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Hail fellow, well met! Our Guild seeks
to catalog genres Fantasy, Strategy,
& Role-Playing. From swordplay to
tactics, the Guild shall be your
mighty castlegrounds. Stay awhile.


Final Fantasy II
Square * SNES * 16 MB * Now Available

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With the next entry in this series imminent and reportedly set to arrive on North American shores very soon, let's take a glance back at the incredible sequel available now on Super NES. Let Final Fantasy II serve as an example for what gamers have come to expect out of 16-Bit role-plating games nowadays. Gone are the boring, one-dimensional stories of yore. We want epic action in a faraway land chock with evil kings, fleets of airships, dragons aplenty, mysticism and magic, love and betrayal, indecent proposals (Are we still talking about Final Fantasy? -Jet). Square undoubtedly redefined the meaning of "RPG" with FF II, so it's no wonder players are eagerly awaiting some more! We've been patient, Mr. Sakaguchi!

Since 1991, the SNES has become a home for role-players with various entries from thinkers like 7th Saga to dungeon crawlers a la Obitus. But, Final Fantasy II, with the arguable exception of Secret of Mana, remains untouched as the best RPG for the super systems. Its use of an active-time battle system livened up the stale turn-based affairs of standard role-players and a plethora of spells and equipment makes for a high chance of replayability. That's not even to mention the spectacular Mode 7 effects, animations, and orchestrated score. Our team rates it highly overall and anticipates the sequel. Honestly, if any game deserves a Hollywood adaptation, it's FF II and not a snoozer like Super Mario.


Printed in Issue #9, January 1994
Ys IV: Mask of the Sun
Tonkin House * SNES * 12 MB * Import Available

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Released in Japan for Super Famicom systems, Ys IV: Mask of the Sun is the newest entry in the Ys saga brought to you by Tonkin. This series may be known well among veteran Turbo owners, but most gamers likely haven't experienced this Japanese favorite. Ys IV represents a newfound move to expand its audience by bringing the title over to Super NES. Though it serves as a direct sequel in both story and presentation to the classic Ys I and II on Turbo, we may be dealing with a paltry stepbrother. This cart is a top-down, action-RPG containing stylistic elements now considered standard of the genre: An infallible hero cleansing the land of all evil through meticulous puzzle solving, cutscene-watching, and combat.

Ys IV's sprite work and speech boxes are pleasing to the eye, but our reviewers found much of the setting forgettable and lacking notable landmarks. That means it's very easy to get yourself lost. Combat is certainly not this game's strong suit. There are loads and loads of baddies, but our hero character cannot bash them with a sword or use magic to clear his path. You can only damage enemies by physically colliding into them. This makes for some awkward interactions as you're forced to bump close to your foes to get anywhere - draining your HP in the process. Tonkin gets credit for writing an intriguing and original story for Ys IV, but overall delivered a far lesser product to the four-year-old Ys I and II discs on the Turbo-CD system.

Printed in Issue #9, January 1994