Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (1995)
Genres:Role-playing (RPG), Puzzle
Themes:Fantasy
Game modes:Single player
Story:Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals serves as a prequel to Lufia & the Fortress of Doom, unfolding its events ninety-nine years before. The narrative delves into the origins of the series' antagonists, the Sinistrals, a group of super-humans. Players take on the role of the ancestor of Maxim, the protagonist from the first game, as he embarks on a quest after encountering Iris, a mysterious woman. Maxim seeks other heroes to join forces in preventing the Sinistrals from wreaking havoc and destroying the world.
Like its predecessor, Rise of the Sinistrals follows the Japanese-style turn-based RPG format with an infusion of puzzle elements. The game incorporates intricate puzzles into its dungeon designs, requiring players to use various items and accessories for solving. Additionally, it introduces the "Capsule Monsters" system, allowing summoned monsters to participate in battles. These creatures evolve through the consumption of weapons, armour, or special fruits. Unlike the first game, dungeons in Rise of the Sinistrals lack random battles, with enemies visibly moving on-screen.Show more
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This is one of my favorite SNES RPGs. The music, the art style and the dungeon exploring was great. Compared to the first game it was a huge quality of life upgrade in just how fast the characters moved vs the walking through mud speed of the first game. Ended up getting it for Christmas and it wasn't looking like I was going to get it as it wasn't well stocked in our area. Mom ended up having to get my Aunt a few provinces away to buy it and mail it to her. Back in 1996 the story over heard my Aunt talking to my Mom is that it was $106 and if the site I just went to for CDN 1996 compared to 2025 is accurate then it is $192.87 in today's price!
While I haven't played a ton of RPGs, this one holds out as easily one of the all-time best for its story, gameplay, music and more. Its characters and world are very charming and the combat grind is never necessary.
My love for this game comes with a very long and personal story that I'm not going to fill your time with, just know that this game was designed with a special soul to it that a lot of modern games are sorely lacking.
One truth you'll notice is that this game is a masterclass in taking the simplest, most one-dimensional stories, protagonists, etc and fleshing them into much more and making you care about them.
- Take combat as an example, enemies are always based off the environment around them and the subtle differences between every type of enemy matter, its easy to be drawn to attention the way enemies who look "squishy" ARE squishy even if they're tough or dangerous in other ways. (like those DAMN NINJAS)
The sound design is fantastic, most people make a huge deal about the music (and rightly so) but I think the overall sound design is expertly and thoughtfully crafted. Each weapon type has its own sound effect and each spell is distinct, You could blindfold someone who's played this through and start having them guess what spell or weapon is being used and well - there's no mistaking Firebird, or Confusion, or the axe vs the frying pan.
Sorry, I didn't mean for this to turn into a review lol - but my point stands that this game has a very special style to it that I've never seen anyone replicate and I would hate to lose it to history
Lufia 2 is in my opinion one of the best RPG games ever made. It was the first game I remember with the mechanics like New Game Plus, Dungeon Crawler, Monster Gathering and transforming these monsters into stronger pets.
Lufia II is masterful. The way the whole story comes together, with all the answers falling into place, really lets you understand where everything began. The mythical quest and the legendary heroes that inspired the original Lufia are portrayed brilliantly. It's proof that a sequel can be just as good as the original. I totally recommend it!
Oh. I spent so very many hours on this game !!
I loved it, and would most certainly play it again.
I so adored the game, when prompted in 10th grade band to write a song, it was so titled, "Rise of the Sinistrals." Lol!
Few people know that!!
The game play, replay value, story, and more, are superb!
One of the greats!
I am 40 now, and this is still one of my all-time favorites, along with the like of Breath of Fire and Final Fantasy.
Gateway to ApshaiIn this almost-but-not-quite Roguelike, you play a lone warrior exploring the mysterious dungeons of Aphsai, collecting treasure and better equipment as you proceed, in addition to leveling up and getting more experience.Action Fantasy
Return to Pirate's IsleYou return to the Pirate's Isle in search for yet even more treasure in this exclusive graphical text adventure for the TI-99.
DungeonKoei’s Dungeon asks you to pick a class — Warrior, Thief, Cleric, Wizard or Ninja — and explore a large island in search of El Dorado.
While the towns are text-only, the rest of the game is an impressive programming featfor it's time, the overworld has a handy mini-map and the island’s underground is a dungeon with multiple entry points that’s over 250 x 250 squares.
You will face monsters based on the D&D rulebooks: Mind Flayers, Frost Giants, Flesh Golems and even the demon prince Demogorgon.Fantasy
Death GateDeath Gate is a classic adventure game from the much revered Legend Entertainment. The studio is known for developing games that include exceptionally well crafted puzzles and a wacky sense of humor which frequently breaks the fourth wall and plays to a wide assortment of offbeat puns. Moreover, the company has emerged with a winning streak of fantasy and sci-fi games based on popular literature adaptations. The most famous of these are Frederick Pohl's Gateway and Terry Brooks' Shannara.
In 1994, Legend Entertainment has chosen to adapt not 1 book but the whole series of 7 books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman known as The Death Gate Cycle. The original release of the game even includes a special gift for fans of the book series, namely an exclusive short story written by the same authors that tells some of the history of the mysterious Assassin's Guild from the series.
In Death Gate, the player is cast in the role of a freshly freed Patryn—a young, brave wizard named Haplo. By his deeds in the Labyrinth, he has gained Xar's trust to be sent as a scout to the other 4 realms. The way between them leads through a mystical portal known as the Death Gate. For his journey, Haplo is handed not a single but several quests to complete. He must first explore the realms, learn about the new lands, and find the pieces of the World Seal that will allow the reformation of the world to its original whole. He must also retrieve as much of forgotten magical lore as he can, and find runes that will allow him to enter all the other realms. Finally, and most importantly, he must find out what has happened to the Sartan who seem to have vanished somewhere long ago, so that Xar will be able to bring them to the proper Patryn justice.
The game, by taking inspiration from the first 4 books, creates a certain unique experience for the player that stands out among other fantasy adventures. There is an unusually layered structure based on the initial premise of the 5 separate realms, since the consequences of the sundering run much deeper than mere differences in landscapes. From realm to realm life conditions vary enormously, including geography, history, fauna, flora and astronomical bodies. For each realm, the population is divided into very specific societies, although many attributes of each race remain common. Several royal families, powerful guilds, and wealthy, independent merchants all have their own specific goals and ambitions that are not at all connected to the grand schemes of the Patryn and the Sartan, which they mostly are unaware of at this time after centuries of their absence. The distinctiveness of each culture's circumstances and the individual diversity of the larger and smaller schemers within the cast of characters give a special magic and wonder to the proceedings in the game, especially when the player visits a new realm for the first time and starts exploring it. The worlds possess a mysterious, intriguing flavor, but with a touch of whimsical surprises from nearly everywhere. Each encounter with Xar between travels reveals more information concerning the whole mechanics that connect these realms.
Death Gate contains some exceptionally good voice acting. This is especially true for Henry Strozier who plays the role of Xar. He carries a low, charismatic, and authoritative voice that perfectly befits a character with a brave heart, long experience, deep wisdom, but a good share of arrogance. He shines for good measure too, since the player will spend more time conversing with his character than any other in the game. Haplo, who is only heard in conversations, voiced by David DeBoy, does not have a plain, uninteresting voice either. He sounds slightly arrogant and lordly like his master, but also rather youthful, yet manly enough to give an air of independency.
The MIDI music in Death Gate is very well done. The compositions are perfect for an epic fantasy setting. The tunes are often light and comforting, but they can change dramatically to a more majestic tone when visiting the king's palace and to a darker motif when exploring the undergrounds of Abarrach, the vicious Labyrinth, or the deadly Assassin's Guild.
Aside from Haplo and Xar, several other characters from the books also make an appearance in the game. Many of them, however, have been greatly simplified and reduced to only episodic roles with little development. Many major characters from the books are missing altogether, most notably Alfred, whose role is crucial in bringing out Haplo's characterization in the literary originals. On the other hand, some of the memorable archetypes from the books are used in new, interesting ways. For example, a boy named Bane has been recast into a different child with a different life and social standing, though both share a very similar personality. The character that stays most true to the canon is the whimsical, crazy wizard Zifnab, who appears in all his pun infested glory. In general, the plotlines are less violent and happier than those in the books, and the characters show less moral ambiguity.
Death Gate plays like a traditional point-and-click adventure game, but like a role-playing game it is as much about being free to explore the fictional world as about following a foreordained storyline thread. There is quite a bit of narrative text, diaries, historical documents, and dialogs to sieve through. They are all well written and are rather fascinating, since everything is directly connected to the quests the player needs to complete or the puzzles the player needs to solve. There is a fine dose of humor in the game too, but nothing so unsubtle that may distract from taking the main conflicts of the story seriously. From this stance, Death Gate is actually quite a departure from the largely comical gallery of previous game titles from Legend Entertainment.
The puzzles in Death Gate are a bit on the easy side, but the enjoyment they give is very well balanced by their ingenuity. The wealth of subplots, quests, plot twists, and deceptions add a lot of tension to the player's own proceedings. There is a certain logic and buttons based puzzle that is rather hard to beat. However, the player can ask for help from the game to solve it (or even skip over it). In general, the difficulty level of the game lies somewhere between easy and medium. The player can die in the game, but there is an option available to undo the player's last fatal action.
Comparison with the books quickly reveals some of the obvious budgetary or time constraints the developer must have faced during Death Gate's development. Pryan, the realm of fire, is build of elements taken not only of this realm in its original form but also of Chelestra, the realm of water. Consequently, the latter realm has shrunken to a very limited scope in the game. The smallness of Chelestra comes in the game as a particular disappointing revelation, since it is the last of the elemental realms that the player visits.
The interface used in Death Gate has evolved from the original Legend Entertainment's interactive fiction interface. There is an always available standard list of commands (such as Take, Look at, or Use) for the player to choose from, reminiscent of Lucasarts' SCUMM interface. In addition, extra action commands specific to an object appear when it is clicked. For example, when clicking on a door, apart from the standard list of verbs, there are added options to unlock, knock, or eavesdrop on the door. There are many actions which are not necessary to complete the game but which trigger funny responses specific to the situation. Altogether, the interface is a clever compromise between the sense of freedom achieved through a text parser and the simplicity of contemporary point-and-click style.
Gameplay in Death Gate draws on a few gimmicks that are typical of role-playing games. For some parts of the game, the player is able to have a party of several characters. There is also a process of collecting magical spells, even though they have been tweaked for solving puzzles instead of combat. A spell is constructed by connecting runes in a combination. After that, it is traced in the air by Haplo with his hands to bring the spell into motion. The player will be able to learn many spells in the game, mostly from the mensch. This is an important diversion from the canon, as the mensch from the books possess a different kind of magic altogether.
The high resolution graphics of the game will remind fans strongly of fantasy literature illustrated covers. The characters are beautifully detailed in high resolution, but rarely fully animated. However, their faces are always incredibly alive, especially in conversational close-ups. When exploring the game world, the player will notice many intricate but small animations in otherwise generally static sceneries. Major events occurring in the game are partially described in narrative text and partially presented as cut scenes. Sadly, the number of background illustrations in the game is a bit limited. All locations are shown from only a single point of view. Sometimes, the player is drawn to something interesting drawn at the edge of an illustration but is unable to look closely to find out more about it.Fantasy
Libble RabbleLibble Rabble is an arcade game that was released by Namco in October 1983. It was designed by Toru Iwatani, who had also designed the Gee Bee series, Pac-Man, and Pole Position. It is a curious but challenging game, where the player tries to harvest little mushrooms (Mushlins) while avoiding various enemies, and was the first game from Namco to use a Motorola 68000 processor (which ran at 6.144 MHz).
At first glance, the gameplay resembles Taito's Qix. The player controls two "arrows", one red (Libble) and one blue (Rabble) with a line strung between them. The object is to wrap the line around poles and surround Mushlins and enemies with it. The player can either close the loops themselves (worth more points for the Mushlins) or move both arrows to the same edge of the screen. The player clears a "season" when he or she harvests all the Mushlins.
Along the way, various enemies will appear and try to stop the player. The most common are four little hooded critters (Hobblins), which start each season in the corners. If the player catches them in a loop, they will be sent to the top of the screen for a short period of time. Other critters such as fireballs (Killers), sparks (Changers), and Demons will also appear. These can be killed by closing a loop around them. Sometimes, scissors-like enemies (Shears) appear, and if they cross the player's line, they cut it. If the player's line is ever cut by Shears or Demons, a new one is instantly made: directly between the two arrows.
Every so often when the player closes a line, a detector goes off indicating that the area he or she has closed off has a treasure chest somewhere. To actually uncover the chest, the player must surround a small enough area which covers just the chest, and no other possible hiding places. The game guides the player along that step, first by challenging him or her to uncover a chest at the start of the game (and then by revealing the locations of the chests for the first two seasons). When the player actually uncovers a chest, six bonus creatures (Topcups) will pop out, then make for the edges. The player must corral them with his or her line and then close the loop to score the bonus for them: they mean bonus letters. If the player manages to complete a bonus word, the season is automatically cleared out and the player moves to a bonus stage where he or she must try to uncover and collect chests (to collect a chest, the player needs to close a loop around an opened chest) within a time limit.
The player loses a life if any of the assorted critters touch one of the arrows or if he or she runs out of time (the border is the player's timer, and he or she can boost the time by looping Mushlins and plants), and the player gains an extra life at 40,000, 120,000, 200,000, 400,000, 600,000 and 1,000,000 points by default. After the 100th season, the season counter will stop at 99, similar to how Galaxian and King & Balloon's round indicators would stop after 48 rounds.Action
Lode RunnerLode Runner is a 1983 puzzle video game, first published by Brøderbund. It is one of the first games to include a level editor, a feature that allows players to create their own levels for the game. This feature bolstered the game's popularity, as magazines such as Computer Gaming World held contests to see who could build the best level.Action Science fiction
My Name is Uncle Groucho You Win a Fat CigarIn this bizarre graphically-augmented text-adventure originally released in 1983 from the mind of Mel Croucher, Uncle Groucho is your guide in a wacky alternative Hollywood where cigars are currency and you are as likely to travel in a space shuttle as in a covered wagon.Comedy
Danchi-zuma no YuuwakuKoei’s erotic RPG about a condom salesman visiting an apartment block, where he must knock on doors trying to “sell his products”, while battling Yakuza and ghosts who roam the halls.Erotic
Swordquest: WaterworldSwordquest is an unfinished series of video games produced by Atari, Inc. in the 1980s as part of a contest, consisting of three finished games and a planned but never released fourth game. All of the games came with a comic book that explained the plot, as well as containing part of the solution to a major puzzle that had to be solved to win the contest. Waterworld was the third of the four games. its was based on the seven centers of chakra. It was originally released only through the Atari Club.New Action
Crystal CastlesCrystal Castles is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1983. The player controls a cartoon bear by the name of Bentley Bear, who has to collect gems located throughout trimetric-projected rendered castles while avoiding enemies out to get him as well as the gems.
Crystal Castles is notable for being one of the first arcade action games with an actual ending, whereas most games of the time either continued indefinitely, ended in what was termed a "kill screen" or simply just restarted from the first level, and to contain advance warp zones.Action Fantasy