Dark Wizard

"The Holy Grail of strategy rpgs"

Ah where to start, well lets start with my own personal experience with the game. I first got it when I was but 8 years old, I had quite a time with it, but the music and story had me hooked. By my 9th Birthday, I had been able to progress to Karmak(a later boss), and was about 3/5 through the game. Alas this is where I always failed, I could never get past the 3rd battle with Karmaks army.

Eventually, my SCD quit working(Ironicly, on christmas day, and I realized this after trying my still mint Lunar:EB in it to find it wasnt getting power.)and I traded to some friends. I still had my Dark Wizard CD, but no console.

And then, about 3 weeks ago, low and behold the local trade a game had a working SCD. I forked out full price for it, and since then, well, its been nothing short of a dream. I now have the games learning curve down much better, and there is an EXCELLENT FAQ for the game here at gamefaqs.

But now lets get to the actual review:

Graphics:8/10
Simple, but simple leads to more imagination. Battle scenes and animated cut scenes are the games graphical strong point. Given the time Id say it still stands strongly.

Sound:10/10
Absolutely amazing! I put the games tracks right up there with Lunar, Final Fantasy, etc. Robins theme is my personal favorite, I could sit and play for days and never get tired. Given this games time, the sound was a major accomplishment.

Challenge:9/10
Is it hard? Well yes, and time consuming. Maybe its just because I was so young, but even now I still find the challenge to be good. I like hard games(F-Zero GX, Solaris(atari2600)) and this one is a keeper.

Gameplay:9/10
If you like strategy rpgs, this is a must have game. Not as advanced as todays strategy games, but still enough to satisfy. 4 different storys to choose from, 2 male, 2 female. I always thought the hexagonal scheme was brilliant. Some may find the battle scenes repetive, but they can be disabled to save on load times and repetiveness. The game will go much faster with them turned off, but be sure to have them on for the boss battles. You have choices of paths to take in the game, so you can progress however you see fit. And there are all kinds of items tucked away over the land. You will spend hours finding them. There are also various ''Famous Players'' in the game that you can accquire. Theres a lot to do, without a doubt.

Control:10/10
Pretty much flawless, considering the mammoth sega controllers. A few issues in some menus, but nothing worth giving at 9.

Replay:9/10
You have 4 different people to choose from, each with different types of soldiers/monsters. This alone gives it a 9.

Overall:10/10
Id say this is a must have for strategy gamers. If you have never heard of it, and are interested, shop around and you should find it without too much trouble. If you dont have a SCD, well, you may have some trouble tracking one down. But a Genesis is not too hard to find. You may opt to check out ebay? Go out, buy it, you wont regret.

Finally Id just like to say that this is the MOST UNDERRATED STRATEGY RPG OF ALL TIME. I am just shocked at how many big strategy gamers have never heard of it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/09/03