Quickie Translation.
Magician Lord : The Unseen Follow-up.
Report by Puyo - Vendredi 28/09/2012 à 10h 00
Maboroshi. In japanese, illusion, fantasy. Or perhaps even a mirage. When talking about games, Maboroshi no Game, is an expression for all of these phantom projects that have been mentionned/announced during launch line-ups, interviews and perhaps even had a couple of frames shown on screen.
From Strider on the SuperGrafx, to the Nintendo 64's Mother 3, and even Star Fox 2 on the SNES, the video game history is full of this kind of improbable projects that have been quietly abandoned, washed away without a trace. Now picture that Magician Lord, a key Neo-Geo title, had a follow-up game in development. A version that was actually playable. Impossible? Well, we have played it, and decided to share this well-guarded secret with you.
Magician Lord 2?
First a little history. In 1998, SNK believed that it was possible to carve a piece of the portable gaming market and brought us the Neo-Geo Pocket. However, it was monochrome, lacked games and was quickly trumped by the arrival of the Game Boy Colour. The Neo-Geo Pocket was quickly replaced 5 months after its release with a colour version, while not enjoying great success, it was released to the western markets. ADK, faithful partner, decided to work on a follow-up on a key title from the Neo-Geo. They started with Magician Lord (its famous launch title for the Rolls Royce of consoles and a demonstration of the era's show stopping graphics.) This Pocket version of this title apparently made the rounds at Famitsu. As customary for the time, game studios were not shy to consult with the japanese press, providing even sample ROMs, developer's cartridges to test their titles in advance and collect first impressions.
The cartridge we've managed to get our paws on will never make its way back home. It was not inadvertently misplaced, or even stolen, but the result of a frustrating incident: ADK's bankruptcy caused cascading lay-offs and office closures. Later will we see licenses for World Heroes and Twinkle Star Sprites revived thanks to SNKs' purchasing of these licenses. However, for Magician Lord, this is the end of the line, at least up until now. This authentic cartridge mentions the name of the game and is preceded by an "a". So far there is no way to deduce the significance of the inscription: "4, 8, 16". It could designate the cartridge's (ROM?) size or it might simply be a version number. One thing is certain, the game is actually playable.
Mega Shock
After the typical Neo-Geo Pocket boot sequence including its trademark jingle, we see an animated introduction sequence. Without a doubt: Magician Lord Neo-Geo Pocket was planned to be a real follow-up of the original. It returns to the same universe, myths and, of course, the same main character: Elta. The japanese text is enough to immerse back into the world. Sealed in the 8 magic tomes by the Magician Lords bloodline, the demonic sorcerer Gul-Agieze is on the brink of waking. After three years of peace, the nationalistic pride of humans were channelled to the point of tipping the balance of the world and causing a breach in the seal's energy. Gul-Agieze managed to find an opening to the Chaos Road, a road to hell. Time has stopped, plunging the castle of Cadassis, home of the ancient grimoires, at the bottom of the Earth. With a bit of luck, the Queen managed to gather her strength to send the last tome to Elta. "The Magician Lord's fight continues."
The title screen displays the logos of "Magician Lord" and "ADK" and gives three options: Start (starts the game), Time Attack and Item Get. These last two options are disabled in this alpha version. We can logically guess that "Time Attack" is a beat-the-clock romp in the castle. The "Item Get" option, is open to interpretation. It may have been a Neo-Geo Pocket to Dreamcast link option?
The only thing we can tell you for sure is that the game is anything but complete. It lacks music, bosses and save game capabilities. It is simply a draft/proof of concept geared to convince the project's viability to the company brass while also something to demonstrate to the press. It's definitely not a pre-production preview copy. It only takes about ten minutes to see the dozen or so screens/levels contained within, even if the map shown at the start of the game suggests that are at least six other zones planned for this project.
Anyway, the game does feature Elta, in his signature blue garb, on the screen. Leaning like Alucard, as if to show his determination, he is deep within the bowels of the castle. If the first Magician Lord was a quarter munching arcade game, the kind that had you sneaking change out of your mother's coin purse late at night, this follow-up appears to be closer to a Metroidvania. The different paths, linked by various corridors, doors, ladders and isolated rooms that appear to be designed to hold a (absent) save-crystal. There isn't a lack of hints that this was the direction for this title.
Transmutation
Another difference is the multiple forms that Elta can take on, almost the double of the original. Again, we'll never the exact game rules/mechanics used to control the transformation during gameplay. There are, however, two crystals at the top of the screen seem to determine if you can change into the werewolf or the ninja. Elta, in his original blue magician's tunic form, can still send energy blasts in all four directions. The "Option" button allows the player to change into the other 10 forms. The names used are our own.
Horned demon: Similar to the original game's red dragon. It can send and hold a jet of flames in all eight directions..
Samurai: A face-to-face brawler type character that hits enemies with rapid hits with his sword. However, there are a lot of quick enemies (like bees) in this version that makes him all but useless.
Ninja: Similar to the ninja of the first game. He is able to jump higher and throw shurikens. His abilities would have probably been required to reach many hidden rooms or alternative paths.
Axe Warrior: He throws his twirling axe which boomerangs back. It's a short-range attack. We don't know if the collision detection, damage handling would have worked out for this character.
Aquaman: His projectiles follow the ground. We guess this is probably a character used for underwater levels, but there are none in this alpha version.
Mummy: Similar to the demon, this form can hold a paralyzing energy ball in all eight directions.
Troll: This Blanka look-a-like can quickly shoot out little projectiles... and that's it.
Angel: This form shoots out little tornadoes and can jump longer due to its wings.
Werewolf: Very agile, able to jump high and far. He throws uppercuts that causes a green wereworlf-head-shaped projectiles that fly straight up.
Golem: The last form is slow, lumbering and a heavy-hitter. He can't jump.
Still born.
These few moments should be enough to convince anyone of the high potential for Magician Lord 2 at the time. It was great to see this in a playable form. This title could have added to the action-adventure genre with its more numerous and various transformations then those of SOTN. To give you a better idea of this title, and since we are still under the shock of discovering this item, here are some videos we captured. Happy viewing.