Light Crusader

Light Crusader[lower-alpha 1] is an action-adventure game developed by Treasure and published by Sega for their Sega Genesis console in 1995.[1] The game was included in the Sega Genesis Classics collections on Steam and other platforms in 2010. It was also included on the Sega Genesis Mini in North America and Sega Mega Drive Mini in PAL regions.

Light Crusader
North American cover art
Developer(s)Treasure
Publisher(s)
Programmer(s)Kazuhiko Ishida
Masato Maegawa
Artist(s)Hiroshi Iuchi
Composer(s)Aki Hata
Platform(s)Sega Genesis
Release
  • NA: 25 May 1995
  • JP: 26 May 1995
  • KOR: 22 July 1995
  • EU: August 1995
  • AU: 1995
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

It is similar in gameplay to Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole, blending role-playing video game, action-adventure and platform video game elements in much the same way.

Gameplay
Gameplay screenshot.

The game is played from an isometric viewpoint. Players can move freely, jump, and push objects. They can execute simple sword slashes, use four magic elements in different combinations, and use items for various effects. Gameplay is a mix of action, puzzle solving, and platforming for the most part, with the usual role-playing staples like towns, shops, equipment, and spellcasting. The player controls Sir David as he travels through an assortment of dungeons, battling creatures such as "slime", solving puzzles to advance and saving those who were kidnapped. An auto-map feature keeps the focus on action and single-room puzzles, rather than mazes or labyrinths.

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 revive Ramiah and sacrifices himself, bringing Ramiah to life for a final battle with David. After a victory, David leaves on horseback.

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(Genesis) 67.50%[2]
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame(Genesis) [3]
CVG(Genesis) 85 / 100[4]
EGM(Genesis) 25 / 40[5]
Eurogamer(Wii) 7 / 10[6]
Famitsu(Genesis) 68 / 100[7]
GamePro(Genesis) 13.5 / 20[8]
GamesMaster(Genesis) 77%[9]
IGN(Wii) 6.5 / 10[10]
Jeuxvideo.com(Genesis) 15 / 20[11]
Next Generation(Genesis) [12]
Nintendo Life(Wii) 7 / 10[13]
Consoles +(Genesis) 92%[14]
Game Players(Genesis) 76%[15]
Games World(Genesis) 85 / 100[16]
Hobby Consolas(Genesis) 91 / 100[17]
Joypad(Genesis) 88%[18]
Legendra(Genesis) 8 / 10[19]
MAN!AC(Genesis) 85%[20]
Mean Machines Sega(Genesis) 80 / 100[21]
(Genesis) 89 / 100[22]
Mega Fun(Genesis) 83%[23]
Player One(Genesis) 93%[24]
PlayStation Magazine (JP)(Genesis) 21.7 / 30[25]
Sega Power(Genesis) 85%[26]
Sega Pro(Genesis) 90 / 100[27]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)(Genesis) 6.5 / 10[28]
Superjuegos(Genesis) 93 / 100[29]
Top Consoles(Genesis) 16 / 20[30]
Video Games(Genesis) 81%[31]
VideoGames(Genesis) 8 / 10[32]

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 Beyond Oasis (referred to by its European title, The Story of Thor) for longevity, but nonetheless gave it a very positive assessment, calling it "A superlative arcade adventure with great playability."[21]

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.[5]

A reviewer for 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. He 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."[12]

GamePro's The Unknown Gamer 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, he concluded, "In the end, Light Crusader gets a passing grade because of some cool bosses and interesting puzzle challenges."[8]

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."[17]

Notes
  1. Japanese: ライトクルセイダー Hepburn: Raito Kuruseidā
gollark: ¿?
gollark: It actually says that.
gollark: ```Like some species of flamingos, Penk eats a large amount of shrimp and algae high in carotenoids, giving rise to her rosy hue. Penk would, under other circumstances, be a regular, silver-colored member of her breed.```
gollark: That's not messy, that's a spiral.
gollark: Bad Idea #1269078189260: give everyone a prize only visible on February 29.

References
  1. "Light Crusader". SEGA. Archived from the original on 19 June 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  2. "Light Crusader for Genesis". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. 2019. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  3. Alan Weiss, Brett (1998). "Light Crusader (Sega Genesis) - Overview". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  4. Automatic, Rad (August 1995). "CVG Review: Mega drive whizz-kids Treasure are back — can they continue their uninterruptred run of success? - Light Crusader". Computer and Video Games. No. 165. Future Publishing. pp. 62–63.
  5. Baran, Andrew; LeFebvre, Mark; Desmond, Mike; Parus, Scott (November 1995). "Review Crew - Genesis - Light Crusader". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 76. Sendai Publishing. p. 42.
  6. Whitehead, Dan (December 8, 2007). "Virtual Console Roundup - Light Crusader, Rolling Thunder 2 and Cybernator". Eurogamer. Gamer Network Ltd. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  7. "Raitokuruseidā (mega doraibu) - famiutsu. Komu" ライトクルセイダー (メガドライブ) - ファミ通.com [Light Crusader (Mega Drive) - Famitsu.com]. Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 337. ASCII. April 28, 1995. p. 32. Archived from the original on 8 July 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  8. The Unknown Gamer (January 1996). "Role Player's Realm: Light Crusader (Genesis)". GamePro. No. 78. IDG. p. 138. Archived from the original on 11 August 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  9. Wilton, Pete (September 1995). "Reviews - Mega Drive - Light Crusader". GamesMaster. No. 33. Future Publishing. pp. 56–57.
  10. Thomas, Lucas M. (January 28, 2008). "Light Crusader Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  11. Grosnounours88 (June 29, 2013). "Test de Light Crusader sur MD par jeuxvideo.com". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  12. "Finals - Genesis - Light Crusader". Next Generation. No. 12. Imagine Media. December 1995. p. 195. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  13. McFerran, Damien (December 8, 2007). "Light Crusader Review (MD)". Nintendo Life. Nlife Media. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  14. Menier, Marc; Homsy, Richard (September 1995). "Megadrive Review - Light Crusader". Consoles + (in French). No. 46. M.E.R.7. pp. 98–100. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  15. Salmon, Mike (November 1995). "Genesis - Review - Light Crusader". Game Players. No. 77. Signal Research. p. 90.
  16. "Light Crusader". Games World. No. 15. Paragon Publishing. September 1995. pp. 60–61.
  17. Herránz, Sonia (September 1995). "Lo Más Nuevo - Sega Mega Drive: Light Crusader - La Última Gran Aventura De Sega". Hobby Consolas (in Spanish). No. 48. Axel Springer SE. pp. 88–90.
  18. Kagotani, Yuriko (September 1995). "Test - Mega Drive - Light Crusader". Joypad (in French). No. 45. Yellow Media. pp. 78–80. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  19. Hayward (December 12, 2001). "Light Crusader: Le Mystère de Green Rod". Legendra (in French). Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  20. Bannert, Robert (October 1995). "Spiele-Tests - MD - Light Crusader". MAN!AC (in German). No. 24. Cybermedia. p. 68. Archived from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  21. Gus; Steve (August 1995). "Megadrive Review - Light Crusader". Mean Machines Sega. No. 34. EMAP. pp. 62–66.
  22. "News - Light Fantastic". Mean Machines Sega. No. 35. EMAP. September 1995. p. 13. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2015. We goofed with our Light Crusader review last ish. Instead of the paltry 80% we scored it, it should have read 89%. That was down to a production error.
  23. Schneider, Ulf (November 1995). "Test Mega Drive - Light Crusader". Mega Fun (in German). No. 38. CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. p. 73.
  24. Pottier, Christophe (September 1995). "Tests – Megadrive – Light Crusader". Player One (in French). No. 56. Média Système Édition. pp. 88–91. Archived from the original on 20 September 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  25. 超絶 大技林 '98年春版: メガドライブ - ライトクルセイダー. PlayStation Magazine (Special) (in Japanese). 42. Tokuma Shoten Intermedia. 15 April 1998. p. 886. ASIN B00J16900U.
  26. "Reviews - Mega Drive - Light Crusader". Sega Power. No. 71. Future plc. October 1995. p. 57.
  27. "Mega Drive – ProReview: Light Crusader". Sega Pro. No. 49. Paragon Publishing. September 1995. pp. 60–61.
  28. "Hyper Mega Express for 16bit User - ライトクルセイダー". Sega Saturn Magazine (in Japanese). No. 6. SoftBank Creative. 1 June 1995. p. 131.
  29. Montón, Raúl (September 1995). "Mega Drive - Review: Light Crusader - La Vida Es Un Acertijo". Superjuegos (in Spanish). No. 41. Grupo Zeta. pp. 98–101.
  30. The Light Lion (September 1995). "Le Labo: Mega Drive - Une Croisade En Son Et Lumière -- Light Crusader". Top Consoles (in French). No. 5. Pressimage. pp. 74–77. Archived from the original on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  31. Hara, Tetsuhiko (October 1995). "Mega Drive - Reviews – Light Crusader". Video Games (in German). No. 47. Future-Verlag. p. 104.
  32. "Reviews - Genesis - Light Crusader". VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine. No. 82. L.F.P., Inc. November 1995. p. 92.
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