[LGR Theme plays]
[fizz, sip]
Aahhh!
[typing]
I recently got a Tandy 1000 series computer
and started going through my library of games
to see what I could run on it.
I came across Zeliard,
published in America by Sierra Online in 1990.
However, the game originally released in Japan in 1987
on the NEC PC-8801.
At first, I had simply taken note of the game for whenever I got a Tandy
because of its exceptional graphics and sound,
but then I got to playing it and I've gotta say,
this one surprised me.
Zeliard is a platform game in which you play as the knight Duke Garland.
Strangest-looking knight I have ever seen.
I could have sworn he was a viking.
Perhaps he is using elicit substances
and just imagines he's a viking,
judging by the freakish beasts that grace the cover art.
Even the frog has weird teeth and odd proportions and–
Is that a skull tattoo?!
What the heck?!
This version is the MS-DOS game
which will work on practically any computer with 640K RAM
with a variety of graphics and sound modes,
but the Tandy one is the one I'm interested in.
"Get into Zeliard–"
"because you can."
Well, I can't argue with that logic.
Once you've configured the game's settings to your liking–
I'm going with the full Tandy mode here for most of this review–
the game starts off with the logo
and a pretty rad theme song and some backstory.
[Tandy music plays]
The gist is that apparently the kingdom of Zeliard
has been taken over by the demon overlord Jashiin,
apparently as some kind of revenge plot.
What else would it be? Demons do that kind of thing all the time.
He rains sand down on the kingdom,
turning it into a desert,
and then turns Princess Felicia into stone.
So perhaps YOU aren't completely stoned,
but the princess certainly is!
HA-ha-ooookay...
Anyways, you are Duke Garland who has been sent by "the Spirits"
to save the kingdom by collecting the Nine Tears of...
Es...me...santi...
and killing everything that moves, including Jashiin.
Yay! Typical fantasy-action plot lines!
But unlike many other games, you'll actually follow this plot
all the way through,
gathering bits of story along the way,
which is pretty wild for a game from '87.
You start off the actual gameplay in Zeliard,
walking around in a town near the castle.
These towns your home bases for the game
where you'll actually do everything from save the game
to buying weapons and armor, using the bank and learning new abilities.
You can even talk to the various townsfolk about things going on at the time.
This is starting to look more and more like a role-playing game
than a typical action side-scroller.
And that's because it kind of is,
and that's not a bad thing, either.
Once you've talked to the king and received your 1,000 Golds, you...
Wait. Did he just say "Golds?"
Golds.
Heh heh. That's awesome.
You can use your Golds to save for later,
or spend on various items like potions or weapons or...
you know, magic things.
Once you're ready, you can enter the meat of the game:
the labyrinthine caverns.
And, dude, check out the music in this section.
[pulsating Tandy music plays]
This is probably the best show-off
for what the Tandy machines were capable of.
It kind of reminds me of somewhere between a Game Boy and an NES
or an Atari 8-bit or something.
While we're on the subject of technicalities,
you're looking at the Tandy version.
There are Hercules,
CGA, EGA,
and MCGA/VGA modes to choose from,
the latter of which are pretty close to Tandy,
just with a bit more color depth.
Personally, I just prefer Tandy modes overall because of the sound that you get,
but the MCGA and AdLib or Roland MT-32 sound
would also be pretty darned cool.
So yeah, this is the action portion of the game.
It's rather straightforward: you just run left and right, and kill things
with your weapon.
The manual includes most of the information you'll need to get started,
and there's also this nifty-keen and uber-useful poster
of the different labyrinths.
Sweetness!
It's really big and awkward, but totally useful.
You will encounter frogs,
gastropods,
rats and bats
in this first section,
as well as environmental hazards.
But don't be surprised if you die pretty quickly
by touching anything and getting... essentially raped
by all these creatures from all sides
because the game is really, really unforgiving when it comes to combat.
And a lot of that has to do with the controls
because they're a little strange at first.
I don't really know how to describe it. Jumping is weird.
And it's just a little awkward, but it's not horrible.
It's all about timing and knowing how these enemies work,
as well as strategically gaining and using potions and such.
Of course, the type of weapons, armor and maximum health
will also determine how tough the game is.
To upgrade yourself, you'll need to collect almas.
No, not that Alma!
These are weird, little... orb things
that fall from most enemies.
And you can then go back into town later
and trade it for Golds.
You can also collect Golds in the caverns,
but if you die, all your Golds will belong to the caverns,
and you'll also lose half of the almas that you collected.
There are no lives.
You just lose half your crap and return to the first town.
Just visit the sage's hut, save your game and go back for more.
At the end of each cavern, you'll have a boss to kill.
Go to the next town. Wash, rinse, repeat.
It sounds pretty simple, and really it is,
but it's also got quite a bit of depth for such an old game.
All the different combinations and possibilities of potions, armor and weapons
really add an incentive to continue playing in different ways.
Plus the sheer luck involved with the spawning rapist enemies
and in the way you really play it makes it really darn fun.
And each cavern contains new enemies and environments to tackle,
so you'll probably get frustrated far before you get bored.
And for this type of game, that's not really a bad thing.
On top of that, the world is just cool-looking,
with the impressive graphics and sound of the game
really giving it the leading edge over PC platformers of the time.
In fact, I think this is the best platformer on PC,
until Epic and Apogee started doing their things in the next few years.
Zeliard is one impressive game for 1990,
and even more impressive for 1987.
I'd love to try out the PC-8801 version, if I could ever get one of those machines.
It's got action, a coherent plot,
genuine challenge, RPG elements
and, most importantly, fun,
without being excessively punishing.
Zeliard.
Get into it.
Because you can.