Light Crusader
| Light Crusader | |
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| Light Crusader
Box art scan of Light Crusader
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| Developer(s) | Treasure |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Composer(s) | Aki Hata Katsuhiko Suzuki |
| Platforms | Sega Genesis Virtual Console Cloud (OnLive) |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | Action RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Light Crusader is an action RPG developed by Treasure and published by Sega exclusively for the Sega Genesis.
It is similar in gameplay to Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole, blending role-playing video game, action-adventure and platform video game elements in much the same way. It featured an art style and presentation that mimicked European RPGs. It marked a major departure for the developer, known for fast paced action games, with colorful anime-inspired visuals. It is, to date, their only RPG, and their only game with a distinctly Western art style.
Contents
Gameplay
Gameplay is viewed from an isometric viewpoint. Players can execute simple sword slashes as well as using the four magic elements, move freely, jump, and push objects. Gameplay is a mix of action, puzzle solving, and platforming for the most part, with the usual role-playing staples like towns, shops, equipment, and spellcasting. The player controls Sir David as he travels through an assortment of dungeons, battling creatures such as 'slime', solving puzzles to advance and saving those who were kidnapped.[2]
Story
Upon starting the game, the player is introduced to a man who is later revealed as an evil wizard named Ragno Roke who is angered by the queen's rejection of his marriage proposal. He decides to reawaken the evil demon Ramiah to get revenge. Sir David is offered to come over to Green Row after his journey. He has not been there for a long time and was waiting to return. However, the king informs David that townspeople have been disappearing. The king tells him to search for the missing people. By the end of the game, David confronts both Roke and Ramiah. Roke tells David that he does not need the life of the missing people to revive Ramiah and that his own life should be enough. Upon Ramiah's defeat, Roke dies and the missing people come back.
Characters
Sir David - The main character and hero of the game. He is offered to take a vacation in Green Row, but upon hearing the news from the king, he must find the missing people before Roke can awaken Ramiah.
Cullen - A resident of Green Row who is taken by the Wizard's Guild to be sacrificed to awaken Ramiah. He is found in B2, B3, and B6 of the dungeon, and offers infrequent advice during the brief sequences of gameplay which feature him.
King and Queen - The rulers of Green Row, the queen was given a choice to marry either the king or Roke, but she chose the king. The king gives David the talisman to bypass the barrier leading to B2.
Ghost of King Garriott - Appears as a boss in B4, he challenges Sir David to see if he is worthy of wielding his sword, the Light Crusader. It was used to seal Ramiah into the dungeon along with the help of eight wizards. His name may be a homage to game developer Richard Garriott, creator of the seminal computer RPG series Ultima.
The 8 Wizards of King Garriott - The eight wizards who helped seal Ramiah into the dungeon. They must be found and rescued in the eight temporally-displaced worlds (short dungeons which each feature a boss appropriate to the portrayed time zone) in B5.
Reception
Template:VG Reviews Mean Machines gave it a positive review, concluding that it is a "superlative arcade adventure with great playability."[3] The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game an overall mixed assessment, praising the graphics, the perspective for adding "a new dimension to the game", the "ingenuity of the gameplay", and "cool enough" story, but saying that the perspective hinders visibility at times, the combat is clunky, the lack of story makes the game less involving and creates difficulty figuring out where to go next, and there is too much of an emphasis on puzzles. They gave it scores of 8, 6, 6 and 5 out of 10.[4] GamePro commented that the graphics and music are impressive in parts, but that the game is less challenging and complex than most RPGs, and that the player character maneuvers poorly, "with nowhere near the range or fluidity of movement of Ali in Beyond Oasis." However, they concluded, "In the end, Light Crusader gets a passing grade because of some cool bosses and interesting puzzle challenges."[5]
References
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- ↑ http://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:MeanMachinesSega34UK.pdf&page=62
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