Light Crusader
| Light Crusader | |
|---|---|
 North American box art | |
| Developer(s) | Treasure |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Programmer(s) |
Kazuhiko Ishida Masato Maegawa |
| Artist(s) | Hiroshi Iuchi |
| Composer(s) |
Aki Hata Katsuhiko Suzuki |
| Platform(s) | Sega Genesis,PC |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Action RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Light Crusader is an action RPG developed by Treasure and published by Sega, and was released on the Sega Genesis in May 1995 and Microsoft Windows in 2010.
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.
Gameplay
The game is played 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.
Reception
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Mean Machines gave it a positive review, concluding that it is a "superlative arcade adventure with great playability."[10] 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.[3] 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."[4]
References
- ↑ "Light Crusader". SEGA. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- ↑ "LIGHT CRUSADER". GameFAQs. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- 1 2 "Review Crew: Light Crusader". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (76): 42. November 1995.
- 1 2 "Light Crusader". GamePro (IDG) (88): 138. January 1996.
- ↑ GamesMaster, issue 33, pages 56-57
- ↑ Consoles +, issue 46, pages 98-100
- ↑ https://archive.org/stream/mean-machines-sega-magazine-35/MMSega_35_Sep_1995#page/n12/mode/1up
- ↑ Player One, issue 56, pages 88-91
- ↑ Sega Pro, issue 49, pages 60-61
- ↑ http://segaretro.org/index.php?title=File:MeanMachinesSega34UK.pdf&page=62