Software:Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord

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Short description: 1986 video game
Miracle Warriors:
Seal of the Dark Lord
The censored[1] North American cover art
Developer(s)Kogado Software Products
Sega (Master System)
Publisher(s)Kogado Software Products
Sega (Master System)
ASCII (Famicom)
Artist(s)Rieko Kodama
Platform(s)Master System, MSX, Famicom, NEC PC-8801, MSX2, FM-7, Sharp X1
ReleasePC-88
FM-7
  • JP: October 1986
Sharp X1
  • JP: November 1986
MSX
Master System
Famicom
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord, known as Haja no Fūin (覇邪の封印; lit. Seal of the Dark Lord) in Japan, is a role-playing video game initially released by Kogado Software Products for the NEC PC-8801 in 1986. It was then ported to various other systems, including a Master System port developed by Sega, which was released internationally. In the game, Demon Queen Terarin has unleashed dark creatures upon the world, and it is up to a young hero, joined by three companions, to restore peace by defeating her and sealing her away once again.

Gameplay

Overworld traveling in the Master System version. The terrain shows a town on a plains and parts of the landscape. The information box below the map shows the player's money, herbs, fangs, and character points. In the lower left all party members, their experience and life are shown

Each screen of the game consists of four parts. In the lower left are all character statistics. It lists all characters in the party. Each character has a life bar and experience bar. A single character can gain experience by hitting enemies. Once the experiences is full, a new level is reached. The experience bar is emptied and both bars are extended, resulting in more maximum life for the character and more experience needed to gain a new level. On the lower right are statistics for the entire party (for example the amount of money).

The upper right section varies from screen to screen. While traveling the world, a town or a maze, a map is shown where the player can navigate. If the player invokes the main menu, it will be shown there. In battle it shows the battle menu. The upper left section also varies. While traveling the world or a cave it shows the party members and their surroundings. In battle it shows the foe and in town it shows persons to which the player can talk and their dialogue.

Once the player encounters an enemy, the screen switches to battle mode. In the battle mode, the player can choose one character to attack per turn. This character will also be subjected to the attack of the enemy, unless the enemy uses a spell that attacks multiple players. Some enemies can use flame spells to attack all party members or sleep spells that can put multiple party members to sleep. Every time a party member is put to sleep they take damage. They can wake up and be put to sleep many times during a battle, taking damage each time they fall asleep again. Once every party member is sleeping, the enemy will use a flame spell to attack every party member at once. As an alternative to attack, a player has several options, including talking, retreating, using a magical item, or casting a spell. Some enemies respond to talking and give hints.

The currency in the game is the guilder which can be used to buy items or heal the players. Defeated enemies also yield fangs, which are proof of valor in battle. Fangs can be used to buy some exclusive items or traded in villages for guilders. Defeating enemies can also increase or decrease the player's character points (fame). Killing monsters usually increases the player's fame while killing good characters (for example merchants) decreases the player's fame. A certain number of character points is required to enter certain villages.

The game takes place in a world of five lands spread out over three continents and came with an elaborate grid-format map noting areas of interest in the game. There are four types of land: plain, forest, mountains and desert. Enemies become more dangerous in different types of land, with plains being the safest terrain to cross. The continents are separated by oceans and storming sea around the last continent. A ship is required to sail the oceans. A special ship is needed to cross the storming sea but it can only be helmed by someone with pirate blood in his veins.

Throughout the world are several towns. Towns have smiths, who can repair weapons and armor, and healers that can heal and sell herbs. Shops sell weapons and armor and some towns provide information while one person in every town buys fangs for fifty guilders each. There are also villages, which serve special purposes, such as selling ships or special magical items. Several caves exist in the world. They house guardians that protect the mystical armors of legend. Finally there are also various castles that can be visited to get the weapons of legends if the kings are impressed enough.[6]

Plot

Demon Queen Terarin (orig. Terralin テラリン[7]) has returned. She has stolen the Golden Seal and opened the Pandora Passage, letting loose dark creatures into the world. A young hero (unnamed in all but the Famicom version, where he is named Argus or Algus (アーガス, āgasu)) is tasked by a king to restore peace to his world. He must step into footsteps of his ancestor Iason, who once fought to seal the demoness in another dimension, to finish the job and bring an end to Terarin's evil once and for all.

The hero must enlist the aid of three companions, Guy (ガイ, gai) the warrior, Medi (Media (メディア, media)) the amazon, and Treo (Treymos (トレモス, toremosu)) the pirate (called Turo in the English manual[8]), and find the three keys to Terarin's Lair in an underground temple. To defeat her, they must also find a set of ancient mystical weapons and armor.[6][9]

Reception

Miracle Warriors for the Master System received mostly positive reviews. Console XS gave it an 84% score.[10] It was also rated 40% by The Games Machine,[6] 77% by S: The Sega Magazine,[11] and 80% by Tilt.[12]

Legacy

The game was followed by a sequel titled Wings of Arugisu (アルギースの翼) which was released for the MSX2 by Kogado in 1988.[13]

It is the first officially released JRPG to be localized into English, with its Master System port in 1988.

References

  1. ↑ "Tagoo : MSXソフトウエア検索 : 覇邪の封印". http://msx.jpn.org/tagoo/s_check.cgi?LINE=997&REVIEW=4&PHOTO=1. Retrieved 2016-02-06. 
  2. ↑ "Availability Update". Computer Entertainer 7 (8): 13. November 1988. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/c75c6f2f-c0ef-463a-a1d6-844e63c9bfd9. 
  3. ↑ "Software List" (in ja). Sega Corporation. https://sega.jp/history/hard/segamark3/software.html. 
  4. ↑ "2 Mega Cartridge + Backup". The Sega Master System Games Catalogue (1988/89). Mastertronic. https://segaretro.org/images/5/5f/1988_89_SMS_UK_Catalogue.pdf. Retrieved 24 September 2024. 
  5. ↑ https://www.famitsu.com/games/t/20095/
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "I Don't Believe in Warriors". The Games Machine (13): 72. December 1988. https://archive.org/stream/thegamesmachine-13/TheGamesMachine_13_Dec_1988#page/n71/mode/1up/. 
  7. ↑ Challenge! Personal Computer AVG & RPG II p.147.
  8. ↑ "The Sega Notebook: Miracle Warriors Manual". http://www.smspower.org/seganotebook/miraclew/manual/miraclem.html. Retrieved 2016-02-06. 
  9. ↑ "Team Sega Newsletter - Issue 03". July 1988. https://archive.org/stream/TeamSegaNewsletterIssue3/TeamSegaNewsletter_Issue3#page/n7/mode/1up/. Retrieved 2016-02-06. 
  10. ↑ "Software A-Z: Master System". Console XS (United Kingdom: Paragon Publishing) (1 (June/July 1992)): 137–47. 23 April 1992. https://archive.org/details/console-xs-01/page/137. 
  11. ↑ Kidd, Graeme (June 1990). "Miracle Warriors Seal of The Dark lord". S: The Sega Magazine (7): 10. https://www.smspower.org/Scans/STheSegaMagazine-Magazine-Issue07?gallerypage=10. 
  12. ↑ Huyghues-Lacour, Alain (April 1989). "Miracle warriors". Tilt (65): 113. http://www.abandonware-magazines.org/affiche_mag.php?mag=28&num=296&album=oui. 
  13. ↑ "「プロジェクトEGG」にて「アルギースの翼(MSX2版)」＆「ナビチューン・ドラゴン航海記(PC-9801版)」のRPGタイトルが同時配信｜Gamer". http://www.gamer.ne.jp/news/201404220009/. Retrieved 2016-02-06. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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