Light Crusader (Treasure 1995)

If you don't know about a company called Treasure then you've been missing out on some of the best games on Mega Drive. If you do know them then you might be surprised to learn that they have turned their attention to creating a Role Playing Game. Seeing as almost all their other games were platform games featuring heavy firepower it's interesting to see how they handled this one.

You start the game as David Lander, one tired knight badly in need of a holiday. Fortunately, he has no problem convincing the king to send him to the neighboring town of Greenrod for a bit of rest and relaxation. Upon arriving there though things seem a bit out of place and he soon realizes that the town's people are disappearing one by one. Talking to the king reveals that some sinister things have been going on and that's about the time David's holiday comes to an end. Now you have to take him through the six level dungeon below the town to rescue the people and find out exactly what's going on.

About the closes game to Light Crusader you'll find on Mega Drive is Landstalker. You've got your same skewed top down perspective and all combat takes place in real-time. There are also some devious puzzles and traps to overcome along the way. Unfortunately, Light Crusader falls a bit short in the gameplay department compared to Landstalker and players of the latter might be a bit disappointed by Light Crusaders short quest and lack of variation. The six dungeons you explore are pretty short and there is none of the town traveling and character interaction that made Landstalker such a hit. Every now and then you'll find a villager caught beneath the dungeons and freeing him might provide some info. Other than that it's pretty much just combat and puzzle-solving. Some of the later levels are really cool and you get to travel to different time zones but these are sadly all too brief.

The graphics in the game are quite nice and David has some nice animations. There are also some cool enemy characters and the rooms you explore are pretty detailed. Unfortunately all people you encounter can be pushed around like store mannequins without anyone batting an eyelid. This doesn't do much to suspend your disbelief when in goblin disguise you push the king around the throne room and down a flight of stairs! Apart from that, David also seem to be hyperventilating most of the time although that could just be due to stress and the lack of a holiday. Special mention should be made of the bosses which are something that Treasure knows how to do right. Most of them have some kind of technical trickery involved and if you've played any of the other Treasure titles like Gunstar Heroes you'll recognize some of the animation styles.

Although Light Crusader looks and plays like a standard role playing game there are some aspects of it that drags it down a bit. You only have a few items to equip and old equipment can never be sold. Likewise, although you can find hordes of food items you cannot discard or sell these for cash but are forced to use them to free up space. There is also very little of the usual "special" items normally found in RPG's and the game focuses more on puzzle solving and combat than exploration and talking. The combat system is good though and arguably better than the one in Landstalker. Enemies can hit each other or get in each other's way, making combat more involving. David can slash or perform a diving attack as well as perform magic. You have four elements which can be combined for quite a few spells but your elements need to be restocked when you run out.

It's also cool to see enemies die in different ways than just simply disappearing. Goblins can be cut in half or decapitated while zombies sink down in a pile of goo. Kill an enemy with a fire spell and you'll also see him fall down in flames leaving a charred corpse. You can only save in certain "save rooms" but since the dungeons are pretty small you're never really that far from a save point. Some puzzles reset however forcing you to go through the whole tedious process again just to backtrack. Upon dying it's also game over unless you happen to have a pendant which grants you another life. These are pretty expensive so be careful. Light Crusader also enables you to turn on auto item use which automatically uses a potion when your health gets low or cure when you get poisoned. This is a bit annoying at first but helps a lot during hectic boss battles. Seeing how much damage you give or take displayed above your character is also handy.

The music in Light Crusader won't be winning any awards anytime soon but it's good none the less and serves as a good backdrop to the action. Some tunes are better than others but overall I've got no complaints. The sound effects reminded me a lot of Landstalker although this game also has a few speech samples thrown in the mix. Some get annoying pretty fast but overall it's not too bad. Controls are responsive and with a tap of the start button you can access your inventory, auto-map, equipment and magic menu. Another cool thing is you don't have to get in someone's face to talk to them but simply turn towards them and press attack. It is much more realistic but with so few people to talk to not something you will be using a lot.

If you prefer combat and puzzle solving above traveling and exploration then Light Crusader is your game. Although there are some hidden rooms you never really get that feeling of being part of a gameworld like in RPGS such as Landstalker and Phantasy Star. Being confined to just six small dungeon levels is a bit of a letdown although later levels are really good. I missed traveling around, talking to people and putting clues together but Light Crusader has a decent storyline and more than enough to do. It might not be one of the best RPGs on the system but Treasure has done a good job for their first attempt.

 [9/10]