Soul Blazer

"Rescue all of the townspeople by defeating enemies."

Soulblazer is the prequel to Illusion of Gaia (at least I'm pretty sure it is). This is an odd action rpg, and you are an angel that has to rescue people that have been sealed off by some evil guy's magic (or something to that extent). This game is made by Enix, which is one of the best makers of RPGs, so that should say something.

Gameplay is simple, yet it's done in a way that's very unique. You swing a sword and defeat enemies, but before you go off calling it a zelda clone, you have to realize you have a method to your sword swinging madness. You'll start off in a town area, but all the people will be mysteriously missing. You'll have to go to a battle area and fight the enemies to free the people. Everytime you beat a group of enemies, a green switch will appear. Step on this switch and one of the townspeople, or an object (such as a bridge) will appear. This gives you an incentive to defeat enemies, but also, once enemies are gone, they never come back. Because of this strange gameplay, some interesting puzzles can present themselves. For example, after freeing many people in the battle section, you may find yourself stuck. If you go back to the town section and talk to all of the people you freed, one may give you an item that you need to proceed in the action section.

The graphics are pretty good, considering that this was an early Super Nintendo game. You'll be able to see yourself in pretty good detail, and your enemies in good detail as well. The sound is what you'd expect from Enix: good, but not as good as Square.

Much of the challenge this game has is in its original style of play. You will often have to go back and forth between action and town parts of the level to get to the next level. Sometimes there are enemies you can't defeat in the earlier levels. If you find a weapon in the later levels that can defeat these guys, you can go back to the earlier levels and defeat the "invincible" enemies. These enemies often free up people who will give you some of your best stuff.

All and all, a good RPG for the Snes, but not neccessarily one of the best. If you can find this in a pawn shop for a good price, then by all means buy it. If not, there are better games in the genre. A good effort by Enix.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 08/07/01