"Great Zelda-like game to rival Landstalker"

A long time ago in the land of Oasis a battle was fought between two powerful Sorcerers who each bore an armlet, one of gold and one of silver. Reharl used his gold armlet to summon spirits to aid him whilst Agito used his silver armlet to wreak chaos throughout the land of Oasis. In time the battle destroyed both of the sorcerers and the armlets were considered to be lost with their bearers.
The story begins with a young adventurer named Ali finding the gold armlet within a chest inside a cave. The armlet speaks and beckons the young boy to put it on, as he slips it onto his arm it glows and a voice speaks. It tells Ali that the powers of the armlet have been entrusted to him and the silver armlet has also chosen another. Ali must journey to gain the powers of the four spirits then destroy the evil dreams of the bearer of the silver armlet.
As the voice fades the cave starts to sink into the sea, Ali sails back to shore where monsters have attacked the village; a long story awaits…

The Story of Thor or Beyond Oasis as it is called in the U.S is generally an adventure game with a few RPG like statistics thrown in for good measure. The game works in a similar way to the Zelda III on the Super Nes sharing the on screen battles and the balance of action and puzzles.

The first of Ali’s tasks is to find the four spirits that are hidden away in secret shrines, caves and fortresses. Once the spirits have been acquired their powers can be used to help Ali whenever he summons one of them with his armlet. Each spirit has three spells that give him an extra advantage over the enemies and the terrain that confronts him and are triggered by pressing a button in various ways. A little tutorial is given when you acquire a spirit to let you know how to use them. Ali can heal himself, attack his foes in various ways, break down doors and reach across gaps that he previously could not cross. All of the spirits that Ali commands and the powers they posses will need to be mastered before Ali defeats the silver armlet.

As you travel around the land you will inevitably run into the many monsters that lie in wait. Fortunately Ali is pretty good with his dagger and has many attacks that he can use to dispose of his foes. Using a different combination of button presses Ali will stab, slash and twirl with his dagger while standing or crouching, jump kicks, a dashing slash and a powerful summersault complete his array of moves. Other weapons can also be found along the way though that will make life easier for Ali. Swords, flaming swords, arrows, flaming arrows and various strengths of bomb are all frequently found in chests and other places around the land. When you find a weapon however, it will have a number next to it within the inventory. This number represents the amount of times you can use the weapon before it becomes useless and Ali drops it. Because of this you need to utilise all the weaponry you find so that you have more powerful weapons to use against the tougher enemies. The monsters themselves take quite a few forms ranging from small groups of armour-clad soldiers to killer bees. Soldiers often attack in organised groups containing a swordsman, an archer, a bomber and unarmed infantry who use their fists to attack. Clever manoeuvring around the group can often give you the satisfaction of the bomber killing his allies as he frantically tries to wound Ali. Many other kinds of creatures all have their own ways of attacking Ali too and also need to be disposed of in different ways, standing still and pressing the attack button will lead to a untimely death for our hero. Among the other monsters in the game there are zombies that slice in half when attacked then continue to attack you by pulling themselves along the ground and snakes that swell up when they are hurt and then shoot towards anything that crosses their path. All these small details make fighting more challenging and less tedious as you progress through the game.

One of the best aspects of the game is the way that it balances its action and puzzle elements. A lot of the game is spent fighting monsters but there is a fair share of brainwork needed along the way before you reach the end, especially in the shrines. Once you have the control of the spirits the game will occasionally make you summon one of them in order to progress or to gain a hidden item. Areas that were previously inaccessible can be reached later in the game using spirits to reward you with items that cannot be found elsewhere in the game. Examples of the way spirits need to be used can be found in the plant shrine. Efreet the fire spirit needs to be summoned to light torches within a room to open a door to let you continue. Shade, the shadow spirit has a command where Ali can control his shadow, this enables him to be in two places at once and is essential to open doors that need to be operated by two switches at once. The are many little puzzles like this which must be solved to finish the game, many need to be undertaken whilst fighting monsters at the same time, the game can get pretty hectic at times.

Graphically, the world of oasis is extremely varied. The scenery changes from lush green fields to long sandy beaches, from precariously high mountain ledges to labyrinth like caverns. Each setting is drawn beautifully and is very colourful and breathes new life into every twist and turn throughout the game. The action is viewed from above and slightly behind as favoured in most modern RPG’s, it works very well. Ali stays central on the screen unless approaching the side of a room or area; this gives you a larger view of Ali’s surroundings making it easier to spot enemies, items or doors. The scenery is clearly drawn too and Ali capabilities are clearly defined, there is no impression you should be able to achieve something only to be let down because of the landscape, this is most important within the game when Ali occasionally has to make jumps which can lead to loss of health. Ali, as well as all the other characters in the game is well designed and drawn, each having their own style of movement and attacks, Ali steals the show though with his knife handling and athletic like skills. The other characters such as the enemies vary in shape and size but the finest looking beast in the game is the fire-breathing dragon that you must battle in the shadow cave. Standing in the cavern below, the dragon peers through the roof above it into where you stand, its size is incredible.

The sound within the game is average for an RPG. The music is tolerable but never memorable like games such as Phantasy Star 2, the way it is used is good though. When Ali is in areas such as his family’s castle a fanfare like harmony serenades him, when in the wilderness the music is more relaxed. When Ali is in an area when he comes under attack the music changes to intensify the situation and add to the atmosphere. The same rule applies for castles, shrines and caves where the music repeatedly changes to alter the mood depending on what is happening. This is a nice element and works well even though the tunes themselves are not outstanding.

A nice touch within the game and a great way to make people replay the game is the scoring system you get when you finish the game. A statistics screen appears which gives you all of your achievements throughout the game, from enemies killed to the time taken to complete it. The best part to replay for though is the coloured stones that you collect throughout the game. There are about twenty-five stones for each element that make it more powerful when collected, some are really tricky to get so it is a nice challenge to go back through and try to collect them all.

The only real downfall with the game is the difficulty level; it is fairly small for an RPG. Hardened fans of this genre should be able to work their way through this game in less than a day due to the length of the game. The pace and challenge of the game itself is average and it does get tough at times, perseverance will only reward the gamer with a premature ending sequence though. Only the ranking system added to the shortness of the game will drive anyone to play through again though.

Along with Landstalker and Light Crusader, The Story of Thor is at the top of a limited genre on the genesis. Each game is slightly different but they all fall into the action RPG category and are all worth playing. Fans of the Zelda series will be at home here and this is the just about the closest Genesis owners will get to playing the SNES classic.

Overall – 9

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/31/02, Updated 05/31/02