Sega was working hard during the 16-Bit era.  For the first time they were either on top, or near the top, of the video game market.  Nintendo was no longer the juggernaut they once were. While they still held a lot of power with gamers and retailers, their hold was loosening.  Sega was able to put many chinks in the armor of the gaming giant.  One area that Sega took on Nintendo, nearly unhindered with competition, was the turn based strategy world.  Shining Force was a fantasy turn based strategy game that had great, unique, graphics and that Sega flair.

Beating Nintendo

While Nintendo themselves had nothing released in the United States to compete (no, Fire Emblem debuted MUCH later on newer hardware) there were more than a few turn based strategy games on the Super Nintendo.  Nothing like Shining Force though.

Shining Force with no spoilers

I won’t ruin the story for you. Suffice it is slightly different than the usual role playing game trope you are used to.  Sega did not put their full faith into Shining Force upon release. That did not stop gamers from clamoring to eat it up.  Still, not a commercial success there were enough copies sold to see further releases in the Shining Force series.  For the most part, English speaking gamers got all of the games in the Shining Force series across many platforms.  This is kind of unique considering the times and how it was not often that publishers would do this.

Sega took on Fire Emblem nearly a decade before North American gamers knew of it.

That trademark Sega feel

The Shining Force series carried that classic control scheme that Climax was known for.  It is an ingenious control method that makes very effective use of the D-pad controller.  With a couple of presses you can attack, run, use items, converse with people in the game and more. The beauty of this system depends on the context of the situation. Different icons are used for battles, inventory, or shopping. The input method is the same though.

Grab a copy of Sega’s turn based strategy role-playing game off of Ebay or Amazon and support RGM and our bringing you original articles in the future.

Carl Williams

It is time gaming journalism takes its rightful place as proper sources and not fanboys giving free advertising. If you wish to support writers like Carl please use the links below. https://www.paypal.me/WCW https://www.patreon.com/CarlWilliams