Game #55: Order of the Griffon (TurboGrafx-16) - The Order of Things (Finshed)

Game 55

Title: Order of the Griffon
Released: 1992 (US only)
Platform: TurboGrafx-16
Developer: Westwood Associates
Publisher: Turbo Technologies; Strategic Simulations Inc.
Genre: RPG
Exploration - Top-down + First-person
Combat - Tactical Turn-based
Series - Standalone

Was the group from Warriors of the Eternal Sun  still remembered?

It's the lesser known games that I'm usually more excited about playing. Yet often times those are the ones that seem to disappoint the most. Obviously there's a reason they're not well known, but I had hoped it was due the console they were on. Order of the Griffon was exclusive to the TurboGrafx-16, and only in the US. It mixes first-person exploration and tactical combat similar to the gold box games, but the strategic depth is on the same level as Warriors of the Eternal Sun. With rules based on original Dungeons & Dragons, the simplicity is evident from the first combat. Try as I might, I could never reliably protect my spellcasters, and ranged combat options were limited.

These classes look familiar

Fighters, dwarfs, thieves, and halflings are all very similar. Elves are like fighters with less HP, but able to use mage spells. The drawback being they level slower. Clerics can turn undead, and eventually cast unique spells (mostly healing and hold person). Unlike Warriors of the Eternal Sun, spells go up to level 4, although my elf never reached high enough to cast them.

Summary text lies, and all spellcasters memorize the same number of spells

The selection of characters is limited to three pre-made characters per class. There's a summary text for each character that doesn't reflect the reality of each character's ability. Falcone memorizes the same number of spells as any elf or mage of the same level, and another elf that claims to cast spells more quickly usually ended up going last each turn. I figured that once again thieves would be completely useless. I decided on a dwarf, elf, cleric, and mage.

The story begins

The party was hired to investigate a rumor of  a vampire in the area. While Lord Korrigan doesn't believe the rumors, he is concerned about the rising number of undead. He offered a 200 gold advance on promise of full payment once the situation was resolved. The party was rushed out of his room.

*Plop*

As I turned around to speak with Lord Korrigan again, my way was blocked by a guard. After a short speech I was given the option to leave or attack. At my level I didn't dare attempt it, but later on (when I was stuck) I found there were two battles and a reward of a ring of protection; however, Lord Korrigan was nowhere to be found inside. Radlebb Keep had a number of such encounters, many of them not so friendly.

Purchasing some gear at the armory

The characters came with melee weapons, but lacked shields and armor. I purchased some slings as well, but ranged weapons are a bit cumbersome to swap out on the spellcasters. They are permanently equipped with their respective sources of spell power. Swapping weapons took a trip into the inventory screen each time per character. Most of the time I didn't bother with melee weapons at all for them.

This option never succeeded, but I wonder what the party gets out of it if it did

A tavern offered little more than random events. The magic shop sold spells, but I gathered more scrolls than I could scribe in two spell books. The shop had a couple of strange options: "look around" did nothing all game in either shop, and "identify" is listed in the manual as identifying magical items but neither it nor detect magic do much of anything. Magic items are always identified. The temple offered healing, raising dead, as well as potions. Strangely the potions were the most expensive, but the least helpful.

Joining the Order of the Griffon and getting my first quest

Most of the other buildings were unmarked, and I stumbled into a number of combats with rats, skeletons, and thieves before I finally found the titular Order of the Griffon. Before I headed out to slay some wolves, I finished up my survey of the keep. I ran into a group of guards angered by our presence. There was a locked door I decided not to tempt open. A plot to poison the duke was averted when I stumbled upon some ne'er-do-wells in the kitchen.

The riddle sounds interesting, but wasn't necessary to solve any quest

I made my way to the wolves' den without much incident. The overworld display is a top-down view where random encounters occur without warning. There are two ways to save in the game, either via a password or using a console with a RAM expansion. The password only works while outside. Luckily I had the later, and saved often. Dungeons only offer fixed encounters. Although, random encounters can still occur while the party rests to restore spells. Falcone and Chanda had such little HP that they'd often die to a single blow.

As always, sleep is a powerful spell at low levels

The fixed encounters in the wolves' den included a few patrols of men and wolves, a group of prisoners (adventurers on the same quest), and a hidden cache of items. The prisoners told me of an old village beyond a door in the back of the cave. There I would find the staff I sought. In a large hall was a wolf with a key around his neck; the key to the door. He was meeting with humans working for the vampire. They disputed an agreement concerning a rival group of wolves. The bandits claimed to have killed the leader, but the wolf Collum wanted the entire pack wiped out before he would relinquish the key.

I seem to have found a bug while trying to equip a scroll during battle in order to attempt to read from it; equipping outside of battle merely attempts to scribe it in the character's spellbook

A passage beyond the door led to the old village of Koriszegy. In addition to some magical equipment, there were encounters with skeletons, bug bears, and devil swine. The last of which held a key to a door with a dragon emblem. Beyond it was an easy riddle to choose the center door of three, followed by some undead, and then the staff of life that I sought. Attempting to take the staff caused my party damage three times before I was finally able to take it with me. The third was too much for Falcone, and he keeled over.

I'm not sure who's voice this is, or where the place is\

I quickly returned to the Order's Guild, and became full fledged members. Our first real mission was to take the staff to the crypt of Koriszegy. I was told the staff would open one of three doors, and recover two gems. I then raised Falcone, and headed to the crypt. Inside was a mural with a slot to place the staff. Doing so caused a faint blue light to glow, but I strangely found myself unable to enter any of the three doors. I was thoroughly stuck, unable to progress, and I had already saved over my game slots. I tried each slot to no effect. With no way to progress I tried to speak with Lord Korrigan again.

For anyone curious, this is the password for the save outside the crypt where this issue happened

I restarted with another party, ran through all of the above once more, and two hours later arrived at the crypt with a working staff. The only difference this time was ensuring all my characters were alive before I spoke with the Order, and a different set of characters. Beyond the first door was a pool of red. Dipping the staff there unlocked the red mist door. Another series of chambers led to a green pool, which turned out to be fake. In a side passage was a blue pool that allowed access through the blue door.

I'm glossing over most of the encounters, but the above obvious trap was the most interesting

Beyond the blue door was a rather annoying maze, followed by a second maze filled with teleporters. The lack of random encounters made it a bit less cumbersome walking through the maze many times, but at the same time there was nothing to break up the monotony. Eventually I came upon a statue where I placed the staff and gained a diamond. A final teleporter in the middle of that room led to an area where I found the death gem, a lot of fixed encounters, and a dragon.

By this point, Lhaeros had learned web, which apparently no one is immune to, not even dragons

Upon my return, the Order took the gems and destroyed them. Next quest was to infiltrate the vampire's keep through his cellar. However, before I set off into another dungeon, I had thousands of gold pieces and nothing to spend them on at the keep. I made my way to Specularum to the east. There I stocked up on all the magical equipment I could afford. The manual had a map that showed a third city to the northeast. The store had the same equipment as Specularum, but there were a number of encounters that offered great treasure and experience without combat.

The over world offers random battles while the party walks about

The cellar door locked behind the party as they entered. There were many were-creatures such as rats, bats, and boars that required magical weapons to kill. Stand out spells were sleep, hold person, turn undead, and web. I didn't quite have fireball yet, and third level cleric spells were useless as always. I fought a Nosferatu, apparently not the vampire I sought. Web works on any enemy with no saving throws. It stuns them so they can't act, but unlike sleep they don't die to a single blow. Strangely, hold person works similarly.

Cleric spells, level 3 consists of only curse

The Order then directed me to Duke Stefan in Specularum. His daughter was kidnapped by a group called the Iron Ring. They requested as ransom the staff of King Halav, which is apparently one of three items necessary to kill the vampire. I was provided a pass to see Master Higgins at Stefan Manor. The duke was suffering from some malady that he directed I ignore until his daughter was safe.

Web is also effective on spectres of all things

The duke's daughter was easily rescued from a cave deep inside the forest of Radlebb. My elf reached third level spells and started slinging fireballs nearly every battle. There was one difficult battle with four mages that resulted in a few resets. Charm person is very effective against my party as well as web. On the other hand, I found my silence spell was completely useless. Returning with his daughter, I was informed by the duke that he needed king Halav's chalice to cure his ailment. The tomb was an easy task to complete. It dragged on for quite a while as I collected the chalice, shield, and then four keys to escape.

"Oh yeah, have this staff" -- Order of the Griffon

The chalice and shield unlocked the final battle with the vampire, and the staff was used to kill him once he retreated to his coffin. His lair had a lot of difficult battles including a number of dragons. A couple of webs locked them down individually, but more than one made for difficult adversaries. There were three levers to pull once I entered the vampire's inner sanctum. This unlocked the path to the final battle, which wasn't the most difficult battle I'd faced. Defeating all enemies led to a short sequence before ending on the final screen shown at the beginning of this post.

This the second game to use the trope of a vampire retreating to its coffin

Elapsed Time: 19h06m (Final Time: 19h06m)

Combatant - Combat is relatively satisfying, even into the mid-game where the party slowly becomes nigh unkillable. Magic is really influential on the outcome of battle, and in turn so is initiative. There's rarely an easy battle that includes multiple mages. Enemy AI is lacking when it comes to pathing, and most of the strategic options revolve around magic. It would have been nice to get more utility out of spare scrolls and certain spells like silence. By the end of the game I was running from nearly every random encounter since the rewards were pitifully small. It's too bad only elves and mages could use wands.
Rating: 6

Half of the final battle group, the vampire chills with his pet red and green dragons

Admirer - Pre-generated characters are rarely customized, and this is no expcetion. Every character in a given class is the same. Each has different stats, but they seem so poorly implemented that differences are hard to distinguish. Equipment doesn't change appearance, but each character has unique art. Controls are a little awkward, especially swapping weapons, and how combat spells initially target the caster. There aren't any advancement options, and equipment boils down to relatively simple options.
Rating: 2

You've reached this point in the plot, time to kill a vampire

Puzzler - There are some encounters, but most of them lead to combat no matter the option. The main quest is well laid out, but there are no side quests per se, merely side encounters. The world is nicely built, but only a single solution exists. All of the riddles and bits of story presented as clues don't have any bearing on how to approach the encounters.
Rating: 2

You fools! You have played the game!

Instigator - The story is acceptable, but it's the detail in the odd side encounters that carry it into a believable active world. Descriptions are lacking, but there are enough NPCs to ensure the direction to the next plot point isn't hanging. There aren't any decisions to make though, as most are rendered ineffectual soon after.
Rating: 3

A random bit of story from the very beginning where none of it really matters

Collector - There are a good number of items in the game, but most of it boil down to a basic piece of equipment with a +. The problem is there's no way to tell the difference between weapon types in the game. The economy only peters off after the staff is obtained near the end of the game. Inventory space is limited, but not enough to make it an issue. No massive collection, but even so, I did carry around the Sword +1, +3 vs dragons just because it had cool art.
Rating: 4

That final battle loot I'll never use because the game doesn't let me play anymore after this

Explorer - While the world is completely open from the beginning, it's so empty and devoid of reason to explore. At least one town offers some nice early equipment if one can avoid all the random battles along the way. The music has a glitch where it cuts out after the first action in combat. Very little eye candy or unique areas to explore leave the game feeling underwhelming.
Rating: 4

Final Rating: 21 [35%]

Much like my enthusiasm for this game

Overall I enjoyed the encounters. The game dragged on for a bit longer than necessary, especially the filler near the end that was hardly balanced for high character levels. I'd always thought I'd find a hidden gem on one of the more obscure systems, but (while not terrible) this game is hardly what I'd recommend to others. It's a curio of the time. By today's standards it's hardly worth a play unless you're like me and enjoy delving into this type of game. I think having a second mage instead of the second fighter wouldn't have made much of a difference.

Moving on, I have an Ultima game to cut that's not really an Ultima game. Then we can finally get to Might and Magic on the NES. We'll be in for the long haul on that one. It's predicted to be the longest RPG on the system. Actually, I got a bit excited. See, I've already beaten Knight Quest, so I'll write a bit about that as well before getting to Might and Magic.

Below the Cut: World Court Tennis (TG-16)

(Source: IGN)

World Court Tennis - Rating(5 RPP)
1) 0 - Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 0 - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 0 - Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 3 - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 2 - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 0 - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve

World Court Tennis seems to have been the prototype for Final Lap Twin. It took a completely different genre, and wrapped it up in a story and open world to call it an RPG. "Combat" takes place on the tennis court with random encounters occurring in the open world. A single round of tennis against these random opponents determines if it's a win or loss, but sets and matches might come into play by the time the player reaches the evil tennis king. Oh yes, there's a story. The no-name kingdom had enjoyed many years of free tennis, but now the evil king has beaten all the tennis champs, which entitled him to the entire kingdom. Now no one is free to play whenever they want, and it's up to me to stop the evil king. The previous king provided me some basic equipment, and starting money (a pitiful sum). With that story I'm not sure how I'm able to face off in tennis matches against random people.

The tennis game is well done, although the controls are restricted to only two buttons. Considering it as the combat for the game there's not much strategy, and stats all lie with the equipment; however, equipment is graded, so there aren't any decisions to make. Winning a round rewards the player with gold, which is spent in the store to purchase new rackets, shirts, or shoes. These may improves the character's abilities in the game, but I couldn't even afford the first upgrade. The only character choice beyond naming is whether to play as a male or female. There aren't any side quests or puzzles to solve.

The world seemed to be open, although I didn't make it very far in the game. I missed this game on a first pass through, but chat mentioned it in passing. I can see why it doesn't make many lists. There's no game over screen in quest mode. In fact, when you lose the good king gives you a small amount of money, so even if you're bad you can still make progress. It probably deserves less on the story rating, but I'm feeling generous as I didn't play very far to give it a fair shake. It's definitely not an RPG though.

Below the Cut: Neutopia II (TG-16)

(Source: Geek Vintage)

Neutopia II - Rating(8 RPP)
1) 1 - Character Advancement: practice/experience based advancement, stat or level increases, multiple classes or characters, customize characters
2) 1 - Combat: character stats used for combat, additional combat options, turn based
3) 2 - Items and Equipment: store to buy and sell, equipment decisions, item decisions
4) 2 - Story: main story at the forefront; world full of hints and lore; descriptions for objects, people, and places
5) 1 - Exploration: open world from the beginning, visited locations remain open
6) 1 - Quests and Puzzles: side quests not related to the main quest, puzzles and riddles to solve




Neutopia, the TurboGrafx version of The Legend of Zelda stays true to its model, and thus doesn't get included in this quest. This sequel is a fun little fantasy adventure game, but it doesn't add much to the formula solidified in the original. This time the player takes on the role of the Jazeta's son to save the land from evil. I haven't played through the game, so let me know if there are any areas I may have missed.

There aren't any character levels or advancement options. Max life increases, but defensive and offensive bonuses only come in the form of upgraded weapons and armor. Combat prowess is derived from that equipment. There are some magic items that are helpful to defeat enemies, but their power depends on the hero's current life total. Equipment is always an upgrade, so there's no balancing to be done.

The positive aspects come from the story and expansive world. Unlike the first game, this one is a bit more open. There are plenty of secrets and puzzles, but most revolve around navigating the world map or dungeons.

Action-adventure games share many of the same aspects of RPGs, but are generally disregarded due to the lack of control over character strength. In most games that fall into this genre the player's skill is what tends to restrict or grant progress, and there's little option to increase the character's ability until the player meets the skill level required. Now, finally, on to Phantasy Star III.

Game 25: Cadash (Genesis | TG-16 | Xbox) - Living on the Edge (Finished! + Final Rating)

Game 25

Title: Cadash
Released: 1989 (Arcade JP) - 1991 (TurboGrafx-16) - 1992 (Genesis)
Platform: Genesis | TG-16 | Xbox
Developer: Taito
Publisher: Taito (Working Designs [TG-16])
Genre: ACTION-rpg
Exploration - Side-scrolling (light platforming)
Combat - Real-time
Series - Standalone

Won!

As detailed in a previous cut turned accept post I decided to play Cadash, and blog about it. Well, I think my original decision to cut was the correct one after now playing it; however, I'll follow through and give it a full review. The turning point for inclusion was learning it's possible buy and sell equipment. Well it turns out there's only buying, and there aren't any item decisions (they're all used automatically as needed). The world on the other hand is a little more open than I thought, and it's possible to backtrack to revisit towns or grind out some levels.

Four characters available on TG-16 and Xbox (Genesis only has fighter and mage)

It's definitely an arcade style game where you're expected to feed quarters to win (with a high score). I played through the arcade version by way of Taito Legends 2 released for the Xbox. This version offered varying difficultly levels, including a custom mode to adjust enemy difficulty and play time. The game is timed in the arcade version. I played yesterday on easy, which adds 8 minutes at the start of every chapter. The console ports don't offer any difficulty setting, and time is removed from the equation.

*Plop*

The story goes that a princess was kidnapped, and our adventurers have come to answer the call. The party (or solo character) traverses a dungeon to find a black slime guarding a portal. Portals connect the game's seamless sprawling levels, of which there are five. On the TG-16, the levels are disconnected a bit as towns and dungeons are connected by a cave entrance, and on the Genesis some dungeons are broken down further and connected by doorways.

Grinding on early monsters in the first cave

The first cave on the Genesis

Comparable shot from the Xbox

As you can tell from the graphics (sorry for the blurry shots from the Xbox, they're taken from a console recording), the ports differ a bit. The Xbox version is as close to the original arcade as possible on console without playing in an arcade. This means they also left things in like credit feeding, of which I took advantage, but it was only about $3.00 to beat the game.

Part of the arcade's attract mode

Same screen on TG-16, there's no comparable screen on Genesis

Other changes include a revamp of the leveling system and values for each monster killed. Level layout was modified a bit to accommodate differences in screen transitions. Bosses and enemies remained mostly unchanged; however, the Genesis version cut out a giant plant boss that offered a mid-game elixir (full heal), and the TG-16 doesn't reveal the final boss as a dragon until the re-fight back at the castle.

Not available in the Genesis version

Oh, Working Designs and their translations... here we're back at the castle before the big reveal

I had fun with the game, but I don't think anyone should considered it an RPG, no matter how it scores below. It's a good action game, and more fun with a bunch of friends, but don't expect an epic adventure.

Xbox - Final Time: 1h15m
TG-16 - Final Time: 1h20m
Genesis - Final Time: 1h40m

Like saving you...

What about the important thing?

That's a very good reproduction of the original screen

Combatant
Combat is well balanced, and there's little opportunity to get overpowered. Even at max level the final areas pose a threat to the unprepared. There's no chance to heal during the lead up to the final boss all the way to the end. The only character I didn't play was the fighter since he had the least options. The ninja at least had projectile attacks that could fire in any of eight directions, and the priestess' flail covers nearly half the screen. The mage, of course, has his spells.

The final boss' form has two heads, but not in the TG-16 version

There's a good range of enemies, and there's hardly any overlap between the five areas. The bosses provide a good challenge. It is possible to over grind (although you need to watch that clock in the arcade version) and trivialize most of the game, but it's still fun to see all the different enemies. Another notable difference in the Genesis version is the lack of flying insect enemies that cause poison. This leaves spiders as the only threat that requires an antidote as poison quickly depletes HP.

I'm not sure two heads would fit on the screen

Rewards for defeating monsters are worth the effort (limited to gold and exp), and new levels come at a good pace. Most bosses have an AI pattern that's easy to decipher, but getting into that groove is harder on the Genesis version. Projectiles, especially those from the slime bosses, are sped up to at least double their speed in other ports. Luckily that version comes with 2 continues, and more lives available to purchase; TG-16 has no concept of lives or continues beyond the elixir items.
Rating: 6

This fight isn't as close as it seems... I had 4 lives and 2 elixirs left

Admirer
I suppose one of the main reasons this game falls under the RPG umbrella are levels and stats. Sure these increase through experience gained from defeating monsters. Sure stats play a large role in dishing out more damage and absorbing it. I'll even grant it the fantasy motif complete with rural towns that sell items, weapons, and lodging. In all respects it does well with the dressings of an RPG.

It even offers a mocking villain

Yet, most of the points this game scores in are deep in a few select areas, and missed out on customization. It was a nice surprise to see weapons and armor represented on the characters. In the above picture my ninja has a black suit complete with a separate mask and upgraded his projectile to a fireball. Yet, there really aren't any options that I had to decide. If I could afford the newest equipment, it was always better.

My mage dressed in red... also, this area changed in the Genesis to one moving platform from three

Lastly, as expected for an action game, the controls are spot on in all versions. Responsive and smooth, the movement doesn't drag on. I do wish they changed the magic system in the Genesis version. To select a spell, hold the attack button for half a second, and a display of the last spell cast is shown. Continue to hold and it cycles through all known spells. In both arcade and TG-16, there's a small pause at each spell accompanied by a chime. On Genesis, that audio cue is missing, and the delay is reduced, so selecting the correct spell is troublesome. The Genesis has three buttons though, and that third button could have been used to ready and cycle through the spell list while the attack button could cast it as normal. That's my biggest complaint.
Rating: 5

Thought I was exaggerating? That's about half the screen... the priest's shield spell is the best spell, although I never tried the time spell only available in the Xbox/arcade version

Puzzler
Yeah, no puzzles. This is really where the game starts to show off its unfinished side. The main quest to find the princess is sprinkled with short objectives like "go through that cave to the end." This mainly consists of going right, but there are a few times left is required.

There's a small maze at one point

No side quests, unless we're going to count the optional boss no one pointed us towards (and removed from the Genesis). Everything in the game is for the purpose of getting to the princess, and defeating the last boss. There aren't any mini-games to speak of, which isn't surprising, but I thought I'd point it out.

This doesn't quite do this part justice...

There's only one way to accomplish each goal, and they all have to be done in the correct order. At one point we backtrack to speak to an animal to find a hidden passage after getting a charm that allows the character to communicate. That passage only opens after we've spoken to that animal, it's not possible to skip it.
Rating: 1

The Genesis' take on the same screen is more impressive, but the flame jet still doesn't curve as it moves

Instigator
The names of people and places change, but the story remains the same. The princess of one kingdom is kidnapped by the big bad because he has plans to take over all kingdoms. He's either Baarogue or Balrog. In our adventures we save a young girl revealed to be a mermaid, become a gnome to enter tiny houses, and avenge a town hero killed by bandits. All throughout, NPCs offer a bit of back story to each continent, and at least a few identify where to go next.

Please don't say 'flesh'... please don't say 'flesh'

Missing is some general lore that gives a sense of immersion. Instead the focus is always on what the player needs to accomplish next. This doesn't feel like a thriving or dying world, but one in stasis. There aren't any decisions or consequences laid out for any of my actions either. Here we see the story really isn't the central point of the game.

This is all Working Designs, they were a cooky bunch that loved throwing in pop culture references

Just because I think it's interesting to point out the differences in names, here are a few more. The hero from the demolished town is always named Abel, but his faithful dog went from Ling Ling to Reen Tinn (Rin Tin Tin?) to Alex. The helpful gnome who suggested the alternate path to the herb which allowed the transformation to become a gnome was named Chovin for the arcade and TG-16, but changed to Jobim on the Genesis. In fact, the name of the herb is different as well: named Maiya originally, but called Lilliput (Gulliver's Travels?) on the Genesis. There are probably others, but I'll leave that to other articles and sites that point out all the differences between ports (if this isn't a thing, then it should be).
Rating: 2

Other versions didn't even consider the player going back to talk to other animals

Collector
For an arcade game I'm surprised that we're even talking about collecting items. Really equipment is the only thing tracked that isn't consumable, and there's no inventory screen to admire the items. It's unfortunate more wasn't done with this, but it doesn't surprise me it's so limited. There's no sense of collecting, and no difference between buying only the last set of equipment or iterating through them.

Most shops offer at least one item for each character... I think someone missed a 0, but this is also in the arcade version

Gold is always a valuable resource. It's used to buy equipment, herbs, antidotes, and other necessary items. I could spend it all on the 8 HP increment item if I didn't have to back track so far. Strangely, unlimited purchases were allowed for that item except in the Genesis version (you could only buy it four times). The arcade had an item to buy more time (something I took advantage of), the TG-16 had the HP sink, and the Genesis allowed me to buy extra lives (which I ended up never needing).

Strangely, the Genesis version's shop is limited to 4 items, and the final shop only has fighter equipment

There's nowhere to store items, and herbs and antidotes are limited to 8 or 4 depending on the version. There are treasure chests that offer up each, but if you're at max they won't do anything (not even heal). Hidden throughout the levels are invisible items you need to attack 4 or 5 times before they'll appear, and as far as I can tell, there's no way to know about these without randomly attacking all locations. Obviously the hoarder mentality hadn't quite hit the arcades at this point.
Rating: 2

The price of time increases with every purchase of it

Explorer
I found the graphics and music offered their own unique charm to each port, and on the whole they were all enjoyable. The world layout would have been more impressive if they managed the seamless transitions of the original, but I understand there were hardware limitations. The atmosphere was well formed, and each continent had a unique feel. Each was connected via a portal, which felt like stepping into another world.

One of the more unique areas

There weren't any special points of interest though, and the dungeons themselves were all similar in how they twisted along a single linear path (some exceptions such as the shortcut in level 2). The Genesis offered the most compact environments, and required some caves to be carved up into much smaller passages connected by doors.

The fiery underground of the fourth dungeon

One design decision I appreciated, which may have been a disguised limitation, was after defeating the fire demon--in both TG-16 and arcade--the player was forced to backtrack after the boss and know to use the flute to cross a fiery moat; however, the Genesis offered a bridge revealed by the flute over the fire that encircled the small island where the battle took place. The door used to get to the boss fight strangely no longer functioned, but instead the player is forced to learn what the flute does. It also eliminated the backtracking from the boss as the door on the other side exited near the graveyard above.
Rating: 4

The console version's environments are similar, but I wasn't able to capture screens as good as these

Final Rating: 20 [33%]

Overall, I'm glad I played it instead of discounting it entirely. I don't think it deserved a full post, but showing off the differences intrigued me enough to put in the effort. There is a speedrun on YouTube done with the ninja. It's split into three parts though due to the ancient limit of 10-minute videos. Going forward I'll try to include more details and actually play the games for a couple hours before I cut them. That means I'll postpone my cut of King's Bounty just in case, and get right into Rings of Power. I'm very excited about diving into that one as I just read through the 120 page manual (well, 80+ since the last 30 - 40 are actually a walkthrough).

Sweet! High score