Haja no Fuuin - Miracle Warriors (Mark III)

[Pezcore343]

I recently posted this over in Import-Mania but since there were no responses I figured I'd post in a more heavy-traffic section. Still fits in classic games anyway, so I probably should have posted here to begin with.

I recently picked this game up for the SG-1000 Mark III from the DP store. I was in the nice large cardboard box and labeled as "Gold Cartridge", which was pretty much the only English other than "Sega" on the whole box so it took me a while to identify. Eventually I figured out it was the Japanese version of Miracle Warriors. It came with the plastic insert and the cloth map (which is very nice by the way, much better than the ones you see today), but it was missing the mini figurine which apparently was packaged with it. I've been searching the interwebs but I can't find much information on the Japanese release or on the figurine which my copy is missing. Can anyone help me out with some more information? Was the "Gold Cartridge" the only version or was it rerelease or special edition? What was the figurine of and is it near impossible to buy one in 2010?

To me it seems like a cool little collector's piece because I never see Mark III stuff over here, especially RPGs, and I love Sega history, but is there anything particularly special about Haja no Fuuin for Mark III or is it more of a run of the mill import?

I've also added pictures for clarification or in case anyone is particularly interested.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/pezcore343/Pezcore/IMG_20100902_165945.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/pezcore343/Pezcore/IMG_20100904_222202.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/pezcore343/Pezcore/IMG_20100904_222231.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y11/pezcore343/Pezcore/IMG_20100904_222310.jpg

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

Holy crap! That is insanely cool. That map is amazing. Why didn't Brutal Legend come with something like that?

[Steve W]

The cover of the game amuses me. Is there any chance in hell that cover would ever show up on an American release? Big boobed naked devil women aren't really associated with '80s game art over here.

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

I actually think the american instructions had a similar image inside.

[Pezcore343]

I also like the cover art. Gotta appreciate it as something that we'd never see over here. And yeah, the map is awesome. I know you can't really tell the size from the picture, but it's about 36x24 inches. Pretty amazing.

[mobiusclimber]

I can see immediately why you purchased it. =p

I had no idea Haja no Fuuin was Miracle Warriors. I just recently got the game cart only for the Famicom. Needless to say the artwork is not as... ahem... "impressive" on the Famicom release. In fact, the cover is about 2/3rds nothing but logo. http://www.gamefaqs.com/nes/578486-haja-no-fuuin/images/box-18707

[edit: Ooooh to answer your question, here's a pic of Haja no Fuuin w/ the figurine: http://www.gamefaqs.com/sms/588104-miracle-warriors-seal-of-the-dark-lord/images/box-3840 ]

[Pezcore343]

Ah nice, I may have to work on trying to find one for myself to complete the package.

[micki]

Ah, Haja No Fuuin, one of my favorite SMS games ever. The bigger Mark-III box was the only version of this game released, and there was no standard-size "budget" version. I think only two Mark-III games were released with this box format, Haja No Fuuin and Phantasy Star. Maybe Alex Kidd BMX Trial too, since it included the paddle controller.

Anyway, as others have pointed out, you're just missing the metal figurine. It was supposedly used to keep track of your position in the cloth map, but that was a bit nonsensical since the figurine covered like four squares of the map with just the base in one of its feet. And if somebody did actually take the time to move the figure accordingly everytime they made a move in the game, they would probably still be playing today :)

The game was re-programmed, re-designed and ported from home computer versions that appeared on the MSX and PC-88 (maybe PC-98 too?), and a Famicom port was also released, which was very similar to the computer versions. The Mark-III is, in my opinion, vastly superior to all those, in terms of graphics, gameplay and music. In fact, Miracle Warriors' music is probably in my top five of favorite SMS soundtracks ever!

The original cover is awesome and, while the western version got a redesigned cover with... ahem... no tits, it was still cool. The Famicom version, as mobiusclimber mentioned, is nothing but a big logo, but the MSX and PC-88 got the original art in all its glory.

You know what's cool? For the Famicom version, there was some kind of mail-in promotion in which you had to send some coupon (can't read it, since it's in Japanese) and you got some more figurines, a tiny little sword whose use I'm not really sure about, and (what I think is) a reproduction of the Pandora seal. Here's a pic of my figurines, a black version of the one that came bundled with all the games (same mold for all ports, by the way) and one of the Dark Lord Terarin herself, complete with tiny metal tits and all :)

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f15/micki_mayo/interweb/haja_figurines.jpg

[Graham Mitchell]

I can't stand that game, but the package is really cool. I had no idea the Japanese version came with all that stuff.

The U.S. Version also came with a full-color map, but it certainly wasn't cloth. When that game was released my two other SMS buddies were way into it, but I found it too frustrating. Easy to die, and weapons can break. It had decent visuals, however.

Edit: I also wasn't aware there was a Famicom version. How does it compare to the SMS version?

[Pezcore343]

Thanks for all the great information guys. Really cleared a lot up about the game and the Mark III in general.