!!!WARNING SPOILER IMAGES THROUGHOUT!!!
This is an arcade game, and to my knowledge no console release was ever made for this particular iteration of the game. Its a little confusing to me even search the history or future of this game and the series as a whole. I see that the predecessor Rastan Saga II (forgetting the whole “warrior blade”) is widely released on several different consoles, and prior to this Rastan Saga it shared some of the same treatment. Whether or not any of the other games are any good is anyone’s guess. I would like to try them, but from what I can see from some images of the Turbographix-16 version, it really doesn’t show anything of interest to me.
I played this game itself not in the arcade but on the PS2 via Taito Memories II: Gekan (Japan). This is a compilation game and has several other classic titles to choose from. For me, Warrior Blade was the one game that held my interest the most.
It’s really nothing special in terms of mechanics and playing. Its your standard side scroller beat em’ up. While I do hear a lot of comparisons to Golden Axe, I see only similarities in terms of style and presentation. The three characters you pick from, do have a power gauge so you can see for yourself who is more fitted to you. I couldn’t help myself and had to play the babe, and she does have the greatest distance of weapons, a whip! each stage does offer variety, some times you will be riding horseback, riding a dragon etc. climb up and down through floors, dodge traps and things.
Throughout the game you will acquire various treasures and even some times will find power ups to add extra damage to your weapon. Additionally you can find health and even a npc that you can use to help you fight. Mind you, he doesn’t do much, and its up to you actually get him to attack, otherwise he just stands like a stooge. And no, you cannot use him for bosses.
Speaking of bosses, they are all varied in difficulty, but for the most part while some strategy is necessary, with enough health, most of the time you can just face tank and dish out a flurry of attacks. None of them are very hard to beat, and are actually underwhelming in some cases. This is native arcade game, so instead of a set amount of lives and continues its continuous use via coins.
I do like the effect and presentation of the art sequences that accompany each level, and while in Japanese it does actually include English in some places.
What I like best about this game is definitely the sprites, characters and enemies, even the bosses are very well done and cool looking. It does have great sound effects and some blood effects. Nothing too great about the music, that I can remember anyway. Usually if a song grabs my attention, I remember and it sticks with me. Not the case with this game.
All in all, a fun title to play yourself or with some friends. I had it beat in maybe an hour or less. I don’t know maybe I will take another crack at it just to test the other characters and see if maybe anything new or different is added.
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