What do you do once you’ve devoured all the amazing RPGs that the Sega Genesis has
to offer?
Well you start lusting after the tasty morsels exclusive to the Japanese Mega Drive (and
Mega CD) of course.
I’ve spent a few days picking through the library and I wanted to share my experiences
with all of you.
So here it is my picks for 8 Criminally Untranslated SEGA RPGs.
Number 1 Wolf Team is perhaps most famous for changing
their name to Namco Tales Studio and developing well… the Tales series of RPGs.
But before Tales of Phantasia, they were responsible for Aisle Lord, a dungeon crawler for the
Mega CD.
A very pretty dungeon crawler for the Mega CD.
I’m intrigued by the tactical battle system, and point and click explorative elements – but
the current language barrier prevents English speaking gaijin like myself from digging into
the adventure.
Too bad.
Number 2 If you watched my video on SNES vs Sega RPGs
then you already know how much I love Shadowrun.
So of course one of my biggest gaming disappointments is the fact that I can’t play the Mega CD
version in English.
Actually scratch that – I can’t play it at all.
The game is so text intensive that it’s more visual novel than RPG.
I stumbled around clicking blindly through menu options for an hour just so I could record
some battle footage for this video, and I have to say the game’s illustrated backdrops
are intriguing.
Apparently some sort of slasher samurai is terrorizing futuristic Tokyo and you’ll
play as a band of chatty runners who have made it their mission to solve the case.
I wish I could elaborate further, but first impressions tell me that fans of Konami’s
Snatcher would probably appreciate this game the most.
Number 3 But hey, anyone disappointed by Shadowrun’s
lack of RPGness may be more interested in Illusion City – a top down futuristic JRPG
with another mystery-centric storyline.
A biological agent has transformed the population of Hong Kong into demonic mutants, and the
corporation SHIVA has asserted governmental control.
It’s against this dystopian backdrop that our hero, the diver (a sort of demon hunter)
prowls the city’s sprawling ruins in search of answers: what is SHIVA’s agenda?
And what is their connection to the transformations?
Also I’m kind of curious, who is kidnapping little mutant girls?
Number 4 Reportedly the fan-translation for Surging
Aura is on the cusp of completion.
But I’m impatient and besides, I really just wanted to show off this gem.
Surging Aura is a traditional fantasy JRPG for the Mega Drive that visually is very similar
to Phantasy Star IV – in fact I believe they share the same engine.
An evil wizard once vanquished returns to terrorize the world and it’s up to the player
as the young prince Muu to restore peace to the land.
As far as plots go it’s not the most unique premise, but who plays classic games for their
originality?
Personally I’m okay with a clichéd adventure presented in style, and Surging Aura is looking
mighty fashionable.
Number 5 Imported Strategy RPGs are usually pretty
approachable, once you memorize which options control which battle functions the language
actually presented on screen becomes somewhat inconsequential.
Of course you’ll miss out on all that story, but at least you can experience the important
battle-y-bits.
Not so with Record of Lodoss War for the Mega CD.
As much as I’d love to play it, I can’t make any sense of how to even approach the
game’s second encounter.
Each time I knock down a zombie, another immediately takes its place.
If I could read the game’s text, I have a sneaky suspicion that the solution to my
problem wouldn’t be so mysterious but as of now I’m sadly too lost to proceed.
Which is a shame because otherwise the game looks amazing.
Also I know it’s a CD-based title, but why the hell are the loading times this bad?
Number 6 The next three of the games on my list originate
from Taiwan.
Their software might be unlicensed but that doesn’t mean it’s not good.
From personal experience I can tell you that Fengshen Yingjiechuan is excellent.
A Shining Force inspired tactical RPG with its fair share of original mechanics.
The story appears to be based on Fengshen Yanyi, a 16th-century Chinese novel about
gods, demons, and the dethroning of a bewitched emperor.
From the few hours that I’ve played the setting, plot, and title definitely match
up.
As the player, you control some dude and his small band of other dudes and umm… dudettes?
You can see why this game needs a translation.
The sprites are big and colorful, I might not know what’s happening but I do love
the character designs of the heroes and enemies alike.
I mean, what is this thing?
A geisha flower?
And these angry samurai harpies are charming in a grumpy old man sort of way.
I also loved the stage layouts.
I always tend to neglect my birdmen in Shining Force because they’re pretty weak compared
to everyone else but Fengshen forces my hand by placing enemies and chests behind inaccessible
barriers that only flyers and archers can reach.
I can’t always rely on my party favorites; the game makes me think about which characters
are best suited to overcome the obstacles ahead.
That said, in each battle you’ll control up to 6 heroes, and you’ll chose the ones
you want to bring along in the pre-battle menu phase.
Some scenarios force particular heroes on you, and if they die you’ll have to start
the battle over again (while keeping all earned XP and items).
Otherwise feel free to kill off whomever– just be prepared for the battle to get harder.
This is especially troublesome as some scenarios span multiple maps and you don’t heal between
stages.
For example there’s these dungeons, you can defeat as many enemies as you like but
the real goal is to find the exit and proceed downwards until you reach the dungeon boss.
Actually that’s one of the things I really like about Fengshen, there’s a wide variety
of win conditions and you’re forced to really think about how you’ll want to approach
each encounter.
Do you ration your special moves for the possibility of an end boss?
Or clear a stage with the full force of your arsenal?
Assuming you can even clear the stage.
I had a heck of a time trying to kill this jerk while beating back the endless swarm
of respawning fire dogs that were relentless nipping at my heels.
Another Fengshen quirk is the game’s lack of shopping and equipment.
All you’re given are various healing items which are harvested from the chests generously
scattered throughout the game- you’ll have to divert attention away from the fray to
grab them all but the sacrifice is worth it.
In fact it’s not a terrible strategy to purposefully fail a battle after looting the
map’s healing potions and repeating the process until you’ve fully stocked your
party.
Ok I know I’m spending a lot of time on Fengshen, but of all the games on this list
this was the one title I was actually able to play despite the language barrier.
In fact, I wanted to keep playing it.
Number 7 I haven’t played much Ya Se Chuan Shuo;
without a translation there’s not a whole lot to do besides walk in circles, fight random
battles, and blindly trigger talking head sequences.
But there are a couple of things I discovered during my brief playtime: the battle system
is shamelessly ripped from Lunar, these building sprites look suspiciously like those found
in Final Fantasy 6, this guy’s head doesn’t bobble like the other dudes and this NPC sprite
has gigantic titties and weird loopy noodle arms.
In retrospect maybe I shouldn’t be that hopeful for a translation.
Chuan Sho is fairly janky, even by grey market Chinese standards.
But now I’m curious; how and why was this Dwarf lynched to a tree?
Number 8 On the topic of games I haven’t played much
of Sanguo Bàoxiào is one I haven’t played at all.
Maybe no one outside of China has; the ROM is currently undumped and these screenshots
are the only evidence I could find that the game even exists.
But Sanguo Bàoxiào appears to be a humorous parody SRPG on Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Which sounds kind of cool.
Even if the game is never translated, I hope a ROM eventually finds its way onto the inter-webs
and that it umm… turns out to be more playable than Record of Lodoss War was.
And there you have it, 8 really interesting Japanese (and Chinese) RPGs that I would love
to see in English.
But before I end this thing I have some really exciting news to share; while finalizing this
script I learned that Piko Interactive is publishing Feng Shén Ying Jié Chuán – that
awesome SRPG that I raved about for like six full minutes – only they’ve retitled it
Legends of the New Gods.
Now from what I read it appears that the localization is done, or near done and that Piko is basically
spacing out his release dates because the demand for new old Genesis games isn’t as
high as for say Super Nintendo reproduction carts.
Personally I’d like to show him there’s a demand for these titles, especially when
they’re as good as Fengshen.
So go bug Piko and tell him you want this game.
Because I want this game and we should want it together (I’ll post the contact information
in the description).