What are some lesser-known 16-bit RPGs and Strategy Games?

[Edmond Dantes]

So we all know the Final Fantasies, the Zeldas, the Earthbounds, the Phantasy Stars....

For some reason fall and spring always kinda make me think of these genres and I kinda wonder what I should go for. The problem is I feel like I've played a lot of what's actually available for both systems (at least insofar as official US releases are concerned). The TurboGrafx would be new ground for me but most of its RPGs are Japan-only. The Genesis, I can't think of any RPGs for it that I don't own. The SNES seems the most likely to have something new.

And yeah I also said "strategy games" because I kinda got to thinking of those again. I used to love Master of Monsters and I wonder if there's any hex-based games for the SNES.

I'm open to fan translated projects, which is something I really haven't explored much.

Anyway, throw something and see what sticks.

[Natty Bumppo]

The only hex grid game for the SNES I can think of was Super Conflict - which was an ok game in its day - didn't offer much challenge though - I suspect it would be rather clunky today.

There was also Warrior of Rome I on the genesis - it used an offset tile system that was a hex grid - just didn't look like it visually. IIRC if wasn't a terribly good game.

The Daisenryaku games from Japan used hex grids (or the offset tiles in some of the early games) but the first one of those didn't make it here until the Saturn game "Iron Storm."

The hex grids didn't really hit until a bit later - we had Dark Wizard for the sega cd (which is an amazing game) and there were some on the PS1 - Brigandine, Allied General, Panzer General, Nectaris , Master of Monsters (which unfortunately blew chunks). There are probably a few others that are escaping me right now.

Some other SNES rpgs worth a look see are:

Inindo
Seventh Saga (people seem to either really like or hate this game - I liked it a lot).
Brain Lord
Equinox
LUfia I & II
Brandish
Robotrek
Big Sky Trooper
Shadowrun
Paladin's Quest (not for all tastes - it has more than a few flaws)
Twisted Tales of Spike McFang
Addams Family Values (has a few serious flaws but overall a fun game)

Legend of the mystical ninja is a quirky beat em up/action adventure/rpg mixture which might work for you.

These are just off the top of my head - there are more I am spacing

[FoxNtd]

PS1 - Brigandine

I remember playing that. It's a great game as I recall enjoying it and now I miss it.


Robotrek

For SFC that would be Slapstick, the one I have & played. I liked the creative aspect of it but in the end, I felt it was a weaker title under the Enix name. It was all right. It had funny moments and dialogue and it's pretty easy to get comfortable with the gameplay. I'm not sure if the game truly has characteristics that make it bad necessarily, or if it is simply my opinion of it that makes me say it's just okay. All the Enix stuff in the SFC era is worth a look, because it stands out from what everyone else was doing in the RPG space. Dark Half is another title, but I have yet to play it so no comment about it as of yet.

Digressing slightly from the topic of 16-bit, I want to suggest Just Breed for Famicom, and Wachenröder for Saturn. I love both those games, and they're the reason I became willing to explore the SRPG subgenre, leading to Shining Force 1 & 3 appearing in my library. I like them too, though I prefered the battle system & design in Just Breed more. I would like SF even more if there was a way to disable the damn cutscenes for every - single - attack... Brigandine has such an option, and Just Breed simply doesn't have such scenes at all.

[Aussie2B]

Well, Lufia II is fantastic, but I don't know if that's as "lesser-known" as you want here (certainly was back in the day when I first played it, but then again, I didn't know of anybody who had heard of Chrono Trigger either). Arcana is a nice little first-person dungeon crawler that doesn't get as much attention as I think it deserves.

[Natty Bumppo]

I remember playing that. It's a great game as I recall enjoying it and now I miss it.

Digressing slightly from the topic of 16-bit, I want to suggest Just Breed for Famicom, and Wachenröder for Saturn. I love both those games, and they're the reason I became willing to explore the SRPG subgenre, leading to Shining Force 1 & 3 appearing in my library. I like them too, though I prefered the battle system & design in Just Breed more. I would like SF even more if there was a way to disable the damn cutscenes for every - single - attack... Brigandine has such an option, and Just Breed simply doesn't have such scenes at all.

Brigandine is my second favorite PS1 game after Nectaris (which if you haven't tried you might like it).

I also find cut scenes to be really annoying - at least the ones in the SF games are relatively brief. One game that doesn't have cut scenes but rather really really lengthy dialogue between battles is Vandal Hearts II - fun/interesting the first time, ok the second and just plain painful after that. The game is pretty good (and has some neat mechanics) but has a flawed battle system - between the flawed battle system and lengthy dialogue it makes replays far less enjoyable than they should be.

[goldenband]

Warrior of Rome is pretty lousy (and the poorly-translated manual straight up lies to you about some crucial game mechanics), but the sequel Warrior of Rome II is a really cool RTS of sorts. Some people loathe it, and it's admittedly quite slow, but I found it addictive once I got into it.

[gbpxl]

Lagoon SNES. Pretty shitty lesser known RPG

[Astrosmash]

I don't know if it'd be too well known to fit the bill, but since it hasn't been mentioned yet I quite liked Illusion of Gaia on SNES, as far as Zelda-types go. And although it's technically part of the FF series, I always thought Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest was underrated. Easy, for sure, which was the point, but I had a lot of fun with it, and the music is awesome.

As a side note, happy to see all the Brigandine love; that's one of my favorites. (And if not for the early-3D battle cutscenes, which I usually end up turning off anyway, it could probably pass for a 16-bit game, despite being on PS1.)

[Natty Bumppo]

As a side note, happy to see all the Brigandine love; that's one of my favorites. (And if not for the early-3D battle cutscenes, which I usually end up turning off anyway, it could probably pass for a 16-bit game, despite being on PS1.)

I made maps for the Brigandine battlefields on excel:


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What can I say - I like game maps a lot!

[Tron 2.0]

Langrisser/War Song part one for the genesis was the only u.s release,beside part II having a fan translation that's it.While the rest of the series did remain japan exclusive.Interesting enough though langrisser 1&2 got a remake for switch and it's coming to the u.s next year but i don't know if that will give the series more exposure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTv3-X69Sew

[Edmond Dantes]

Lagoon SNES. Pretty shitty lesser known RPG

How darest thou besmirch the name of Lagoon!

Ha, actually I kinda understand where critics are coming from, but its weird... something about that game makes me overlook the toothpick-length sword and enjoy it anyway. Its like, I dunno, I feel like I'm travelling into another era when I play it, its not quite SNES but its too colorful to be NES... I think I have to borrow Happy NErd's analogy of it being like the difference between CDs and vinyl records.

@Natty.... what exactly do you not like about Master of Monsters PS1? I haven't played much of it (I've spent more time with the Genesis version) but I haven't seen a lot I'd call wrong with it.

[Natty Bumppo]

@Natty.... what exactly do you not like about Master of Monsters PS1? I haven't played much of it (I've spent more time with the Genesis version) but I haven't seen a lot I'd call wrong with it.

I only played it once (which tells you a lot - I usually play the heck out of strategy games) - anyway unlike the original you can move your master out of the castle. And he is extremely overpowered compared to the monsters - you can pretty much march your master around and defeat anything that gets in your way - levelling up all the time - you don't even really need monsters. It soons gets to be like having the Vandelier in Vandal Hearts - there is no challenge whatsoever. And unlike Vandal Hearts it isn't even fun to get there. Supposedly there are a lot of bugs in the game also - Idon't remember hitting any but then again I only played it once and didnt spend any more time playing than I had to to finish it. Maybe it was just an ok game - but it was such a let down given how good the genesis version was.

[Natty Bumppo]

Langrisser/War Song part one for the genesis was the only u.s release,beside part II having a fan translation that's it.While the rest of the series did remain japan exclusive.Interesting enough though langrisser 1&2 got a remake for switch and it's coming to the u.s next year but i don't know if that will give the series more exposure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTv3-X69Sew

One really fun thing you can do with Warsong is stick around in the castle in the first battle (rather than slinking off like a whipped dog like the game wants you to) - you can sometimes actually defeat all of the enemy (a lot of being able to win relies on how well the king's two guards do - which you have no control over). It doesn't change the subsequent gameplay at all other than giving you a bit more money for the second scenario and a bit more experience.

[bb_hood]

Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons is reallly good. One of my favorites.

Its both a rpg & strategy game. Id check out the snes version.

[Aussie2B]

I like Lagoon, even if it has a boatload of quirks. The best reason to play it is for its great soundtrack. I hear the X68000 version is fan-patched these days, for anyone who wants to see how the game was originally designed. (It was developed to be a Ys-style game, where you bump into enemies with your drawn sword, rather than actively slash. I guess they wanted the game to be more like Zelda on SNES, except they didn't adjust the sword's reach to compensate for the different gameplay.)

[Edmond Dantes]

@Natty - Now that you mention it I think I also discovered the thing about the master leaving. I remember being shocked when I played the Genesis one and saw he couldn't, but I think I wound up liking that better.

.....

So I also decided to expand this topic to 8-Bit games as well, since those are kind of a thing I'm into. Actually I've been looking at repro cart sites and stuff keeps popping out at me.

I'm thinking of trying out "The Glory of Heracles" (the original... which was apparently also the last to get a fan-translation), even tho it apparently uses passwords. There's also a pair of NES games called Deep Dungeon 3 and Deep Dungeon 4.... which kinda makes me wonder where the first two are (I suspect the MSX).

EDIT: Also, sometimes I can't help chuckling at the title "Just Breed." That should be the name of a Pokemon rom hack.

I was just telling a friend of mine, it would be awesome if Pokemon were redone to be a Master of Monsters type game.

DOUBLE EDIT: By the way, what do you (and anyone reading this) think of Ogre Battle? That's a series I keep trying to get into and its a mix of fascinating but at times kind of boring for me. Fascinating because I like what seems to be going on (as well as the music--I'm primarily familiar with the PS1 version) but boring because it feels like there's no real depth and all I really need to do is just tell units "go here."

[Natty Bumppo]

If you haven't tried it you might look at Gemfire. It has some vague rpg elements and is made by KOEI. Unlike most of their strategy games it is very simple - so no wading through screens of menus. The neat thing about it is that you can plow through a game in a night or two - so perfect filler when you don't want to commit to a lot of time. It was available on NES, SNES and Genesis - as far as I know all of the releases were the same.

[Edmond Dantes]

[Gemfire] was available on NES, SNES and Genesis - as far as I know all of the releases were the same.

Well, I recall one difference.... one version, and I can't remember which, had an epic soundtrack, while the others had boring or so-so ones.

I used to be a bit of a Koei fanboy but surprisingly most of their games I only played once or twice. Like PTO and Operation Europe.. both of which I need to play again.

[Natty Bumppo]

Well, I recall one difference.... one version, and I can't remember which, had an epic soundtrack, while the others had boring or so-so ones.

I almost always turn the sound off on games and play cds instead.

Another 16 bit game worth a look is Super Battleship (SNES and Genesis) - it has the usual battleship game but has 16 (IIRC) scenarios that are puzzle/strategy ones that are pretty fun - unfortunately not much replay value since once you have figured them out that is it.

There were two strategy games for the SNES (made by the same company) called War 2410 and War 3010. Not great and no hex grids but
not bad either - although I suspect they might be somewhat clunky today.

[kupomogli]

Brigandine is my second favorite PS1 game after Nectaris (which if you haven't tried you might like it).

It was recently announced that Happinet(owner of Hearty Robin/Brigandine is going to be at TGS. I was like "I'd really love a Brigandine/Brigandine Grand Edition Remastered Collection." A few days later Happinet stated they'd have a new Brigandine at TGS. Let's just just hope it's not a mobile game.

//

Similar to Natty Bummp, both Brigandine and the Japanese only remake Brigandine Grand Edition are my two favorite games of all time. Dark Wizard is on the Sega CD and it's a similar game but it's got some pretty massive maps and battles can take a LONG time. It's definitely worth pkaying, but no longer cheap anymore. It's pretty expensive now days.

Tactics Ogre was my favorite game at one point, still my favorite game after Brigandine, but continued playthroughs of Brigandine pushed it above Tactics Ogre. The game isn't quite as story driven and is more gameplay focused, which is why it likely became my favorite. Now, Tactics Ogre is well known among the more hardcore JRPG fans, not to the level of anything Square Enix(or atleast, everything that was SE because it is owned by SE now.)

Ogre Battle as well. This one is kind of like your typical JRPG, but has a more real time style of play to it. Like many, almost all Matsuno games, it's got some game breaking issues that may make it unplayable to most people. It kind of forces you to play a specific way to really get the most out of it.

Lufia 1 was incredibly slow paced trash, but there is one reason to play the first one before playing the amazing second one, and it's for pretty much the same reason as playing Dragon Warrior 1 before Dragon Warrior 3. Unless you already know or you've played the second game first(or third in the case of Dragon Warrior 3) you'll be amazed at what you discover. I'd also say SMT4 is something similar, but confined to a single game, based on the beginning and once you reach around the 10 hour mark. Lufia 2 is an excellent game on its own, a game that I feel is sort of the inspiration to the Wild ARMs series in nearly every single aspect. If you've never played it, it's one of the best JRPGs on the SNES.

Now, yes, Secret of Evermore is a Squaresoft game, but all you hear all the time is Secret of Mana, Secret of Mana that. Secret of Mana isn't a very good game, and despite Secret of Evermore sometimes being crapped on because it was made by Square USA, the game fixes EVERY ISSUE Secret of Mana has. Secret of Mana is broken piece of sh**. Bosses are impossible without spamming magic, enemy evasion is unbelievably high, enemies trigger a state of invincibility whenever attacked more than once within 10-20 seconds, and charging your weapons are worthless when you take 16 minutes to finish your attack and don't even hit the enemy. Secret of Evermore fixes and has none of these issues. It gets a bit broken once you get the spell Energizer but that's literally the very, very, very, very, can't get any further, very end of the game.

I'm listing this one because you've mentioned "strategy games." Romance of the Three Kingdoms Wall of Fire is my favorite game in the series. One thing I like is that the fourth game allows any general to do fine with any type of troop. Months in this game also go by quickly. It's easy to set your characters up to do commands and you even can add a pool of funds to a specific operation and then just put the units there. You don't have to worry about so much busy work in this game as opposed to the later games which all about busy work. 7 and 10 are even more about the busy work but they also allow you to play as any character, whether it's a ruler or a free agent. The 12th game in the series takes away all player control and you don't even get to really play the game. It essentially plays itself in nearly every aspect. The plus side though is that this game can be played in multiplayer, characters can play as multiple rulers, you can even create your own ruler and soldiers and start the game in any of the empty areas. Regardless what way you play, this game is a pretty great game. It's not the best game by any means, but it's enjoyable if you can get into it.

Super Robot Taisen 1 and 2 on the GBA. These games have an excellent story, some of the best in JRPGs, but on top of that they have excellent music, great gameplay, and they are freaking massive games.

[Natty Bumppo]

Similar to Natty Bummp, both Brigandine and the Japanese only remake Brigandine Grand Edition are my two favorite games of all time. Dark Wizard is on the Sega CD and it's a similar game but it's got some pretty massive maps and battles can take a LONG time. It's definitely worth pkaying, but no longer cheap anymore. It's pretty expensive now days.



I made maps for Dark Wizard too!

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Who is your favorite ruler? I have to go with Krystal - her wyverns (and wyvern rider) are just plain awesome.

[Aussie2B]

I will always recommend playing Lufia II before the first Lufia (or you can skip the first one altogether). The first game does nothing for Lufia II besides spoil the story, turning scenes that could be surprising and have great impact into scenes you're just waiting for the game to get to. On top of that, the first game is such a slog that it could put someone off from even wanting to start Lufia II. I'm generally all about playing series in release order, but this is one exception where it really benefits to start with the second release.

[kupomogli]

Who is your favorite ruler? I have to go with Krystal - her wyverns (and wyvern rider) are just plain awesome.

I've only played through it a couple times so I actually couldn't tell you who I like best or anything actually other than how the game generally plays. I've just enjoyed the game enough to praise it whenever TRPGs come up. I don't own a Sega CD but I do own Dark Wizard, Lunar, and Lunar 2. Since I've only borrowed a Sega CD or have played games through emulation, it's always been awhile since I've touched these games.

I do however play through Brigandine quite often, so I could go into detail about everything in that game. Vaynard is my favorite ruler and you wouldn't believe it but Ector is my favorite knight. The samurai class is my favorite melee class in Brigandine and Ector is the only character in Norgard who can become a samurai. He's also a great character to cross class into a champion. That being said, I usually try to finish the game within the year, so I almst never have a game going long enough to bother with any sort of cross classing.

https://youtu.be/W1MiDVvX4Lg?t=1378

https://gematsu.com/2019/08/brigandine-lunasia-senki-for-switch-announcement-leaked

Here's the announcement for Brigandine, now it's only known to be for Switch at this time because a Switch logo comes up when getting an error, hopefully it's not Switch exclusive, I'd rather own my favorite games on the PS4, but I will purchase this for the Switch if it doesn't come to another console. Let's all hope it's as good as the original, or better.

[Natty Bumppo]

I've only played through it a couple times so I actually couldn't tell you who I like best or anything actually other than how the game generally plays. I've just enjoyed the game enough to praise it whenever TRPGs come up. I don't own a Sega CD but I do own Dark Wizard, Lunar, and Lunar 2. Since I've only borrowed a Sega CD or have played games through emulation, it's always been awhile since I've touched these games.

I do however play through Brigandine quite often, so I could go into detail about everything in that game. Vaynard is my favorite ruler and you wouldn't believe it but Ector is my favorite knight. The samurai class is my favorite melee class in Brigandine and Ector is the only character in Norgard who can become a samurai. He's also a great character to cross class into a champion. That being said, I usually try to finish the game within the year, so I almst never have a game going long enough to bother with any sort of cross classing.



Dark Wizard has amazing depth to it - there are some tricks that you can do to make the game really fun - for example you can switch alignments on your healers and magic casters so they learn all of the spells for both the lawful and chaos alignments. And it is possible to equip anyone with that awesome ghost scythe.

I am really fond of Iscalio and that madcap Dryst with his cast of goofy knights. I tend to like the archers - get them to a higher level and load them up with high centaurs and a fairy (for a react spell or two) and they are incredibly effective.

[kupomogli]

Dark Wizard has amazing depth to it - there are some tricks that you can do to make the game really fun - for example you can switch alignments on your healers and magic casters so they learn all of the spells for both the lawful and chaos alignments. And it is possible to equip anyone with that awesome ghost scythe.

I am really fond of Iscalio and that madcap Dryst with his cast of goofy knights. I tend to like the archers - get them to a higher level and load them up with high centaurs and a fairy (for a react spell or two) and they are incredibly effective.

Centaurs and high centaurs are great. Not too much damage but they can whittle an enemy down while staying behind more powerful characters and you could easily pick off a weakened ruler. The lizard man class though is amazing(they added Lizard King in Grand Edition which is the best monster in the game/imo atleast.) So the lizard man only costs 30 rune power, lizard guard costs 45 and these two monsters have some of the highest defense in the game. The base dragon has high attack, not as high as the tiamat, but the dragon also costs 75 rune power. You can have a lizard man and a lizard guard for the cost of a dragon and both together could take out a dragon easy. Hellhound is another great class as well though, hit and away is a great skill because you can have many more characters attack then duck out for another to go in for another attack once again. They also have flame breath. Dragons and all of their upgrades are obviously the easiest of the classes to go towards because they have near perfect stats in every area. They're technically the best monster because the lack of work you have to put into them compared to all the rest, but centaurs, lizard guard, and hellhounds, all of them can be considered the best monsters in the game.

Such an amazing game though. Doesn't matter which monsters you go for all of them have their usefulness. Ghouls and vampires level up incredibly quickly and turn out to be one of the most powerful monsters in the game. Phoenix has more health, more attack power, and they can also destroy blue opponents, but the roc class can place stone on the enemies and stun them, and if you get lucky or unlucky enough the roc can turn everyone to stone and the effect can't be removed without cure. Even Golems and Giants are good units, you just have to pick your target wisely. Attack dragons, hydras, etc, slower enemies that you can actually hit, as long as you don't miss they're actually great cost efficient classes. Mermen and Triton are excellent in the water, unfortunately, outside of the water they're rather pathetic. Tiamat's on the other hand are good outside of water and unstoppable in water. Angels and demons are glass cannon monsters, high rune power requirements but they've got both good physical damage and very high magic damage. The only monster I've actually never given a chance is the mandrake. Or well, I have, but their defense is so low their high HP doesn't matter, I've never got one to seem like it's ever been worth using. Their stun effect is good, but you may as well use the roc instead.

One day I'll make a party of three knights with 18 lizard guards on level 30, keep attacking and backing away to level up.

[Natty Bumppo]

Centaurs and high centaurs are great. Not too much damage but they can whittle an enemy down while staying behind more powerful characters and you could easily pick off a weakened ruler.

If I am not trying to fight a pitched battle but just want the territory I like to send an archer in with centaurs and take out a weak enemy knight with the enemy usually retreating right afterwards. Set it up right and this can occur on the first turn you attack.

I really like high centaurs because they are also strong enough to put on the front lines. Just takes awhile to get them.

I also like bahamuts a lot - but it is hard to raise them. One of the reasons I like Dryst is because of the fact he starts with a bahamut and since Dryst has a power spell the two of them can put a world of hurt on the enemy. He also starts with a gigas which is handy if you are lucky enough to find a wisdom seed early in the game.
jectives
I think the neatest thing about Brigandine is the many ways you can play it. A lot of times I don't even really focus on taking territories but rather on having several groups of knights rampaging across the map.

[Edmond Dantes]

So, was offline due to a thunderstorm (again) but during that period I worked on some projects and played some Master of Monsters....

Also decided to write a list of what games in the purview of this topic I own. Wound up reminding me a lot of "oh yeah, I have to play this... again, in some cases."

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qfdBWy5j1_qPTV0fbb2QdzxJmikF1a-pcDWvm-q5wgQ/edit?usp=sharing

Obviously my original plan was to copy-paste but decided just linking to it would make more sense, but if you have trouble accessing Google Drive documents I may just copypaste anyway.

And like I say in the doc, there were a few cases where I wondered if a game was in the purview of this topic... namely RTS games like Dune II or Warlocked. I dunno what it is but Real-Time Strategy doesn't feel the same as turn-based, even when it sometimes is.

When it comes to strategy, it does seem like I tend to like games like Master of Monsters, where you can summon new units, over games like Military Madness or Advance Wars where what's already on the field is all you're ever going to get... that restriction makes the latter feel somewhat like a puzzle game.

[I now imagine Lolo trapping a bunch of military jets in a white ball and kicking them off.]

[kupomogli]

When it comes to strategy, it does seem like I tend to like games like Master of Monsters, where you can summon new units, over games like Military Madness or Advance Wars where what's already on the field is all you're ever going to get... that restriction makes the latter feel somewhat like a puzzle game.

I've never played any of the Japanese exclusive Advance Wars games, but when they first released on the GBA you don't get just what's on the field of battle. Each turn you make money from each city that you own and you can then create more units at bases, docks, and airports.

A few games that I'd really like to play, but I've never got around to purchasing them is Gihren's Greed and Vantage Master(that and they're JP only.) Now, one that I have played, only through the latest released 3DS game, is Culdcept Revolt, which is a bit RNG board game mixed with card game, but there's A LOT of strategy to that game and I'd really recommend it. Really good game. There's a ton of ways that you can build your decks of 50 cards and while there's RNG, the better player is going to win exceedingly more often than they lose. Infact, bad RNG being the cause of a loss is not very likely.

*edit*

Gihren's Greed is also super text heavy so that's also one thing that's holding me back. What with Namco Bandai publishing Engrish in nearly everything they release ever since they finally realized that westerners will import them by doing so, I'm hoping there's another rerelease one day.

[Edmond Dantes]

I've never played any of the Japanese exclusive Advance Wars games, but when they first released on the GBA you don't get just what's on the field of battle. Each turn you make money from each city that you own and you can then create more units at bases, docks, and airports.

Truth be told I haven't gotten far in Advance Wars mostly because the "tutorial" itself (which you need to complete to do the main game) is like 30 scenarios long. Now that you mention it though I think I do recall buying units being brought up in a level.

I should play some Dark Wizard. Main thing keeping me off is I'm not ready for what looks like it has a bit of a learning curve and will require a long commitment, and lately I'm bad about committing to longer games. Master of Monsters has a campaign mode but it can also be played in a "well I just wanna load up a map and beat some heads in" kind of mindset.

[FoxNtd]

Thanks for the suggestion for Dark Wizard guys. Just snagged a copy. :)

Did some research about internal memory on the Mega CD and the battery. Wondering if it's best to just get that nice RAM cart from StoneAgeGamer to be on the safe side? Would hate to get far in the game only to lose my save...

[Tron 2.0]

Thanks for the suggestion for Dark Wizard guys. Just snagged a copy. :)

Congrats man,few years ago when i bought a sega-cd again i did the same for dark wizard in general a underrated game for the add-on.

[Edmond Dantes]

Thanks for the suggestion for Dark Wizard guys. Just snagged a copy. :)

Did some research about internal memory on the Mega CD and the battery. Wondering if it's best to just get that nice RAM cart from StoneAgeGamer to be on the safe side? Would hate to get far in the game only to lose my save...

While the Sega CD's internal battery is easy to fix once you've done it before (and I recommend keeping it in repair because it can be annoying to think "I need to remember to back up my save" then forgetting to do precisely that)... yeah, get a ram cart. Pronto.

[Natty Bumppo]

I should play some Dark Wizard. Main thing keeping me off is I'm not ready for what looks like it has a bit of a learning curve and will require a long commitment, and lately I'm bad about committing to longer games.

If you decide to take it up I can give you some pointers that will make the gameplay smoother - one of the big drawbacks to the game is that the first playthrough is rough since you have no idea how your units develop. And getting lots of money is important - there are ways to keep yourself in funds but they aren't obvious.

[Edmond Dantes]

I remember getting to a town and wondering things like: "Does it matter which unit explores the town and talks to people?" and like "are there things that can trigger super-special units joining me?" and such. I think most of it I could just man up and learn the game probably.... sometimes its best to make mistakes the first time.

[Natty Bumppo]

I remember getting to a town and wondering things like: "Does it matter which unit explores the town and talks to people?" and like "are there things that can trigger super-special units joining me?" and such. I think most of it I could just man up and learn the game probably.... sometimes its best to make mistakes the first time.

There are actually a few towns and places where it does matter who you send in - most of them not though. There are even a few towns/places it depends on what time of day (there are 4 periods per day in the game) you go. And a lot of events are triggered by chains of conversations in separate towns. And some special items you need to track down to trigger events.

[Natty Bumppo]

Truth be told I haven't gotten far in Advance Wars mostly because the "tutorial" itself (which you need to complete to do the main game) is like 30 scenarios long.

IIRC you can jump to the last battle in the tutorial. Once you defeat that one you will be able to go directly to the campaign.

[Bighab]

Hmmmm a strategy game thread and Natty Bumpo didn't tell me about it? He is the Dark Wizard master! I liked War2410. Plays similar to Military Madness IMO.
Some favs that haven't been mentioned
Sega Genesis Centurion Defender of Rome : Old PC port in the early Genesis days. Start out with a small legion and only Rome and expand your empire. Fairly easy game. Fun to see you cavalry cohorts outflank the enemy on the battlefield and go to town. Quick game that can be beat in 2-3 hours. Cheap too.
Sega Genesis Herzog Zwei :Awesome action/strategy game with you piloting a transformable Jet/Mech. Two player split screen is a bonus. Issuing commands to your units to either patrol, stay put or attack the enemy base.
Snes Metal Marines : You build your base and defend it with gun turrets, missile launchers and Metal Marines. Send your Metal Marines(Mechs) on the enemies base to destroy it. Great game
Nes Genghis Khan : fell in love when I first saw this on my friend's Dad's IBM 286 back in the day(yes I'm old) Develop your country and army. Customize your army with 3 unit types(I usually just go with one huge Cavalry unit) Negotiate, conquer and expand. Sometimes you'll have to marry your daughter's off to gain a powerful General's loyalty. Can't do that in modern games :D

[Natty Bumppo]

Sega Genesis Centurion Defender of Rome : Old PC port in the early Genesis days. Start out with a small legion and only Rome and expand your empire. Fairly easy game. Fun to see you cavalry cohorts outflank the enemy on the battlefield and go to town. Quick game that can be beat in 2-3 hours. Cheap too.


I alway get a perverse pleasure of watching my elephants (when you have them) squishing the enemy infantry.

A couple of other games:

Third World War (Sega CD) - this one really slipped under the radar - if there was ever a hidden gem this is it.

King's Bounty (Genesis) - kinda odd gameplay but once you get the hang of it is a lot of fun.

THe Dune games for Sega CD and the Genesis are also worth a look - the genesis one is probalby the better of the two.

Rebelstar Tactical Command (GBA) is pretty fun - but because of the mechanics doesn't hold up for replay (basically you wind up doing the same things on replays).

[Natty Bumppo]

Unicorn Overlord is worth checking out - normally I don't like RTS games but this one really struck a chord with me. Massive world map and lots of things to do on it - this game sucked over 200 hours out of my life.

[Gametrek]

Nowadays I want something different I search youtube for specific terms. "Metroidvania" is one of them. Game like MarioRPG, or Game like Golden Axe. It gets kind of hard to find stuff because sometimes they show you stuff but do not mention the names ( like with MetalJesusRock ). Even actiony rpg I look for. When I do I feel like I am in a long pause.

What I found enjoyable when I was purchasing Super Famicom games ( or SNES ) is when I find a save game. Like your playing something with all the dungeons and levels done, just roaming the world, only to find the ending appear before you, or the last boss approaches you. It is like a magical experience to turn that cart on.

If you like hunting RPG games you should checkout the sattelite view games. As with SIM-city where a player created content. These games will have flash-cards installed, where you could play somebodies creation. It all might be in Japanese but some of these user creations are actually enjoyable.

Imagine finding a FF3 game, where Leo has been saved, the items that was not featured are there and the dark dragon is actually fightable and there is a missing summon.

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Somebody said Robotrek ?

I remember I purchased that SNES game, and played the living daylights out of it. Personally I believe the SNES conversion is better then "Slapstick". That being said

Not "Wildguns" but "Evolution" and "Grandia" is the closest things asides many other PSX RPG games
that seemed to do what it did. It was all alien to me at the time.

Robotrek needs to have a Anime or Manga or something, to go with it. It literally did "Pokemon" thing before Pokemon ( maybe after ) . I love the dialog and the game. Part of the reason why I love this game is partly my love for Japanese media that does not hide itimacy between the opposite sex. This game actually takes place via generations, using time-travel. While you are the same character from the same year, the enemies actually evolve.

They go from low-ranking Team-Rocket grunts ( grunts a military term for the lowest of low that does not carry guns ). To upper tier monsters, finally the doctor, to eventually taking on the decendent of one of those lesser ranks. It is funny that way. Following the begining or hindsight of FFIV basically, where you are a decendent of the enemy ( some family branch ) of some sort.

I miss Hong Kong styled comedic games of that time. Blazes I miss media from that time. Now we just have wanna-be garbage.

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Addams Family - PCE is a must play. It has actual voices, and you a-typical Addams Family jokes ( without the laugh track ). Only problem is the game is too realistic, as it ends too short but if your able to finish the game it is actually decent challenge. It is like if the actor from "Monk" ( TV detective series that was ruined when the actor from "Howard the Duck" ( Monks boss/police chief ) came out as a homosexual teen boy sex maniac, reinacting his role from HTD ). But you get to tour the house and deal with all the family members.

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