Released in Japan only, by Sega, in 1992, Tōgi Ō: King Colossus is an obscure JRPG with real-time combat that has been fan-translated into English (and Spanish) and is therefore playable to gamers outside of Japan.
Tag Archives: quests
Bomberman Quest, Game Boy Color
Bomberman Quest is an action Role-Playing Game based on the Bomberman series that was released exclusively for the Game Boy Color in 1998. It was developed by a company called “Eleven” and published by Hudson Soft in Japan; Electro Brain in North America, and Virgin Interactive in Europe.
Diablo, PC
Developed by Blizzard North and first published by Blizzard Entertainment in 1997, Diablo is a classic point-and-click action/RPG that features quests, monsters, real-time combat, magic, and dungeon-delving, in a way that is meant to appeal to those who prefer a more immediate style of gameplay, than the more ‘hardcore’, turn-based style of many RPGs. And – as a result – Diablo was a smash hit, and spawned a series that still (infamously) persists to this day.
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, PC
Developed by Troika Games and published by Sierra On-Line in 2001, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is a rich and complex RPG with isometric 2D graphics, set in a fantasy world undergoing an industrial revolution. The game mixes magic and technology in a Victorian-styled “Steampunk” setting; is completely open-ended, and features lots of different races (humans, orcs, gnomes, elves, dwarves), with complicated – even racist – societal themes developing as you discover the world and interact with its many characters.
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Sorcerian: Dragon Slayer V, MSX
The fifth episode in the Dragon Slayer series – Sorcerian – was originally released in 1987 for the PC-88. The MSX2 version was ported by Tierheit and published – in Japan only – by Brother Industries (on their Takeru label) in 1991. A fan translation into English is available, but I did notice that there are still a few untranslated passages in the game.
Sorcerian: Dragon Slayer V, PC
Sorcerian is the fifth instalment in the Dragon Slayer series. It was originally released in 1987 – in Japan – for the PC-88, and the MS-DOS version was converted, localised into English and published by Sierra On-Line in 1990.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Nintendo DS
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin was the second Castlevania game released for the Nintendo DS and was released by Konami in 2006. Portrait of Ruin is set in 1944, before the end of the Second World War, and Dracula‘s castle has appeared in man’s darkest hour, to push humanity over the brink into ruin.
Another Bible, Super Game Boy
Another Bible is the fourth game in the Megami Tensei ‘Last Bible‘ spin-off series and was originally released for the original Game Boy, in Japan only, in 1995. An English fan translation, by Aeon Genesis, was released in 2002 and the game is also Super Game Boy compatible, so that’s the version I’m showing here.
Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible III, Super Nintendo
The third game in the Last Bible series (a subseries of the Megami Tensei games), was developed by Multimedia Intelligence Transfer and published by Atlus – in Japan only – for the Super Famicom in 1995. It is a Role-Playing Game with random encounters and turn-based combat, and features the unique Megami Tensei trait of talking to monsters to try to recruit them, calling them into your party, and fusing them together to make more powerful monsters who will fight with you. This is a Japanese-only release that currently benefits from fan translations into both English and Spanish, which makes this excellent game playable to a good proportion of the Western world.
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Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible II, Game Boy Color
Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible II is the second game in the Last Bible series, which is a spin-off from the Megami Tensei RPG series. Last Bible II was originally released in Japan in 1993 for the original B&W Game Boy, with the Game Boy Color version coming out in 1999, some six years later. Neither version was ever officially released in the West, but there is an English fan translation for the Game Boy Color version, which is what I’m showing here.
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The King of Grabs 