At long last, I’m working Sega CD games into this mix. I have at least 1/2 dozen Sega CD games in my pile that aren’t yet in the MobyGames database and a whole bunch more that are missing screenshots. I guess I have been a little hesitant to go to work on this matter since I know it can be a bit tedious to set up the Gens emulator for Sega CD emulation at first. You need to install ASPI drivers for CD reading, which I did, but still no luck. However, I went the other route which is to rip an ISO + series of MP3 files for the game to play from the HD. That worked splendidly and I can now cover my collection of Sega CD titles for this experiment.
And what a collection! Let’s kick it off with Revengers Of Vengeance. I’ll give you a few moments to re-read that title a few times. Revengers Of Vengeance. I found this in an eBay store while purchasing some other games. I had absolutely no idea what to expect as the CD-ROM surface (all I had to go on) doesn’t really give any clues. It bears an MA-13 rating from a system called V.R.C. which predates today’s omnipresent ESRB.
I think the game may bear the alternate title of Battle Fantasy; at least, that’s the title that Gens shows in the window title bar. The game is definitely fantasy in nature and kicks off with an awesome scene of griffons in the shadow of a castle:
From there, the game goes on to explain, rather generically and matter-of-factly, that the Devil King — who goes by the name of Venum — has gained the infinite power of evil. Despite that, it’s implied that you somehow have what it takes to bring this villain down. By what manner of gameplay will you achieve this feat? Well, that’s where things get tricky.
From what I can tell, this game represents a genre mashup of a 1-on-1 brawler game and a role playing game. So in addition to being the first Sega CD game in Gaming Pathology, it’s also the first RPG (or RPG-like game). Not that I have any aversion towards RPGs (although one brief evening of gameplay wouldn’t be enough time to do justice to the nominal RPG). But I suspect that the RPG genre as a whole tends to be quite popular with the type of hardcore gaming nerds that contribute heavily to MobyGames. Thus, the genre already has good coverage in the database.
But I digress. Aside from the options screen, there are 3 places to go from the main screen. The first is The Tournament. This allows you to select from among 10 unique fighters to battle it out with other characters against colorful, fantasy-themed backgrounds. It’s pretty tough, too, even on the easiest level:
Another route is the Arena Of Death which has the most curious logo of 2 Sega Genesis consoles fighting with each other. I’m still trying to figure out exactly what this mode is for. All I could do with it was create fighter characters with custom stats and the pit them against each other in an automated battle.
“The Quest To Destroy Venum” is where the RPG element comes into play. You begin in an RPG-style town:
You have a supply of gold and you can purchase dresses and perfume in shops, or coffee or cola at the village Starbucks franchise (serious about the coffee purchase, though at a nameless pub). When you leave town, you are shown this map of locations to warp to:
I head to the waterfall since that sounds like a pretty background. I get my mythological rear handed to me in the first battle. Even afterwards, I am awarded an amount of gold and experience points and sent back to the original town. Ostensibly, I need to spend some time leveling up and perhaps equipping myself before I can possibly hope to have a chance in this game. I also spy a fitness club in town.
During the Quest mode, each of the 10 characters appears to be following its own storyline with corresponding cutscenes. It occurs to me that a lot of beat-em-ups try to have storylines for each fighter, but that storyline is only fleshed out in the character’s brief ending sequence. This game has a full storyline from the get-go and tries to carry the concept even further. (Come to think of it, Criticom also had a storyline cutscene inaugurate each character’s quest, but… look, I’m sorry I even brought up that game again.) Some character backstories are more involved than others. One, though, for an absolutely enormous were-rhinoceros creature is quite simple: he simply wants someone — anyone — stronger to challenge in a fight. Maybe the infinite evil dude will fit the bill.
I have located cover art scans on other websites that evidence that this game must have been released in the U.S. Given that, it’s curious that the name entry box has a bunch of Japanese characters to choose from when writing one’s own name. I don’t know what any of them mean but I feel obligated to use a few since they’re on offer:
I see from this review at Sega-16 that a) I really suck at the fighting sequences, and b) I’m missing one genre– a vertical shooting type of game. I’ll need to devote some more time to this title some night.
astrange says:
Those are just the Japanese syllabary.
The DS lets you put them in your name too, I guess they were just ahead of the times.
(You wrote “TAKIUNE”)
JukesB. says:
Well I think they just left the naming screen from the original Japanese release, which I’m guessing might be called Battle Fantasy or something approaching, since it says Micronet on the title screen and that’s a Japanese company. Extreme is probably just the American localizer. Also, this game blows, even though it should have been totally cool. The vertical shooter part is a little fun but it’s short and easy, the fighting part is slooow and boring, and the RPG part is not developped enough to matter much. Some of the characters look cool though. I like that Rhino guy you mentioned. He would have made a good character in an actual RPG. Or an actual decent fighter.
commodorejohn says:
Sooo much wasted potential in this game. A fighting game/RPG hybrid could’ve been cool, the character selection was varied and interesting (and I have a huge crush on Talon the harpy, even if she already has kids,) and the use of FMV intros for the fighters is downright cool. It’s just the gameplay that sucks; all there is to do is fight, buy items, or go on shmup “quests;” the fighting is slow and the controls unresponsive, and the other characters are either ridiculously easy or frustratingly hard, the items don’t actually seem to do anything, and the shmup quests, while the most fun part of the game, have the least to do with anything. This game could’ve been really, really cool, it just wasn’t. It’s sad.
Monstevr says:
Nukiune, actually. The “ta” is (as) right next to the Roman Z (as any of the Japanese characters are).
Sorry if I sound like a know-it-all… we all know that people who offer useless encyclopedic corrections actually know very little, and are clinging to what little we can sound like experts in. So give me a break.
Nicole says:
I actually remember wanting to play this game so much as a kid because EGM did a piece on it. The ability to customize your characters to a degree sounded intriguing at the time, and I love RPGs anyways. Yes, it definitely was released in the US… never got to play it, as I never got to own the Sega CD.
Thanks for doing this piece, I was trying to remember the crazy name that it had… hurray, nostalgia.
Kippie says:
Dude, this game was AMAZING. I played it often as a kid on my JVC system that had both Sega and Sega CD as a set; this was my favorite game of all time, that and Keio’s Flying Squadron (if you’re looking for shoot-em-up, you can probably use this crazy, Bunny-suit wearing, dragon-flying chick as the example). I don’t even know how I found it (or any) of these games but they were definitely lifelong favorites for me.