Developed by NCS Corporation and published exclusively for the Sega Megadrive/Genesis in 1992, Sorcerer’s Kingdom is a relatively obscure JRPG with tactical, turn-based combat.

You begin the game with one character, who you can name, and you gradually increase party members as the story progresses.

Exploration is real-time and is presented from a Zelda-like overhead viewpoint. Combat occurs when an enemy makes contact with you or one of your party members, and movement then becomes turn-based. The caveat here, though, is that you and your party must wait their turn to take action, while all on-screen enemies can take action during a single turn. And the combat will only stop when all on-screen enemies have been defeated. What that means is that it is easy to become overwhelmed by enemy numbers, if you initiate combat with lots of enemies on-screen at once. This is particularly the case at the start of the game, when your characters are more vulnerable.

The solution to this is to take care when presented many enemies on-screen, and to try to only initiate combat when there are only one or two enemies shown. Even if an enemy is just a single tile off-screen, it won’t attack you, so you have to use this gameplay quirk to your advantage.

Each character in your party can attack or defend during combat. Magic users can use spells to attack enemies, although they must have enough Magic Points (MP) to cast a particular spell, and cannot wear armour that prevents casting.

Sorcerer’s Kingdom does away with Experience Points (EXP), and levelling is based on what a character does in battle. Casting spells successfully will increase a character’s magical abilities, while using physical attacks will increase a character’s offensive abilities. You must also return to the King when a sword appears on your map, so that he can bestow a new title on you.

The story, graphics, music – and to some extent: the gameplay – in Sorcerer’s Kingdom are all derivative and simplistic, and at first glance the game does look a bit crappy. That said, there is something about Sorcerer’s Kingdom that is compelling. You have to make it past the initial areas of combat, which isn’t easy, and gain a foothold, before the game starts to become enjoyable. The key, as stated above, is to pick off those early monsters one at a time, and to return to home base to rest between battles. Which is a frustrating process, but once you’ve built up some levels – and gained another party member – then Sorcerer’s Kingdom begins to open up.

Sorcerer’s Kingdom is unlikely to appeal to anyone who dislikes turn-based RPGs, but it will have something to offer those who do like this kind of game. It won’t be the visuals, or the story, that draw you in – it’ll be the somewhat quirky and challenging combat.

More: Sorcerer’s Kingdom on Wikipedia