Saint Sword 'round my neck

 

The funny thing about old video games is that there's a ton of them that you've never played. Saint Sword is a recent discovery of mine that I really regret missing out on back in the Genesis's glory days. The game takes place in ancient Greece mythology with you playing as the Titan Macress. The demoness Gorgon is trying to take over the world and you must stop her. She's either a demon named Gorgon or a Gorgon being described as a demon. That parts never really clear, but part of the charm of these older fictional settings. It's a hack n' slash action platformer with simple controls. Action platform games somehow always play good on the Genesis/Mega Drive and Saint Sword is no exception. While Macress feels a little slow, it's fun guiding him through his adventure.

As you could expect in a setting like this, you'll be fighting several monsters. The designs are pretty creative and some of the bosses are really far out. It's a Taito game, so you can expect creativity in the character designs. Macress gains abilities as he kills enemies. This includes wings and becoming a centaur or merman. It's a shame Saint Sword isn't more well known. I'd have loved to own a cartridge of it back in 1991 when it was first released and a shame it took 30 years for me to discover it. A neat game that's still fun to play with good graphics and music. I'd recommend giving it a go if you haven't already. 

Sword Of Demons

Demon Sword/The Legend Of Acala is a game that might just be the definitive hidden gem of all time. Chances are you saw an ad or two for the game and later lucked up upon it in a clearance bin. That's what happened to me. I saw an ad or two then later got it dirt cheap at KB Toys. From what I can tell, this is pretty much the only way to get the game.

Demon Sword plays a lot like Legend of Kage or maybe even Ninja Spirit in that you run like crazy and mow down enemies with your sword. Jumping propels you forward into the air turning your swordsman into a helicopter of death. You play as Victar and must gather all the piece of the titular sword to defeat the demon currently ruling the world. As you play through the levels and gather pieces, the sword gets bigger and more powerful.

In addition to your growing sword, there's also projectiles like darts. These obviously come in handy for bad guys just out of range. You'll acquire magic spells that come in handy when fighting level bosses. The bosses and bad guys are various demons and yokai in bizarre hellscapes. It's pretty awesome. As normal during the time, the U.S box art depicts more of a standard mid evil fantasy setting, however Japanese advertising gives a better idea of the actual game.

Speaking of difference between the American and Japanese versions, in Japan the game is longer and has more items/magic. I remember thinking I achieved the impossible upon beating the game that one weekend in the seventh grade. Now I wonder if I could repeat history with the Japanese version. Probably not. Demon Sword was one of those things that was MY thing. I'd draw (badly) the characters on my notebooks, and dream up potential sequels. I'm sure to this day though, that I've never said Victar correctly.