Radia Senki: Reimeihen

"One of NES's greatest and most innovative titles"

Up to the end of the NES's life, action RPGs were almost unheard of. Either you got an acton filled game with few RPG elements or you got an RPG with less exhilarating turn based combat. Not many games tried to bridge the gap, but luckily Tecmo tried their luck and created a wonderful gem by the name of Radia Senki: Reimeihen, or Chronicles of the Radia War if you don't want to sound like a dork. Radia Senki comes off as a very fun and simple yet challenging game that feels years ahead of it's time with topnotch gameplay, story, music and visuals.

The heart of every game is in it's gameplay, and Radia Senki doesn't disappoint. Best described as Legend of Zelda meets Final Fantasy, you control the Hero as you swing around your sword and issue commands to your AI party members when a random battle occurs with a group of enemies. While you start with only one AI partner at the beginning, your team will quickly grow to five members big, making for some chaotic battles where managing your team and realizing the biggest threats is most important. One of the cooler parts about the random battles is they occur right on the screen being walked on, making combat very varied. One battle will have you chasing down flying enemies as they zip over walls, another will task you with trying to get down narrow halls to enemies that are spamming projectiles, and the next'll have you caught between two groups of monsters on both sides. The constantly changing battlegrounds really benefit the game, and help excuse the somewhat repetitive enemy designs.

But as I said, the player's swordplay is important but comes second to how well the party is managed. If all your party members are ever told to do is "Fight! Fight! Fight!" they're going to get wiped out in a couple of battles. Though your commands are a little limited, all of the necessary instructions are available. You can tell a single character to go somewhere on-screen, flee from any attacking enemies, attack a certain enemy, or just do whatever they want. You can also have your entire party regroup in one area, or tell them to "Fight" to cancel any other commands. Your partners can sometimes act a bit stupid (not attacking an enemy, constantly getting in your way), but overall they are solid allies to have on a battlefield and can usually hold their own against single enemies. To help them out you can teach them Techniques, which are learned through Scrolls you collect. Techs are a big help getting through the game, but unfortunately lack hardly any imagination. You basically have techs that hurt all enemies and techs that heal all allies, with one or two exceptions. Not very fun, but it is up to you to decide when to use these powerful skills and can make or break your adventure into a dungeon.

Battles all go by quickly, so exploration is pretty speedy. Which is good, because you've got a lot to explore. Radia Senki will take you through forests, grasslands, lots of caves, mountains and a number of villages. Though it doesn't quite have the grand scope of a normal RPG, Radia Senki still presents a beautiful world that feels very alive. Everything looks very good visually, not a lot of animation as far as the main characters go but it isn't very noticeable. Overall, topnotch visuals.

The music is also topnotch. Though nothing really stands out, all of the tunes are very solid and fit their environments well, virtually none of the music is bad. Caves sound creepy as they should, towns have a bit of a happy/lazy theme to them, and the battle music makes combat even more fun with it's awesome rhythm that'll probably have you tapping your feet along with it. The sound effects are all generic but sound just as they should, with sword slashes and boomerangs whirling through the air. Again, it helps keep the mood of the battles hectic but fun, definitely nothing to complain about.

Another aspect of NES games that usually doesn't see much effort put into it is the story. Radia Senki makes it look like nothing though as it weaves a great tale that'll keep players interested to the end. It isn't going to blow you away with it's complexity or anything, but when compared to most other NES games one has to admit Radia Senki has an impressive plot filled with twists, drama and sentimental sub-plots that was way ahead of it's time. The characters aren't nearly as amazing, but they are good enough. They all get an obligatory scene or two of development and then basically step out of the spotlight for most of the rest of the game. More annoying is that three of the main characters all share one sprite, two of which even use the same palette. I guess I can understand re-using sprites for a game like this, but come on, how hard is it to change Midea's robes to blue or something?

Ultimately, Radia Senki is one of the best choices you can make whether you're looking for an RPG or an action game. The story is gripping, the combat is a blast and all other aspects are top notch. You could almost say it is the "Super Mario Bros" of Action RPGs, it is one of the first of it's kind. There are a number of small annoyances in the game, and it would have kicked ass if it sported a multiplayer function, but there's still no denying its superb quality. Unfortunately about the only way you're going to find it now though is through *cough* certain illegal methods.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/21/06