Lord of the Sword

1988 video game
1988 video game
  • JP: June 2, 1988
  • EU: December 1988
  • NA: April 1989[1]
Genre(s)Action-adventureMode(s)Single-player

Lord of the Sword (ロード オブ ソード, "Lord of Sword") is a side scrolling action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the Master System in 1988. It has a medieval fantasy setting. The game has been compared to Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and Wonder Boy in Monster Land.[2][3]

Plot

The Demon Lord Ra Goan is once again spreading terror on Baljinya as he had done a thousand years ago. The king has been killed by Ra Goan, putting the kingdom in disarray as there is no one next in line for the throne. A council of elders have decided that the rightful one to take over the throne will have to pass three tests. Landau embarks on the quest to save his beloved land and to find the wizard in Amon.

Gameplay

Landau is armed with a sword for close combat, and a bow for ranged combat. The Kingdom of Baljinya has towns and villages where Landau can stop to rest (restoring his health) and gather information from the people. There are also castles which can only be entered after completing certain tasks. Each time the player has the opportunity to speak with a character, he should do so several times in succession in order to get all possible messages. If the player fails to do this, bosses and secret paths will not appear. There are different types of terrain between the villages, towns and castles. Flat lands, dark forests, mountains and swamps make up the rest of the landscape.

The terrains are plagued by different kinds of monsters, some specific to each terrain. The player will have up to ten continues to complete the quests. The game features no password based save feature. When faced with a boss monster, the player will need to hit its weak point or attack at its weak moment. When a boss monster is destroyed, Landau is rewarded with a better sword or better bow which deals more damage.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame[4]
Computer and Video Games64%[5]
The Games Machine (UK)58%[6]
Console XS85%[7]

Lord of the Sword received mixed reviews from critics. Computer and Video Games gave it a 64% score.[5] AllGame gave it an overall rating of 2 stars out of a possible 5.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Lord of the Sword - Next Wave". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 1. EGM Media, LLC. May 1989. p. 11.
  2. ^ Golding, Marc (January 12, 2004). "Lord of the Sword". HonestGamers. Retrieved July 18, 2016. It plays a lot like Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (released the same year), and that's not good to begin with.
  3. ^ "Lord of the Sword – Hardcore Gaming 101".
  4. ^ a b Brett Alan Weiss. "Lord of the Sword - Review - allgame". Allgame. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Lord of the Sword - CVG" (PDF). Computer and Video Games. No. 86. December 1988. pp. 160–161.
  6. ^ "Lord of the Sword - The Games Machine" (PDF). The Games Machine. No. 14. January 1989. pp. 75–76.
  7. ^ "Software A-Z: Master System". Console XS. No. 1 (June/July 1992). United Kingdom: Paragon Publishing. 23 April 1992. pp. 137–47.
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