Light Crusader

is a 1995 action-adventure game developed by Treasure and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. It was released in Japan on May 26, 1995, in South Korea on July 22, in Europe a month later, and in North America on October 25. The game’s plot follows a knight named Sir David as he attempts to rescue the kidnapped people of Greenrow. Played from an isometric perspective, the game sees the player, assuming the role of David, descending through a large dungeon by fighting enemies, solving puzzles, and traversing the environment in order to find the missing townsfolk.

The final title developed by Treasure for the Genesis, the game was first announced in the spring of 1994 under the working title of ''Relayer''. During development, the dev team sought to improve the operability and enjoyment of previous pseudo-3D titles by implementing an isometric viewpoint. However, due to programming difficulties stemming from the perspective, the game was delayed for over a year in order for the development team to fix the issues.

Upon release, the game received positive critical reception for its visuals, gameplay, and soundtrack but was criticized for its plot while mixed reactions were given towards the isometric perspective. Light Crusader has been included in various game compilations as well as on digital game storefronts and the Sega Genesis Mini.

Gameplay

''Light Crusader'' is an action-adventure game focused on exploration, combat, and puzzle solving. The game is played from an isometric perspective and sees the player primarily traversing a large dungeon, fighting enemies and solving puzzles, in order to rescue the kidnapped people of Green Row. The player is also allowed to freely roam Green Row to talk to townspeople or buy items from shops. Other towns can be found in the dungeon that give the player similar options but with different people to converse with and additional items to purchase from shops.

The player assumes the role of Sir David, who has a variety of abilities at his disposal. Aside from basic running and jumping, David can attack with his sword at a standstill, while moving or jumping, or by lunging in midair. He can also make use of four different kinds of elemental magic, those being water, fire, earth, and wind. Magic can be used either individually or combined with another element to create an attack or, in the case of certain combinations, give a buff to David. For example, using water magic on its own allows David to heal himself. Every type of magic can be combined at once, meaning that all four types can be used simultaneously.

The magic that is used by the player can be switched out in the pause menu, which also allows access to their inventory of items. Items can range from food that can recover David’s health to gear that can increase offensive and defensive power. Alongside items, the pause menu allows the player to access a map of the area that they are currently in. This map doesn’t share the location of items or kidnapped townspeople within the dungeon however and needs to be filled out by the player via exploring the area that they are currently occupying.

Plot

Sir David is invited to visit Green Row after a recent journey. He has not been there for a long time and was eager to return. However, the king informs David that townspeople have been disappearing. The king asks him to search for the missing people. After finding a hidden stairway in the graveyard, he discovers a large dungeon of many floors underneath the town.

In the dungeon, as he begins to find the missing people, he gradually learns the story of an evil wizard named Ragno Roke, who was angered by the queen's rejection of his marriage proposal. As revenge, Lord Roke has planned to use the kidnapped townspeople as a sacrifice to reawaken the evil demon Ramiah, sealed long ago in the dungeon. As David descends, he passes through a town of goblins, and a guild of wizards who have been operating in the dungeon.

At the end of the game, David confronts both Roke and Ramiah. At this point the townspeople have been rescued, but Roke tells David that his own life would be sufficient to revive Ramiah and sacrifices himself, bringing Ramiah to life for a final battle with David. After a victory, David leaves on horseback.

Development and release

''Light Crusader'' was developed by Japanese studio Treasure as part of partnership with Sega to develop products for the latter's Genesis console. This four game deal also included ''Dynamite Headdy'', ''Alien Soldier'', and ''Yu Yu Hakusho Makyō Tōitsusen''. ''Light Crusader'' was programmed by Kazuhiko Ishida with support from Keiji Fujitake and Treasure president Masato Maekawa. The game's graphics and art were provided by Hiroshi Iuchi, Makoto Ogino, Kaname Shindo, and Koichi Kimura. Katsuhiko Suzuki was the sound director while Aki Hata and Satoshi Murata composed the music and sound effects respectively.

The project was announced in the spring of 1994 under the working title ''Relayer''. Iuchi revealed that in its earliest stages, ''Light Crusader'' was planned as an action version of the classic RPG series ''Wizardry''. The staff sought to improve the operability and enjoyment of pseudo-3D graphics afforded by the isometric viewpoint, but this presented challenges. Ishida said that it was difficult to program multiple joints in 3D, while Iuchi claimed that the three-quarters perspective interfered with the performance of the Genesis. Development was delayed when the team started over from scratch at one point. Iuichi estimated that the final build of the game was only 30% complete by the end of 1994.

''Light Crusader'' was Treasure's last title to appear on the Genesis console. Throughout 1995, Sega published the game in Japan, North America, Europe, and Australia while Samsung published it in South Korea. In the following decades, ''Light Crusader'' has been made available as both a stand-alone downloadable title and as part of several Genesis compilations. The game was released on the Wii Virtual Console in 2007; as part of the ''Sega Genesis Classics'' collection for Steam and home platforms beginning in 2011; on the North America Sega Genesis Mini and PAL region Sega Mega Drive Mini consoles in 2019; and finally on the Nintendo Classics service in 2022.

Reception

''Mean Machines Sega'' praised the graphics and unique mixture of gameplay elements. They criticized that the game is often too easy and dull, and compared it unfavorably to '' The Story of Thor'' for longevity, but nonetheless gave it a very positive assessment, calling it "A superlative arcade adventure with great playability." The four reviewers of ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' praised the graphics, but all but one of them gave the game an overall negative assessment, saying that the perspective severely hinders visibility, the combat is clunky, the lack of story makes the game less involving and creates difficulty figuring out where to go next, and there is too much of an emphasis on puzzles. ''Next Generation'' said that the game design reflected Treasure's experience with action games, but that the non-action elements such as the puzzles and storyline are overly shallow, and the isometric perspective creates control difficulties. They concluded, "''Light Crusader'' is still one of the more exciting and graphically pleasing Genesis titles that has come out recently, but this is by no means a RPG."

''GamePro'' commented that the graphics and music are impressive in parts, but that the game is less challenging and complex than most RPGs, and that the player character maneuvers poorly, "with nowhere near the range or fluidity of movement of Ali in ''Beyond Oasis''." However, they concluded, "In the end, ''Light Crusader'' gets a passing grade because of some cool bosses and interesting puzzle challenges." ''Hobby Consolas'' commended the pseudo-3D isometric visuals, gameplay, presentation and sound, stating that "''Light Crusader'' fills an important void in the Mega Drive's role-playing game's library; the one that goes from pure role to adventure and nothing else."

Notes

References

External links

''Light Crusader''
at GameFAQs

''Light Crusader''
at Giant Bomb

''Light Crusader''
at MobyGames

{{DEFAULTSORT:Light Crusader
1995 video games
Action-adventure games
Nintendo Classics games
Sega video games
Sega Genesis games
Single-player video games
Treasure (company) games
Video games scored by Aki Hata
Video games with isometric graphics
Virtual Console games
Windows games
Video games developed in Japan