasion, but it's certainly not as deep as one might expect from a game with simulation elements.  There aren't really any Simcity-style random disasters that can cause unexpected harm to cities, for example, nor does one have to micromanage resources like power, water and technology.  In fact, your citizens mostly just work on their own and only rely on you to fend off monsters and take on the occasional obstacle they can't handle themselves (like having to trigger an earthquake to reveal a sunken island).  Still, there is enough to do in these segments that they never get to be too tedious, and one can occasionally find a hidden secret or two by experimenting with their powers (like striking the temple with a lightning bolt, which causes the citizens to relinquish an extra life in fear of your wrath).

Still, the unique fusion of gameplay elements, as well as consistently entertaining design, make Actraiser a compelling experience.  Moreso with its creative (and frequently grotesque) monster designs, polished graphics and, of course, a fantastic Yuzo Koshiro soundtrack that fully took advantage of the SNES's sound hardware, resulting in a game that sounded as close to a real symphony as you could get on a video game console.  There is even a bit of replay value, as completing the game once unlocks "Professional Mode" - a higher difficulty that makes the action segments much more challenging but sadly excludes the sim element entirely.  It's not hard to see why this game is a cult classic for the system, and for fans of Quintet, it's an interesting look at where their forays into the RPG genre began in the 16-bit era.

(Also notable: The game's sequel removes not only the sim element, but the RPG element as well, and revamps the gameplay to be more of a slower-paced action game similar to the Ghosts n' Goblins series.  Still a game worth playing, but a vastly different experience from this one.)

Developer: Quintet
Publisher: Enix
Platform: SNES, Wii Virtual Console, Mobile
Released: 1991, 2004, 2007
Recommended Version: I have only played the SNES version, so I can't speak for the mobile version's quality.  The Wii Virtual Console version (no longer available) is a direct port of the SNES version.