Landstalker

Last updated
Landstalker
Landstalker us.jpg
North American box art
Developer(s) Climax Entertainment
Publisher(s) Sega
Director(s) Kenji Orimo
Designer(s) Kenji Orimo
Programmer(s) Kan Naito
Artist(s)
  • Yoshitaka Tamaki
  • Hidehiro Yoshida
Writer(s) Shinya Nishigaki
Composer(s) Motoaki Takenouchi
Platform(s) Sega Genesis
Release
  • JP: October 30, 1992
  • NA: 1993
  • EU: October 1993
Genre(s) Action-adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole [1] is an action role-playing that was developed by Climax Entertainment and released for the Sega Genesis in 1992 in Japan and 1993 elsewhere. Players take on the role of the treasure hunter Nigel as he navigates a three-dimensional world through an isometric viewpoint, solving puzzles and fighting enemies.

Contents

The game was a critical and commercial success. A spinoff called Lady Stalker: Challenge from the Past was released in Japan for the Super NES in 1995. A sequel was in the planning stages but was cancelled. [2] Dark Savior and Alundra are considered spiritual successors. Nigel is a playable character in Time Stalkers .

It has been re-released several times: on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2007, Steam in 2011, on the Sega Genesis Mini in 2019, and on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack in 2023.

Gameplay

The player, as Nigel the treasure hunter, is tasked with searching for clues that lead to the treasure of King Nole. This is accomplished primarily by travelling through both outdoor areas and dungeons. All gameplay and plot-advancing scenes take place in an isometric view.

From the outset of the game, Nigel may walk, jump, swing his sword, climb ropes and ladders, talk to various non-player characters, and pick up and throw various objects. With very few exceptions, these basic actions do not change throughout the game, although Nigel's weapons and armor may be replaced with better versions. There are a variety of items throughout the game, most of which either increase or restore health and attacking power or are important to advancing the plot or solving puzzles.

Much of the game's dungeons and overworld are filled with monsters, mostly creatures from fantasy and mythology like ogres, skeletons, ghosts, golems, and more; many may be avoided or killed for gold or other collectables, while others must be killed to advance the plot and the game. Many traps and puzzles also appear requiring the player to jump from platform to platform press switches and move blocks to climb on. Locked doors inhibit the player's progress, the player must find keys or beat enemies or puzzles to unlock them and progress further. Many dungeons and areas have a boss to defeat at the end. The monsters, puzzles and dungeons increase in difficulty as the game progresses. The player has health which is kept track of by hearts; health and the maximum health limit may be increased with items purchased in towns or found in dungeons. The player is not prevented from revisiting old towns and dungeons, and is frequently required to do so to advance the plot.

There are several optional side quests found in the game involving helping out the non-player characters. Nigel can complete these tasks for benefits, like increased attacking power and use of shortcut warps to travel across the overworld quicker. These can help the player but are not necessary to complete the game.

Plot

The game's intro starts in Gamul Date 312 where Nigel, a treasure hunter who is 88 years old, far older than he appears, is shown traversing a dungeon of rolling boulders and moving platforms called Jypta Ruins to acquire the Statue of Jypta. After selling this statue to a shop owner in a port town of Kalva, Nigel is accosted by a wood nymph named Friday. She explains that she is being chased by three persistent yet bumbling thieves named Kayla, Ink, and Wally because she knows the location of the legendary treasure of King Nole. Once Nigel spends most of his money on a bird to carry him to the island, Friday admits that while she doesn't know the exact location of the treasure she has a "feeling" where it is. The player controls Nigel from here on where he and Friday, who accompanies him for the entire game, first journey through a dungeon until they fall into a river and end up in the care of the red-furred bear-people of Massan. When Nigel awakes, he finds his way to the neighboring village of Gumi, where the yellow-furred bear-people are ready to sacrifice the daughter of Massan's leader, Fara. Nigel follows the crazed tribe into their shrine and breaks them of their curse, freeing Fara and earning the respect of both tribes and a clue to help him to the treasure.

Nigel and Friday travel westward until they come to the lighthouse town of Ryuma which has been attacked by thieves. Nigel goes to the thieves' cave and rescues the mayor and some other men who have been kidnapped. He also finds a lithograph of a dragon, which Friday tells him is a clue to the treasure. Before he can leave, Kayla, Ink, and Wally show up and hold Friday hostage until Nigel hands them the lithograph.

Nigel's heroics earn him a place in the court of Duke Mercator, who orders him to go and defeat an old wizard, Mir, who is locked in a tower nearby and who has been terrorizing the town and extorting the Duke. Nigel braves a crypt and the wizard's tower and faces him in single combat. Defeated, Mir confesses all he knows about King Nole's treasure and then explains that the Duke is his brother and had been using him as a scapegoat for years. Nigel returns to the Duke and is about ready to confront him when he is tossed into a dungeon. While imprisoned he finds out that the princess of Maple, his home country, who had been a guest at the castle, has been taken away by the Duke's dragon-like henchman, Zak. He manages to escape to find the castle knights in open revolt and ships stuck in the harbour because the lighthouse in Ryuma is broken. Nigel saves Arthur, the Duke's general, and is given the key to the Greenmaze, where the Sunstone can be found, the gem that powers Ryuma's lighthouse.

Nigel navigates the maze despite the best efforts of troublesome gnomes and restores the lighthouse. He then takes a ship to pursue the Duke. He makes landing up the coast of the island at Verla, which has practically become a ghost town. The Duke had enslaved the population of the town and forced them to work in nearby mines searching for a legendary treasure. Nigel frees the townspeople, and they give him a legendary sword they found but had hidden from the Duke. Nigel continues through the mine to find the Duke sailing, via rafts, across a lake to an island temple. Nigel finds a way over and navigates through the labyrinth to fight the Duke but is caught off-guard by Zak. Nigel is teleported to safety by Mir before the Duke and Zak can finish him off. Mir then proceeds to give Nigel some more information about King Nole's treasure. Mir also gives a magical axe to Nigel which allows him to cut down trees with a single swing of his sword.

Nigel retakes his sword in hand, and Friday leads him up through mountains to get to the entrance to the underground dungeon where King Nole hid his treasure. They encounter Zak again, who has decided that while he doesn't like working for the Duke any longer he still wants to face Nigel one on one. After Nigel proves his superiority, Zak gives Nigel something he stole from the Duke that will allow Nigel to enter the underground. Zak departs defeated.

Nigel finds himself back at the same cave he started in, this time filled with monsters but no traps. He gets to the Duke just as he uses the Princess to open the gate between the above and below worlds (referencing the song In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida). Nigel charges through into the center of the island and into King Nole's labyrinth, a massive confusing dungeon guarding King Nole's palace. After making it through the labyrinth and the palace, Nigel makes it to the room which held the treasure. After all the challenges so far, things are not quite finished for King Nole's restless Spirit attacks Nigel but Nigel makes quick work of him. The Duke then shows up and as he thanks Nigel for doing the dirty work for him, Gola, the Dragon God that King Nole worshipped, burns him alive.

Nigel fights Gola using all of his strength and cunning, and when the beast is finally vanquished, the treasure is his. With vast sums of gold under his control he decides that rather than retire he and Friday will continue their adventures. In the original ending in the Japanese and European version the treasure vanishes after Gola's last stand. Nigel isn't very upset and suggests taking Friday with him to the main country for new adventures.

Reception

The game was reviewed in 1995 in Dragon #217 by Jay & Dee in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Jay gave the game 3 out of 5 stars, while Dee gave the game 4 out of 5 stars. [5] The game was praised in the Australian-based Megazone magazine, where it received a 9 out of 10. The game received extremely positive attention in GameFan magazine, getting reviewed twice, once for the import version, then again for the American release. The import review gave it a perfect 10 out of 10, stating that it was "the perfect action/RPG" and that if "this was an American release, I would give it game of the year, it's that good." [30] According to Next Generation , Landstalker met with critical acclaim in Japan, and was a major system seller for the Mega Drive there. [31]

In GameFan's annual Megawards, Landstalker won the awards for Most Innovative New Game (Sega) and Best Action/RPG, and was a nominee for the Best Music (Genesis) and Game of the Year awards. [32] Mega placed the game at #5 in their Top Mega Drive Games of All Time. [33] Gamasutra included it as an example of an open world game as part of their Game Design Essentials series. [34] In 2017, Gamesradar ranked the game 24th on their: "Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time." [35]

Related Research Articles

<i>Altered Beast</i> 1988 video game

Altered Beast is a 1988 beat 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Sega. The game is set in Ancient Greece and follows a player character chosen by Zeus to rescue his daughter Athena from the demonic ruler of the underworld, Neff. By collecting three power-ups in a level, the player character transforms into one of five magical beasts. It was ported to several home video game consoles and home computers. Altered Beast was the pack-in game when the Genesis launched in North America and the Mega Drive in Europe.

<i>Shining Force</i> 1992 video game

Shining Force is a 1992 turn-based tactical role-playing game for the Sega Genesis console. It is the second entry of the Shining series of video games, following Shining in the Darkness. While primarily a traditional fantasy-themed game, it contains some science fiction elements.

<i>Comix Zone</i> 1995 video game

Comix Zone is a 1995 beat 'em up video game developed and published by Sega for the Genesis. It is set within the panels of a comic book with dialogue rendered within talk bubbles and sprites, and backgrounds possessing the bright colors and dynamic drawing style of superhero comics. This style is in previous video games, for example Ocean Software's Batman: The Caped Crusader in 1988, but Comix Zone stretched the idea to such an extent that Sega applied for and was granted a patent for a "videogame system for creating a simulated comic book game".

<i>Dr. Robotniks Mean Bean Machine</i> 1993 video game

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine is a falling block puzzle game developed by Compile and published by Sega. It was released for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive in North America and Europe in November 1993, and ported to the Game Gear in 1993 and Master System in 1994.

<i>Shining in the Darkness</i> 1991 video game

Shining in the Darkness, released as Shining and the Darkness in Japan, is a 1991 role-playing video game for the Mega Drive/Genesis video game console. It was the first in the Shining series.

<i>Dynamite Headdy</i> 1994 video game

Dynamite Headdy is a platform video game developed by Treasure and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis in 1994. The game follows a puppet named Headdy in his efforts to stop an evil puppet king from taking over his world. Headdy can throw his head at enemies to defeat them and use it to pull himself to various areas and move objects. The player can find a wide variety of "heads" which act as power-ups that provide different effects and alter gameplay.

<i>Gunstar Heroes</i> 1993 video game

Gunstar Heroes is a run and gun video game developed by Treasure and published by Sega. It was Treasure's debut game, originally released for the Sega Genesis in 1993. The game's premise is centered around a pair of characters, the Gunstars, in their efforts to stop an evil empire from recovering four powerful gems. The characters can fire guns and perform a series of acrobatic maneuvers to fight enemies across each stage. There are four weapons in the game which can be combined with one another to create different shot types.

<i>QuackShot</i> 1991 video game

QuackShot Starring Donald Duck, released in Japan as QuackShot Gurujia-ō no Hihō, is a 1991 platforming video game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. The game was released in Europe in 1991, in North America on December 19, 1991, and in Japan the following day. QuackShot stars Donald Duck and his three nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, as treasure-hunters. The game was influenced by the Indiana Jones film series.

<i>Fantastic Dizzy</i> 1991 video game

Fantastic Dizzy is a 1991 video game developed by Codemasters. It is part of the Dizzy series. It was published on several platforms, including Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, Nintendo Entertainment System, Amiga, and MS-DOS.

<i>Bonanza Bros.</i> 1990 video game

Bonanza Bros. is a 3D-style, 2D side-scrolling stealth action game developed and released by Sega in 1990. It is one of the earliest arcade games powered by the Sega System 24 arcade system board. It was ported to various home systems, including the Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System, PC-Engine/TurboGrafx-CD, and several home computers.

<i>Alundra</i> 1997 action-adventure video game

Alundra, released in Europe as The Adventures of Alundra, is an action-adventure video game developed by Matrix Software and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was originally released in 1997 in Japan, January 1998 in North America by Working Designs and June 1998 in PAL territories by Sony-owned Psygnosis.

<i>Leander</i> (video game) 1991 video game

Leander is a video game for the Amiga developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Psygnosis in 1991. It was the first game developed by Traveller's Tales. The game was developed on the Amiga, then converted to the Atari ST by Philipp Wyatt for W.J.S Design. A year later it was published for the Sega Genesis as Galahad by Electronic Arts.

<i>Light Crusader</i> 1995 RPG video game

Light Crusader is an action-adventure game developed by Treasure and published by Sega for their Sega Genesis console in 1995. The game was included in the Sega Genesis Classics collections on Steam and other platforms in 2011. It was also included on the Sega Genesis Mini in North America and Sega Mega Drive Mini in PAL regions.

<i>Dark Savior</i> 1996 video game

Dark Savior is a 3D mixed-genre video game for the Sega Saturn created by Climax Entertainment. It was referred to by GameSpot as a sequel to the developer's game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole, even though the games' storylines are unrelated and their gameplay is considerably different.

<i>ESWAT: City Under Siege</i> 1990 video game

ESWAT: City Under Siege, released in Japan as Cyber Police ESWAT, is a 1990 side scrolling action platform video game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis and Sega Master System video game consoles.

<i>Ariel the Little Mermaid</i> 1992 video game

Disney's Ariel the Little Mermaid, usually shorted to simply Ariel the Little Mermaid, is a 1992 video game developed by BlueSky Software for the Sega Genesis, Game Gear and Master System, based on the 1989 film The Little Mermaid.

<i>McDonalds Treasure Land Adventure</i> 1993 video game

McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure is a 1993 platform game developed by Treasure and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. Based on the McDonald's fast food restaurant chain, specifically its McDonaldland marketing campaign, players control Ronald McDonald in his efforts to retrieve the missing pieces of a map that lead to the location of a buried treasure from a group of villains. Ronald can defeat enemies by using a magic attack and can latch onto hooks with his scarf to reach higher platforms.

Climax Entertainment was a Japanese video game development company. It was a small company, with just 20 staff in 1996. Climax got its start during the 16-bit era, primarily developing games for the Sega Genesis console. During the 32-bit era, some members of the team left to create Matrix Software. Following the development of Dark Savior (1996), a group of staff members from the company's CGI division formed an independent company Climax Graphics, initially described as a "brother company".

<i>Disneys Aladdin</i> (Sega Genesis video game) 1993 video game

Disney's Aladdin is a platform game based on the 1992 film of the same name developed by Virgin Games USA. The game was released by Sega for the Sega Genesis on October 19, 1993 as one of several games based on the film, including another game that was released in the same month by Capcom for the Super NES.

<i>The Lost Vikings</i> 1993 video game

The Lost Vikings is a puzzle-platform game developed by Silicon & Synapse and published by Interplay. It was originally released for the Super NES in 1993, then subsequently released for the Amiga, Amiga CD32, MS-DOS, and Mega Drive/Genesis systems; the Mega Drive/Genesis version contains five stages not present in any other version of the game, and can also be played by three players simultaneously. Blizzard re-released the game for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. In 2014, the game was added to Battle.net as a free download emulated through DOSBox. In celebration of the company's 30th anniversary, The Lost Vikings was re-released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as part of the Blizzard Arcade Collection in February 2021.

References

  1. ↑ ランドストーカー 皇帝の財宝, Randosutōkā: Kōtei no Zaihō
  2. ↑ McFerran, Damien (11 May 2023). "Here's A Glimpse Of The Landstalker Sequel We Never Got To Play". Time Extension. Hookshot Media . Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  3. ↑ Stiller, Heiner (March 1993). "Inselabenteuer". Aktueller Software Markt . p. 131. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  4. ↑ "ランドストーカー 皇帝の財宝". Beep! Mega Drive (in Japanese). November 1992. p. 26. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 Jay & Dee (May 1995). "Eye of the Monitor". Dragon (217): 65–74.
  6. ↑ Skid; Brody; Slick, Tom; The Enquirer (January 1993). "Viewpoint". GameFan . Vol. 1, no. 3. pp. 10–13. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  7. ↑ Skid; Sgt. Gamer; K. Lee; The Enquirer (September 1993). "Viewpoint". GameFan . Vol. 1, no. 10. pp. 14–15. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  8. ↑ Larry, Scary (November 1993). "Landstalker". GamePro . No. 52. p. 252. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  9. ↑ Haynes, Rik; Masaki (January 1993). "Landstalker". Sega Zone . No. 3. pp. 36–38. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  10. ↑ Peters, Adam (November 1993). "Landstalker". Sega Zone . No. 13. pp. 38–39. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  11. ↑ Lawson, Wayne (December 1993). "Landstalker". Hyper . No. 1. p. 53. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  12. ↑ Destroy, J'm (January 1993). "Land Stalker". Joystick (in French). No. 34. p. 231. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  13. ↑ Gus; Paul (October 1993). "Landstalker". Mean Machines Sega . No. 12. pp. 102–105. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  14. ↑ Ulf; Markus (February 1994). "Landstalker". Mega Fun (in German). pp. 42–44. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  15. ↑ Wolfen (November 1993). "Landstalker". Player One (in French). No. 36. pp. 14–15. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  16. ↑ "Landstalker". Video Games (in German). February 1994. p. 45. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  17. ↑ Mellerick, Paul (November 1993). "Landstalker". Mega . No. 14. pp. 32–33. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  18. ↑ Longhurst, Richard (November 1993). "Landstalker". Sega Power . No. 48. pp. 52–53. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  19. ↑ Boni, Dino (February 1993). "Landstalker". Sega Pro . No. 16. pp. 24–26. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  20. ↑ Johnson, Jason (December 1993). "Landstalker". Sega Pro . No. 26. p. 56. Retrieved January 14, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Landstalker for Genesis". GameRankings . CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  22. ↑ Whitehead, Dan (October 6, 2007). "Virtual Console Roundup • Page 2". Eurogamer . Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  23. ↑ Shau, Austin (December 19, 2007). "LandStalker: The Treasures of King Nole Review". GameSpot . Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  24. ↑ 8-Bit Star. "Landstalker". Hardcore Gaming 101 . Archived from the original on June 28, 2006. Retrieved January 11, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ↑ Thomas, Lucas M. (September 14, 2007). "Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole Review". IGN . Archived from the original on May 3, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  26. ↑ Duyn, Marcel van (September 2, 2007). "Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole Review (MD)". Nintendo Life . Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  27. ↑ "Landstalker". Retro Gamer . No. 44. November 2007. p. 95. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  28. ↑ Schreier, Jason. "Land Stalker - Staff Retroview". RPGamer. Archived from the original on January 8, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  29. ↑ Dancin' Humor (2001). "Landstalker". RPGFan. Archived from the original on June 29, 2001. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
  30. ↑ "Landstalker". GameFan . 1 (3). January 1993. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  31. ↑ "Backtracking". Next Generation . No. 23. Imagine Media. November 1996. p. 123.
  32. ↑ GameFan, volume 2, issue 2 (January 1994), pages 54-58
  33. ↑ Mega magazine issue 26, page 74, Maverick Magazines, November 1994
  34. ↑ "Gamasutra - Game Design Essentials: 20 Open World Games". www.gamasutra.com.
  35. ↑ GamesRadar Staff (2017-06-21). "Best Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games of all time". gamesradar. Retrieved 2022-02-24.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.