Landstalker is an action RPG released in 1993. It's got an isometric view, something which is quite rare in games, and sounds a bit dated. So does it still hold up?
In the game you are Nigel, a treasure hunter who rescues a fairy called Friday from a band of thugs trying to catch her. She tells Nigel of the legendary treasure of King Nole, so obviously he follows Friday’s directions to the treasure. He instantly arrives at the location (as Friday knows it), but after activating a boulder trap, Nigel falls into a river and ends up in the lands outside the cave. In a nearby village, he finds out that to reach King Nole's treasure, he must find various items held by people across the continent, which is where the game really begins.
The gameplay is your standard RPG fare: run around, kill enemies, find upgrades, beat bosses and just make your way to the end of the game. Nothing special, really.
The dungeons are well designed and have some smart puzzles, including some that make clever use of the isometric view. The final dungeon is a true masterpiece - The first time you go through it I guarantee you'll be stumped numerous times, and it will take you multiple hours. Battles are rather hard sometimes - Landstalker wastes no time throwing the tough monsters at you, as you encounter them almost right away (You will be surrounded in the first dungeon by three tough Orcs in a very small space), so save frequently and stock up on items! It is also suggested that you search the land thoroughly for Life Stocks, which increase your maximum life. There are about 75 total hidden in the game, and near the very end, you'll also find a shop that sells an unlimited supply of them.
There's a variety of equipment in the game: the various swords have elemental powers which inflict extra damage upon certain monsters, and can be charged (By not swinging them for a bit) to unleash devastating attacks. New armour does nothing special besides, of course, protecting you more than armour previously found. You can also find a variety of boots, including ones that heal you when you walk or allow you to walk on fire. There are also rings that give Nigel some special abilities, such as immunity to poison.
There are a small number of other, special items which will help ensure you find 100% of the locations and items, such as a bell that rings when Life Stocks are near, or a special stone that tells you how much of the game you've beaten. There's also non-mandatory special equipment which does stuff like increase your sword's charge rate. There are many secrets, so you'll have to look very hard to find everything!
There's a nice variety of enemies, which each attack in their own unique way. Generic slimes just move around (though later ones are more erratic), mages teleport and shoot fireballs, and your standard ogres just run up and clobber you. Unfortunately, later on, you will see some palette swaps of older enemies, but this seems to be in every RPG game ever, so it's not much to worry about.
The graphics are extremely nice - they are a bit weird and grainy, but everything is very nicely detailed and looks great once you get used to the unusual style. The isometric view can get a bit annoying at times though: nothing casts shadows, so it can be hard to tell where to jump! Thankfully, it won’t cost you your life (that is, if you don't keep your life low) if you do miss a jump, and you can usually get back up and try again quite easily. Most of the trickier jumps don't appear until later in the game, so you can practice up a bit earlier on and get an eye for how the developers generally positioned the platforms. It's also worth nothing that about 70% of the time, the platforms are on the same height (In dungeons anyway, outside they're usually on differing heights).
The music's the only thing that's not much to write home about. There are some good tunes here and there, and for the most part, everything fits the area it plays in, but there's nothing really stand-out except for the game's overworld themes (of which the second one, which you hear later in the game, is absolutely fantastic). It's pretty much standard RPG stuff.
Landstalker's a great, big game, and you'll certainly get your money's worth if you choose to buy it. A first-timer usually won't beat the game before 15, maybe 20 hours or so have passed, especially not if they're collecting stuff. This is one of the finest games in its genre (perhaps the best) and not one to be missed. Check it out: you will definitely not be disappointed.
If you happened to own a PlayStation and the game Alundra, and you're thinking "Hey, this game looks similar", you don't know how right you are - Some of the people who worked on this game worked on Alundra. Landstalker was followed by a proper "sequel" for the SNES, called Ladystalker (Gotta love that title!) and instead having a female lead, although it was only released in Japan and wasn't quite as good. Nigel from Landstalker also made a few cameo appearances in some other games.
NOTE: Our video of the game looks a bit bad in some parts (Mostly the text) - The text in the game is rather thin, so compressing the video onto YouTube wasn't very kind to it.
1. Nicolasd
16 Jul 2007, 14:04 GMT
That was an awesome game... Can't wait to get it !
2. Mark Potter
16 Jul 2007, 14:25 GMT
Excellent news! One of the best RPG's released on the MD.
The only annoying thing about this game, is the constant jump sound effect! After hearing it 200,000 times, it gets quite annoying.
3. deggs
16 Jul 2007, 18:00 GMT
a classic game that i never got to play because i had sold my genesis by the time copies had started making their way over here in canada at flea markets...
still, i know people who owned it. i'd always ask about it because it looked so cool at the time. the response was always "yeah it's fun but also frustrating"...
towards the end, the jumps supposedly get on your nerves but i still want to get it and give it a chance.
also, i'm still waiting for Crusader of Centy... we have this, we have beyond oasis... where's centy at?
4. Ryu-mithril
16 Jul 2007, 18:04 GMT
Never played this one unfortunately....did the same creators of Alundra make it?
5. INpixl
16 Jul 2007, 19:00 GMT
This game is the best. One of my favorite games, ever!
6. Drake
16 Jul 2007, 19:33 GMT
It is very similar to Alundra, ryu. Pretty much the only difference is that this has an isometric view rather than a normal one.
This is one of the best games on the MD, and should be experienced by everyone.
7. VCnovice
16 Jul 2007, 23:38 GMT
If we could update it to streamline the controls, I would be happy.
8. TBoneTony
19 Jul 2007, 13:17 GMT
Cool, I am starting to get interested in this one.
As long as when I die, I don't have to go back to the start,
Hopefully SEGA had a battery save system.
9. Zak
20 Jul 2007, 20:45 GMT
At -1:30... one of the few superb themes from the game.
Instant win. Unlied.
10. michinmuri
26 Jul 2007, 21:51 GMT
Looks alot like Breath of Fire 3. Is it anything like that, RPG, or more of the isometric hack 'n' slash?
11. Wolf
30 Jul 2007, 07:11 GMT
I have to say I just got the actual cart on ebay because it got such good scores and the control scheme is attrocious. I don't know how anyone can even play it! When you hold a diagonal button it goes up but when you try to switch from going up to left you have to move it in a really awkward way.
Does anyone else know what I'm talkin about? I couldn't get over how bad the controls are... and the fact that you have no shadow is embarassing. How do u do the complex jumps? Guess? It's like successfully navigating an MC Escher painting lol... The scope of the game and the story makes it almot worth it but playing a fun game with no story is prefered...
12. Drake
16 Aug 2007, 22:15 GMT
The controls do indeed take some getting used to (You basically only walk on one axis until you press a certain button) but once you master them it controls like a charm. Jumping bits thankfully don't get too hard until much later in the game, but it's never possible to die because you missed one, you can always go back up and retry.
13. Guilherme
31 Aug 2007, 18:51 GMT
This is #1 on my list of Mega Drive games I want to see on the VC.
14. Darkness Deku
04 Sep 2007, 03:32 GMT
How do the battles play out?
15. Matt Chewiwie
04 Sep 2007, 21:23 GMT
Wonderful game. It feels like it's trying to compete with Zelda: Link to the Past, but I think this game far surpasses it.
16. superBBQ
09 Sep 2007, 21:42 GMT
I keep forgetting about the controls so it's tough to handle, but otherwise it's okay. Pretty average in my opinion.
17. Pegasus
13 Sep 2007, 01:07 GMT
Now that I've completed it, I can say that it is indeed a fun game with some slight flaws. It's mainly the controls I had a quibble with. I don't recommend anyone to play Landstalker with the d-pad. It is way too awkward. Using the classic controller's analog stick instead works wonders on the playability. Still, some of the platforming can take a bit of trial and error, since it is difficult to judge depth of field sometimes. Also, some of the puzzles require a bit too much precise timing; I'm talking milli-seconds here.
That aside, overall the game makes for a fun, albeit a rather linear, adventure. Yes, one can explore a bit, but, most of time, the game pretty much tells you what needs to be done. It can be quite challenging towards the middle of the game, but towards the end it becomes almost a bit too easy.
I'm a bit curious why there's only one set of two sounds for every type of monster, including bosses. One for getting hurt and one for dying. You'd think they could have made at least a few more.
While some may want to compare it to Zelda, I find that hard to do. The game is a lot more involved in platforming, action and some rather creative puzzles than the older Zeldas. Also, your character doesn't care about saving the world. No, it's all about big piles of gold!
Recommendable to anyone who wants to experience something a bit different from the (sometimes overused) Zelda formula.
18. baz_low
07 Oct 2007, 00:46 GMT
My favourite game on the MD and one of my favourite games of all time - the only game i have played more is FF7, I rate it that highly! Maybe not for everyone, but definately one for anyone who likes RPGs and the like!
19. Shan
09 Oct 2007, 06:38 GMT
This game is great! I remember playing it on Sega Channel many years ago. By the time I found the game, it was almost the next month and it was taken off (I could have killed whoever was working for sega channel!) before I could finish it. I played it again years later and after buying the cart for 50 bucks, finally finished it. Now I have it on the virtual console!! The follow-up of this game for the ps, Alundra, wasn't that great of a game though, very difficult puzzles that required exact timing, needless to say I never finished that game.
20. Denivire
12 Nov 2007, 06:37 GMT
I only rented it about once or twice when I was little, and loved it, regardless of the fact I couldn`t do crap all due to how unmotivated I was as a kid. Yes, we all know the moving is , more or less, disastrous, but that makes for the challenge! Anyone who can get over such a stupid little thing will love this game.
21. chris
13 Dec 2007, 09:40 GMT
I decided to download this game because Mario Galaxy wasn't out yet... and the result was that i couldn't stop to play this game and Mario didn't even make his way into the Console until today
This game is freakin awesome. It has great sense of humour (i even prefer it over Paper Mario, which i thought was kinda too "kiddy" for me), the music overall ids very nice, just one tune sticks out like a sore thumb: the dungeon theme. I have to turn the speakers off everytime because i can't take it ^^
And about the isometric view: I thought of it more like a challenge than a problem, you had to figure out first where to jump when , and suddenly the whole room made sense.
Well, a perfect game for me, minus the dungeon theme and the 1 or 2 annoying dungeons.
22. Anthony
29 Dec 2007, 22:52 GMT
This is a really cool game so far, is there a way to save, or do I just have to suspend play?
23. Paperfox
18 Jan 2008, 02:43 GMT
Is it just me, or does he look kinda like a lego-man Link?
24. President_Leever
30 Jan 2008, 15:24 GMT
Now that I've beaten it, I can safely say that this is one of the top choices for spending your Wii points on. Excellent treasure seeking adventure game with a great sense of humour, challenging puzzles and a nice amount of sidequests. My only nitpick is the somewhat shoddy control. The lack of shadows is unforgivable, and the hit detection can be super annoying (youll hit the terrain intead of the enemy with your sword more than a few times trying to fight in narrow areas). Highly recommended, one of the MDs best.
@Anthony, you can save in the churches.
25. Pavetheway
02 Mar 2008, 22:08 GMT
umm... I didn't really like it.
26. stinssd
17 Mar 2008, 17:51 GMT
Some of the dungeons were just annoying, but this game will always be close to my heart for its good story, fun action, and annoying bosses.
27. 2hip2beskware
01 Apr 2008, 00:51 GMT
How does the battle system work? Is it like Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, or Final Fantasy?
28. GEOFF
22 May 2008, 11:45 GMT
This is one of the most over rated games on the site .It's poo.
29. samman
22 May 2008, 14:13 GMT
your wrong.
30. Tannman42
02 Jun 2008, 14:27 GMT
Awesome RPG but the camera angle can get a bit annoying when jumping.Still it's fun to play now as it was years ago.
31. stinssd
28 Jun 2008, 15:47 GMT
2hip2beskware, the battle system is similar to Zelda 1, but from a 3/4 view.
32. couthedman92
30 Jun 2008, 04:51 GMT
I'm in the first dungeon and I'm already lost. Ugh
33. Mr. Cheez
01 Aug 2008, 17:41 GMT
Which one's better: this or Beyond Oasis?
34. AlphaNerd01
14 Aug 2008, 20:46 GMT
Mr. Cheez - It depends what camera angel you prefer I guess. They're both excellent games. I just picked this game back up today, and I'm really enjoying it. Personally I prefer Landstalker over Beyond Oasis, but they're both worth playing at one point or another.
35. swordplay
31 Aug 2008, 17:21 GMT
Is this game really hard? I never played it and I'm scared of the controls.
36. Adroitone
31 Aug 2008, 19:13 GMT
The game is moderately hard. It'll just take a little getting use to control wise. Super Mario RPG is played from the same isometric view.
37. Junnkie
25 Sep 2008, 14:42 GMT
This is my first post here, just wanted to say that this game is a super achievement, a must have for everyone. I own the original game for the megadrive, it was my first RPG and one of the best games I've ever played!
A MUST HAVE for everyone. I'm into downloading it right now for the Wii, can't wait to play it again. Play on, cheers!
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