So Takara only made ports of Neo Geo games, right? Nope!

They made Legend of Maten.

Actually, there's two games with this title, sort of. One's a goofy looking Mega Drive title, but its name is actually Maten no Soumetsu. You can think of that one as "the game where this dude zaps a demon and snatches away a baby who will grow up to become the generic displaced person/hero 16 years later." The other version is the one that concerns us.

Maten Densetsu: Senritsu no Opatsu, translates to something like "Legend of Maten: The "Shudder" of Ooparts (out-of-place-artifacts). Here's an auction for it. It's a RPG in the vein of the Shin Megami Tensei games, as far as mood and setting go. There's some first-person viewpoints given when you inspect a scene or talk with someone; otherwise it's all top-down.

So what's out there on the net? Not much. A nice, if rather engrishy, FAQ on GameFAQs (where else?), and a review of the game's soundtrack here. There's a reason I said I liked the soundtrack!

Anyhow, despite not being able to read a word of the game's text, it's still very interesting. You *always* seem to utilize a rather odd cursor to move around, and almost right away you're in some sort of South American-style line art hedge. After this comes the fateful battle with the revilled (and actually sort of funny) giant floating demon head. Don't forget the wavy pattern in the background!

Suddenly, the game takes a u-turn. You're in a futuristic hospital ward, looking at a rather overworked doctor, who explains a whole lot more than I'll be able to read. It's interesting stuff, though! The music here is starting to work on your mood, as well. This is definitely going to be a melancholy game.

Outside, the whole city has been destroyed pretty hardcore, and there's Bandai-styled silly demons wandering about. Good thing you've got some HP on you.

Anyhow, this game sports some good - no, GREAT - dungeons, and is probably one of the least appreciated (in fact, from what I can tell it's downright obscure) SFC RPGs out there. For good reason? I doubt that.

Anybody else have something to add about this game? I'd like to hear it!