Action-RPGs and action-adventure titles are far too rare on Sega. Last year's Landstalker was an excellent start, but the all-new Beyond Oasis truly woke up our reviewers to the possibilities of Genesis adventuring. If knocking-off monsters, discovering distant lands, and solving puzzles is your thing, we may have just the game for you. Taking the role of Prince Ali, players will learn the story of a mysterious golden armband and an ancient war of wizards. This title features an enormous countryside to explore and tackle challenges within. Puzzle palaces aplenty will keep even the most experienced gamers on their toes. Check out that huge dragon!
Programmed by the skilled developers over at Ancient, the studio which brought you Streets of Rage 2, Beyond Oasis performs well in the action gameplay department, too. Well, mostly. Ali moves around the screen much like Link from Zelda or Will from Illusion of Gaia. He generally controls well with sword-swinging attacks, but our nitpick concerns the odd choice to have Ali duck and crawl when you hold the jump button. It is an oddity you will get used to it after some time, but it caused us a fair number of avoidable mistakes when playing. Elsewise, the sprite graphics are nicely detailed with lots of color and shading effects, and Yuzo Koshiro's soundtrack, while not at the same insane levels as Streets of Rage, is rather enjoyable.
Printed in Issue #24, April 1995
GAMEPLAY: Mostly Good
GRAPHICS: Very Good
SOUND: Mostly Good
PRESENTATION: Mostly Good
JET'S REMARK: Fighting the elemental spirit guardians is a let-down. These intimidating boss monsters may look fearsome with elaborate art, yet do not be deceived. Most are surprisingly easy to defeat.
Review Station Last Stop
The gameplay is snappy, and the world size is tremendous in Beyond Oasis. Much of the music is top-notch, the sprite art is impressive, but best of all we can finally quest on a Genesis cart.
