''Master of Monsters'' is a turn-based strategy game developed by SystemSoft for the

MSX MSX is a standardized home computer architecture, announced by ASCII Corporation on June 16, 1983. It was initially conceived by Microsoft as a product for the Eastern sector, and jointly marketed by Kazuhiko Nishi, the director at ASCII Corpo ...

and

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

PC8801. It was ported to a variety of consoles and PCs including the

PC Engine CD The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation, it launched in ...

, NEC PC9801, and

Sega Genesis/Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

. While it never had the same success as its SystemSoft stablemate '' Daisenryaku'', the game garnered a loyal following. Its success in the North American market on the Sega Genesis proved sufficient for a sequel on the

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

, and an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

art-style enhanced

Sony PlayStation is a Video game, video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of Home video game console, home video game consoles produce ...

version titled ''Disciples of Gaia'' with a

Japanese role-playing game While the early history and distinctive traits of role-playing video games (RPGs) in East Asia have come Video games in Japan, from Japan, many video games have also arisen Video games in China, in China, Video games in South Korea, developed ...

feel. ''Master of Monsters: Disciples of Gaia'' was released in 1998.

Gameplay

Gameplay engages players by permitting them to summon and move monsters around a board in an effort to capture towers and to eventually defeat the opponents (which are controlled either by other humans or by the computer program). Moves are based on a hexagonal board structure, such that every tile on the board is adjacent to six other tiles. Other notable features were the large variety of monsters, upgrading ("leveling up") of veteran units and control of a "Master" character who, if killed, can end the game for that player. The focus of the game is strategic, despite the fantasy-type characters that might imply an

RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...

element. Other than the existence of the Master character and magic in the game, the gameplay is very similar to System Soft's more hardcore modern warfare strategic wargame series '' Daisenryaku'', with the exception that some versions of the ''Master of Monsters'' (such as ''Master of Monsters – Final'') series allow equippable items, weapons and armor.

Comparisons

The later '' Lords of Chaos'' by

Julian Gollop Julian Gollop is a British video game designer Video game design is the process of designing the rules and content of video games in the Video game development#Pre-production, pre-production stage and designing the gameplay, environment, st ...

Mythos Games Mythos Games was a British video game developer company founded by Julian Gollop and Nick Gollop in 1988 as Target Games. It is best known for its 1994 strategy game '' UFO: Enemy Unknown'' (released in North America as ''X-Com: UFO Defense''), w ...

shares many of the same elements of summoning and tactics, along with the earlier title Chaos from 1985. David White, creator of the

open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

turn-based strategy Strategy video game is a major video game genre that focuses on analyzing and strategizing over direct quick reaction in order to secure success. Although many types of video games can contain strategic elements, the strategy genre is most commo ...

game ''

The Battle for Wesnoth ''The Battle for Wesnoth'' is a free and open-source software, free and open-source turn-based strategy video game with a high fantasy setting (similar to J. R. R. Tolkien's Tolkien's legendarium, legendarium), designed by Australian-American d ...

'', cited ''Master of Monsters'' as an inspiration. ''Master of Monsters'' was also compared to later games such as the

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

series ''

Pokémon is a Japanese media franchise consisting of List of Pokémon video games, video games, Pokémon (TV series), animated series and List of Pokémon films, films, Pokémon Trading Card Game, a trading card game, and other related media. The fran ...

'' (which also revolves around commanding monsters) and the

real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that does not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time." By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, tur ...

game ''

StarCraft ''StarCraft'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series, set in the beginning of the 26th century, centers on a galactic struggle for dominance amon ...

''.

Updates

System Soft Alpha returned the game to its strategy-based roots, and the two entries in the ''Master of Monsters'' series as originally popularized on the NEC 9801 PC were updated by System Soft Alpha with new graphics and

gameplay Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game. The term applies to both video games and Tabletop game, tabletop games. Gameplay is the connection between the player and the game, the player's overcoming of challenges, and t ...

features. Two more sequels were made for Japanese Windows. Released on Japanese language Windows-based systems, the remakes include ''マスターオブモンスターズIII Special Edition'', ''マスターオブモンスターズ4 ～光と闇の争覇～'', ''Master of Monsters Value Edition'', and ''真・マスターオブモンスターズ Final''. A spin-off of the game targeted towards the younger audience was titled ''Masumon Kids''. A mobile version of the game was released in Japan.

References

External links

* {{moby game, id=/master-of-monsters 1988 video games Video games about dragons Fantasy video games Microcabin games MSX2 games NEC PC-8801 games NEC PC-9801 games Sega Genesis games Sharp X1 games Single-player video games TurboGrafx-16 games Turn-based strategy video games Video games developed in Japan Video games featuring female protagonists Video games scored by Hayato Matsuo SystemSoft Alpha games