Based on the CLAMP manga of the same name, this Game Gear title had both special and standard editions released in late 1994. The special edition was a full Game Gear console bundle including a red Magic Knight Rayearth branded Game Gear as well as an exclusive matching colour cartridge, while the standalone release came in the usual black shell.
The game has a general overarching plot split up into a few smaller scenarios, with saving being handled by the inn present at the start of each of these locations. It is sometimes possible to revisit a previous area however there is never any need to as each location is self contained.
While the game is labelled as an RPG there are no viewable statistics to keep track of, everything is represented visually instead. The border around each portrait shortens when HP is lowered and enemies lighten in colour when they are almost defeated.
Battles use a unique slot/card system – at the start of each battle the character cards at the bottom scroll from left to right, and the player needs to keep watch for the character icons changing to close up portraits. When this happens it is possible to select that character and use the traditional attack/magic/item/run commands – if the player can time their button press correctly. Pushing the d pad to the left slows down the gauge at the cost of reduced attack power, pushing the d pad to the right increases the speed and attack power… but reduces the chance of the player being able to select the character they want to use. Lucky cards show up at random and grant one from a selection of effects such as HP/MP recovery, bonus money, a team attack and on occasion an unlucky card that reduces that characters HP by 50%.
It's quite short even with the ridiculous encounter rate so there's little danger of it outstaying its welcome, but it's not a great game by any stretch of the imagination.
The sequel seems to be quite different (from the back of the box at least!), so this game might have at least lead to something good a little down the line :)
Ah, thank you for sharing your thoughts, Kimimi. The battle system certainly sounds ... odd, and the encounter rates sounds a bit off-putting. I think I'll avoid this one then -- especially since my GG wish list is already overflowing :)
4 comments:
How funny that you should mention this game here right now. I've had the Game Gear in general and this game in particular on my mind for a while now.
I hope you don't mind me asking, but what do you think of this game overall? Is it fun? A waste of time? Something in between?
It's something in between :)
It's quite short even with the ridiculous encounter rate so there's little danger of it outstaying its welcome, but it's not a great game by any stretch of the imagination.
The sequel seems to be quite different (from the back of the box at least!), so this game might have at least lead to something good a little down the line :)
Ah, thank you for sharing your thoughts, Kimimi. The battle system certainly sounds ... odd, and the encounter rates sounds a bit off-putting. I think I'll avoid this one then -- especially since my GG wish list is already overflowing :)
What's on your wishlist? If it's something I've got I could give it a go for you :)
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