I've been playing a lot of Legacy of the Wizard lately, and this map comes in handy.
The scope of the game is pretty obvious from the map.
Showing posts with label legacy of the wizard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label legacy of the wizard. Show all posts
Monday, June 27, 2011
Legacy of the Wizard World Map
I've been playing a lot of Legacy of the Wizard lately, and this map comes in handy.
The scope of the game is pretty obvious from the map.
Monday, June 16, 2008
The Legacy of the Wizard
Legacy of the Wizard was released in 1987 for the MSX and Famicom in Japan. Two years later it was ported to the NES in America. Unknown to many American gamers, this game was actually the 4th in the Dragon Slayer series (most of which are Metroidvanias). Hence its Japanese name: Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family.
Who are the Drasle family? Well, let's meet them! Xemn is the head of the family, a brave woodcutter who lobs axes at his enemies. His wife, Mayna, is a wicked wizard and can fly (provided you have the right item). They have two children: a daughter, Lyll, and a son, Roas. Lyll looks like a Native American, and Roas is clearly an alien. Lyll is capable of incredible jumps, and Roas knows how to use a sword. Jiela and Douel are the children's grandparents, and can assist the player in saving at any time. Last but not least, Pochi, the family pet is actually a sentient monster (and as a result he is immune to monster attacks).
Legacy is a side-scrolling adventure action-rpg... in other words: a Metroidvania. The goal of the game is to guide the family deep into an underground maze, where you must recover 4 crowns. Each character (except Roas) has a crown to find, and Roas must find the legendary sword, DragonSlayer.
The key aspect to understanding Legacy of the Wizard is an appreciation for its massive scope. The maze is comprised of 16x16 screens... effectively doubling the overworld in Legend of Zelda. It sounds less impressive than it actually is, to get a good understand of the scale, just look at the full map. To continue the comparison: Zelda's map is very open, though there are some twisted passages and secrets, the player can move around the screens easily. In Legacy of the Wizard, however, the rooms are devilishly designed, and players will spend hours trying to navigate a single room (obviously, this only applies to the most difficult of the rooms). Puzzles are everywhere. Hidden blocks and blocks that disintegrate are plentiful, and monsters run loose and regenerate.
When you kill a monster it will drop either food (which increases your life), a potion (which refills your magic), a key, some gold, or poison. Every regular attack drains your magic, so you'll have to rely on more than brute strength to get you through the game.
I found the game at a Flea Market sometime around 2000, and had never heard of the game. It had a decent title, and cool cover, so I figured, "What the hell?" and bought it. Immediately I understood how incredible this game was. The graphics were simple, as all NES games are, but crisp and inspired. The monsters were block-sized, the characters where block-sized, and all the blocks were block-sized... it was such a unique little world begging to be explored. Exploring was definitely the only thing I could do with the game, because I couldn't figure out what the fuck I was supposed to do.
But it didn't matter. I could play as several characters, each with distinct powers, and explore underground castles, mazes, puzzles, huge expansive chambers, towers, ladders... and every area has a rich, bright, and wonderful color palate. The game has some pretty catchy tunes, which is always a plus. I hope the pure intensity of the game is apparent in the screenshots I've taken.
This went on for years, every now and again I'd pop the game in (with a little blowing and cart-wiggling) and see if I had magically gotten better at the game, or if I would solve its mysteries. No dice. A few months ago I decided to beat this game, once and for all, and, as of the writing of this article, about 80% finished with Legacy of the Wizard. Yes, I caved and started using a walkthrough, but it increased the fun ten-fold. In thirty minutes I was able to accomplish more than I had in 8 years of stumbling around the dungeon. Believe me when I say items are hidden... and that items are hidden very well.
Also of note is that Faxanadu, which has been previously covered, is something of a side story. Both games are excellent. Hopefully this game won't elude me for much longer, I've got nowhere to go and it's getting dark outside. Time to turn the music up, print out some maps, and finish off that motherfucking dragon, once and for all.
Who are the Drasle family? Well, let's meet them! Xemn is the head of the family, a brave woodcutter who lobs axes at his enemies. His wife, Mayna, is a wicked wizard and can fly (provided you have the right item). They have two children: a daughter, Lyll, and a son, Roas. Lyll looks like a Native American, and Roas is clearly an alien. Lyll is capable of incredible jumps, and Roas knows how to use a sword. Jiela and Douel are the children's grandparents, and can assist the player in saving at any time. Last but not least, Pochi, the family pet is actually a sentient monster (and as a result he is immune to monster attacks).
Legacy is a side-scrolling adventure action-rpg... in other words: a Metroidvania. The goal of the game is to guide the family deep into an underground maze, where you must recover 4 crowns. Each character (except Roas) has a crown to find, and Roas must find the legendary sword, DragonSlayer.
The key aspect to understanding Legacy of the Wizard is an appreciation for its massive scope. The maze is comprised of 16x16 screens... effectively doubling the overworld in Legend of Zelda. It sounds less impressive than it actually is, to get a good understand of the scale, just look at the full map. To continue the comparison: Zelda's map is very open, though there are some twisted passages and secrets, the player can move around the screens easily. In Legacy of the Wizard, however, the rooms are devilishly designed, and players will spend hours trying to navigate a single room (obviously, this only applies to the most difficult of the rooms). Puzzles are everywhere. Hidden blocks and blocks that disintegrate are plentiful, and monsters run loose and regenerate.
When you kill a monster it will drop either food (which increases your life), a potion (which refills your magic), a key, some gold, or poison. Every regular attack drains your magic, so you'll have to rely on more than brute strength to get you through the game.
I found the game at a Flea Market sometime around 2000, and had never heard of the game. It had a decent title, and cool cover, so I figured, "What the hell?" and bought it. Immediately I understood how incredible this game was. The graphics were simple, as all NES games are, but crisp and inspired. The monsters were block-sized, the characters where block-sized, and all the blocks were block-sized... it was such a unique little world begging to be explored. Exploring was definitely the only thing I could do with the game, because I couldn't figure out what the fuck I was supposed to do.
But it didn't matter. I could play as several characters, each with distinct powers, and explore underground castles, mazes, puzzles, huge expansive chambers, towers, ladders... and every area has a rich, bright, and wonderful color palate. The game has some pretty catchy tunes, which is always a plus. I hope the pure intensity of the game is apparent in the screenshots I've taken.
This went on for years, every now and again I'd pop the game in (with a little blowing and cart-wiggling) and see if I had magically gotten better at the game, or if I would solve its mysteries. No dice. A few months ago I decided to beat this game, once and for all, and, as of the writing of this article, about 80% finished with Legacy of the Wizard. Yes, I caved and started using a walkthrough, but it increased the fun ten-fold. In thirty minutes I was able to accomplish more than I had in 8 years of stumbling around the dungeon. Believe me when I say items are hidden... and that items are hidden very well.
Also of note is that Faxanadu, which has been previously covered, is something of a side story. Both games are excellent. Hopefully this game won't elude me for much longer, I've got nowhere to go and it's getting dark outside. Time to turn the music up, print out some maps, and finish off that motherfucking dragon, once and for all.
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