Epic Default Productions

After I reviewed Marble Madness, I decided to tackle a longer and more complex game than I had in previous reviews.  I believe I have accomplished that goal.

Legacy of the Wizard, an action-adventure game, with elements of classic RPG faire, is the American title of the fourth installment of the Dragon Slayer series.  This classic 1989 NES game, will give you hours of enjoyable entertainment, provided you are not a cold and heartless robot.

The story of LotW follows the Drasle family on a quest to destroy the dragon that has been terrorizing the country side.  You play as one of the five members of the family, each with different abilities, strengths, and weaknesses on this dragon-slaying quest.  Each member of the family, save for the son, must collect a crown and those four crowns allows the son to collect the dragon slayer sword to then slay the aforementioned dragon.  All of the action conveniently takes place in one very, very large dungeon below the family’s home.  This dungeon is loosely divided into five major sections, one entrance area which leads to four different sections, each containing a crown.  Each of the four sections has certain obstacles that only specific characters can overcome (isn’t that convenient?) with the help of items found (or purchased) throughout other parts of the dungeon.  The characters each have their own attributes that I love playing around with (the girl jumps super high, the pet takes no damage from all enemies save for bosses, etc…) and the expansive puzzle that is the dungeon always brings me delight.

The challenge of this game comes not from defeating monsters, but rather the navigation of the dungeon.  The many twists, turns, back-tracking, false floors, hidden spikes, and surprise enemies makes the game one that you will spend several (probably 50+) enjoyable hours trying to conquer.  Even the bosses, who were difficult in their own right, did not pose as much of a challenge as the dungeon.

The side scrolling, dungeon crawling game play is simple and refined.  Shooting enemies, jumping onto platforms, collecting items, and defeating bad guys all seamlessly flow into a great game.  To give the player options in their adventure, you may either buy or find, deep within the dungeon, the required equipment to complete certain aspects of the dungeon.  This means that the player does not have to traverse the entire dungeon if that player does not wish to, slightly shortening the length of the game, and changing the strategy of game-play.

My biggest complaints with the game consist of saving, level-length, and the lack of help.  Saving will only happen if you make it back to the house at the entrance to the dungeon.  There are four ways to get home in the game, three of which do not achieve the goal of advancing the game’s progression. Walking all the way back and using a teleport crystal get you home with your stuff, but you will have to re-traipse that entire part of the dungeon to get back to where you need to be to get the crown. Dying gets you back to the house; however, you lose all of the equipment that you picked up since the last save, which is at best a severe annoyance.  The best way to get back to the house is by defeating the enemy that attacks when you collect the crown.  Unfortunately, with the size and layout of the dungeon, this could take hours to complete.  The dungeons are very lengthy, and take a considerable amount of time to traverse, even if you have a handy guide to assist you along the way.  The guides that you can find online are a great help in trying to navigate throughout the dungeon.  I recommend finding one because no signage exists in the dungeon to tell you which way to go next.  There are easily over 300 false walls and floors in the game in which every character has to pass through some to successfully make it to their intended goal.  Without help in locating these faux stones, you will spend hours wandering the dungeon without any knowledge of what to do next, never coming close to beating the game, just like a young and spry boy I once knew (hint: it was me).

All in all, I would rate this game among my favorites for the NES.  Namco made a great game in Legacy of the Wizard, and Broderbund did a wonderful thing bringing this game to the US.  I recommend this title for those who are looking for a long-term classic game that they can enjoy for many hours of satisfying game play.