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Thread: Magician Lord

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    Pac-Man (Level 10) Zap!'s Avatar
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    Default Magician Lord

    I've been playing games since the 70's, and have 35+ systems and 1,000's of games. I got the Neo-Geo in November, 1990, as an 18th birthday present (yes, I was spoiled, deal with it it's not my fault). The third game I got was Magician Lord. I noticed after a bit of searching there doesn't seem to be any fan appreciation sites. Well, after downloading it on the Wii Virtual Console I can't understand why. This is a TRUE masterpiece. The graphics are stunning by 1990 standards. The soundtrack is equally incredible. It's also very challenging, while not impossible. This is a true perfect 10 game, and doesn't get anywhere near the credit it deserves. I personally believe it is superior to Ghouls N' Ghosts too. Let us use this thread as a Magician Lord appreciation thread. Share your thoughts on this one-hit-wonder, and talk about why a sequal was never made.

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    this game is one of those titles that just screams nostalgia. everything about it just takes you back to the beginning of the nineties. SNK as a company were just beginning to grow into the fine tuned company they eventually became in the mid to late nineties. I agree that this game truely is a classic. Within the neo geo community this game does have a huge fan base, but outside of the neo circle it doesnt have near as much recognition as a game such as ghouls N ghosts does because so few people were actually priveleged enough to play or own a neo geo. When the neo geo cd was first being developed it was rumored that there would be a magician lord 2 developed exclusively for it, but sadly it never saw the light of day. It along with games such as nam-1975 and blues journey were in my opinion the best early titles for the neo.
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    ServBot (Level 11) swlovinist's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by White Knight View Post
    I've been playing games since the 70's, and have 35+ systems and 1,000's of games. I got the Neo-Geo in November, 1990, as an 18th birthday present (yes, I was spoiled, deal with it it's not my fault). The third game I got was Magician Lord. I noticed after a bit of searching there doesn't seem to be any fan appreciation sites. Well, after downloading it on the Wii Virtual Console I can't understand why. This is a TRUE masterpiece. The graphics are stunning by 1990 standards. The soundtrack is equally incredible. It's also very challenging, while not impossible. This is a true perfect 10 game, and doesn't get anywhere near the credit it deserves. I personally believe it is superior to Ghouls N' Ghosts too. Let us use this thread as a Magician Lord appreciation thread. Share your thoughts on this one-hit-wonder, and talk about why a sequal was never made.
    You want my opinions? I will give it to you. Two and a half years ago I beat this game with my friends. About 7 hours of hard work, this game is friggin cheap. This game brings up some harsh memories, and frankly I dont think it is that great. Overall, I think that it is an average platformer that stands out a little for being on a platform that was not known for platforms. I appreciate this game for being around to show the Neo Geo was capable of doing a platform title.

    Some other thoughts on this games(my opinions)

    1. The sound is good on the first couple of levels. Later on the music becomes average

    2. The end is EVIL. You have to beat all the bosses of the game on one credit. I used a rapid fire on my Hori stick to help me get through.

    3. I will never never play this game ever again.
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    I just couldn't get into it. I've played it when I was a kid, and I played it the other day. Just doesn't do it to me.
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    Strawberry (Level 2) ccovell's Avatar
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    This game is a typical early-ish ADK production -- lushly-shaded graphics, cheesy instrumentation, but sometimes brilliant compositions, and gameplay that's not-quite-there, but good enough.

    Yes, Magician Lord is a must-have, but the enemies are really cheap and annoying (something it shares exactly with Ghouls, I guess), and the different personas aren't utilized and exploited nearly enough to give the game any more depth than the typical arcade-style plough-through.

    It definitely was an eye-opener back in 1990, though.

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    Pear (Level 6) retroman's Avatar
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    its just a average game...even for its time. The graphics may have been great for the time, but the gameplay is only average...I have it for my NeoGeo AES, and never play it.

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    I'd say its fairly average (and damn hard) graphically its quite nice and especially for its age. Definetly something you should own for the neo considering its cheap price (even on wii vc its not to bad) I enjoyed it for a day or so and gave up

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    This game is just too hard for me to appreciate it. I don't have the patience for it...

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    I appologize for my uncouth response.

    Yes this is rare I know.
    But I stand by the fact that this person irks me greatly.
    Last edited by Sothy; 11-23-2007 at 04:21 PM.


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    Quote Originally Posted by Sothy View Post
    Blah blah I have blah blah systems and a billion games I got a Diamond neo geo butt plug for christmas at the age of 18.

    I cant stand you. go away you attention seeking whore. And yeah whatever you are some bigshot gaming person I dont care.
    Well I only said I had 35+ systems to showcase that I knew what I was talking about, and that I'm not a novice, and Magician Lord is underrated from a pro's viewpoint. I see that I'm in the minority so far. That's fine. Once in a while (but rarely), I disagree with the majority and love a game that most don't. And I'm no bigshot - not anymore anyway. But back in the early 90's, I held a gaming record, was in EGM and Electronic Games, and wrote the gaming newsletter Zap! 1990 is when I traded with another newsletter editor, DP's own Joe Santulli.

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    Banana (Level 7) smokehouse's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kevincal View Post
    This game is just too hard for me to appreciate it. I don't have the patience for it...
    Quoted for truth...that damn game is just too hard for me. I really tried to get into it when I had it on the AES and just couldn't. I have the game problem with G&G...challenging, hard, stupid hard, call ti what you like but I just have not patience for it.

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    I tired seriously tackling it for the first time recently on the Wii VC. I can get to level 3 and that's it. Man, that is a mean, mean game. That said, I've been largely unimpressed with most Neo Geo games over the years as I'm not that into fighting games, and I felt that most SNES games looked better than a lot of those unremarkable fighters like Art of Fighting, World Heroes, etc. But I will say this--most any game on the Neo that's not a fighting game can be breathtaking, and Magician Lord falls in that category. I appreciate the difficulty--it's something that will challenge me for years, most likely. I think it's harder than Ghouls 'N' Ghosts. I've been able to beat G'N'G all the way through twice in a row on command, but Magician Lord just baffles me with it's difficulty.

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    I really don't think it's that hard. I used to own it on AES before I sold my collection to Smokehouse. It was tough at first of course, but with some practice It became reasonable challenging and a fulfilling game. It's one of the few that make me miss my Neo. If I was into virtual console I'd snag it up quick.
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    Magician Lord for me was a title that came as a total surprise. I bought my AES from a frined about 2-3 years ago. I quickly found out that the newer titles were for the most part way out of my price range. So I started collecting some earlier releasses, and Magician Lord was one of them.

    I was blown away with the nice visuals (for the time period). The game is unique, and really entertaining. The only game I can only compare Magician Lord to is Altered Beast. Now this may sound strange, but both titles seem to have that either you like it or not design.

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    Magician Lord was the pack-in game with the system I bought. I was a little disapointed at the time, I thought the game should of had more backround animation. I guess I was basing that on the fact that every Snes/Genesis games had alot of animation in there games. (sounds kinda lame to say that now) but yeah, looking at the game today, the graphics where pretty amazing. Thought the game was on the too hard side, never did beat it.

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    I've said it before, and I'll say it again....

    I love the Neo-Geo's launch lineup. Magician Lord, The Super Spy (an overlooked game that could be considered truly groundbreaking - it was the first FPS I remember playing.. about a year or two before Wolfenstein 3-D or Doom was released), and Nam '75 being my favorites.

    When it came out on the Wii a few weeks ago, I bought it with no hesitation. And on the Wii VC update thread, I recommended ML over Castlevania 2.

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    After seeing the ending and all the levels again, I'm going to have to resind my perfect rating, and give it a 9 by 1990 standards. On the last two stages, they reuse the music from the first two levels. That's just lazy programming, indicating the game was rushed. And while the background artwork is stunning for its time, it could use more multiple scrolling at times. Finally, I love the way the main bad guy (Gal Agize or something like that) taunts you at the end of every level. That is so awesome. But, but, but...you never fight him! What gives with that!

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    When the home Neo just came out, I rented the system and Magician Lord. I liked the game, but it was SO FUCKING HARD. I was pissed to find out later that the arcade version allowed you to pick up where you dies when you continue. So, after having spent about $20 n the arcade on the game a couple years later, and making it to the last level, the piece of shit reset on me. So no, I'm not super-fond of the game. It pissed me off and ripped me off.

    Aside from my being bitter from the experiences I had with it, the game is pretty and sounds good, but it's too damn hard to make it truly fun.

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    I remember playing this game when I was about 7 or 8 and I thought the door needed a key. Needless to say I never found the said key and quickly died, I always wanted to know the games name tho, so yay.

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    I recently bought the AES version of Magician Lord. Its pretty cheap on Ebay now, its only like $30 for a brand new and compleye copy.

    The game itself is a pretty cool platformer. The gfx is great, some of the music is really cool and i also like the power-up system. On the other hand, i didnt really like the controllers that much. Sometimes it can be pretty hard to make a jump, especially when you have to jump on small and/or moving platforms. Its not impossible tho, but it can be frustrating sometimes.

    I've played it a few times and i've made it to the last level, but i never made it to the boss. The game is pretty hard in my opinion. But for about $30 for an AES game its a great value. I would recommend the game to any AES owners, mostly because its cheap (compared to other AES games) and its not a bad game, which makes a great combination

    I also love one quote in the game. When you meet up the evil guy after every boss he once says: "That power is powerless". If its a power in the first place, how can it be powerless? Hehe

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