Software:Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya

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Short description: 1993 video game
Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya
North American cover art
Developer(s)Sonic! Software Planning
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Shugo Takahashi
Producer(s)Hiroyuki Takahashi
Artist(s)Hiroshi Kajiyama
Writer(s)
  • Shugo Takahashi
  • Hiroyuki Takahashi
Composer(s)Motoaki Takenouchi
SeriesShining
Platform(s)Game Gear
Release
Genre(s)Tactical role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Script error: The function "nihongo_foot" does not exist. is a 1993 tactical role-playing game developed by Sonic! Software Planning and published by Sega for the Sega Game Gear.

It is not to be confused with Shining Force II, as this Gaiden II is the sequel to the original Shining Force Gaiden. Along with the original Gaiden, The Sword of Hajya was remade as Shining Force CD, which contains two new scenarios that further continue the story of Cypress.

Gameplay

Top: Dawn preparing to attack.
Bottom: A battle taking place.

The Sword of Hajya uses gameplay mechanics identical to its predecessor, Shining Force Gaiden. The player progresses through a series of turn-based tactical battles interspersed with short cutscenes. Between the cutscenes, the player is allowed to save the game, promote characters, resurrect fallen characters, and sometimes buy and sell weapons and healing items.

As with most strategy RPGs, each battlefield is divided up into a grid where player characters and enemies take turns moving, attacking, casting magic and using items. Player characters gain experience by battling enemies, and may choose, once they reach level 10, to upgrade their class into a more powerful one.

Plot

Two months after Shining Force Gaiden,[2] this story revolves around Deanna and his companions, young soldiers in the army of Cypress. Nick, the Prince of Cypress, has left the castle in order to defeat Iom, an aggressor nation. He leaves, however, without the powerful Sword of Hajya due to his inability to wield it, as his arm has been turned to stone. Deanna and his friends are left behind to defend the castle and the Sword, with Prince Nick's friend Mayfair placed in charge of them. When forces from Iom attack and steal the sword, Mayfair directs the young soldiers to pursue them in order to regain possession of the sword. The story is continued in new scenarios within Shining Force CD.

Shining Force Gaiden II/Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya is a direct continuation of the story of Shining Force Gaiden and takes place just two months after.[2] Shining Force Gaiden tells how the war between Cypress and Iom began, how Nick befriended Mayfair, how his arm was turned to stone, and several other major plot points. Gyan, Ruce, Woldol, Randolf, and others all originally appeared in Shining Force Gaiden. Shining Force CD, in turn, contains a scenario which takes place just a few months after Shining Force: The Sword of Hajya and features most of the major characters. The hidden characters Hanzou and Musashi (mistranslated in the game as "Higins" and "Rush"[3]) previously appeared in Shining Force.

Release

The North American release of Shining Force Gaiden II made drastic alterations to the spells Blaze level 3 and Freeze level 3, more than doubling the damage they inflict while increasing the radius of their effect from two to three squares. This results in mage characters being overpowered compared to other playable characters. Enemies with level 3 magic are also overpowered, as any one of them can kill several characters at full health in a single move.

The game was re-released on the 3DS Virtual Console on June 13, 2013, in North America, Europe and Australia.[4]

Reception

Electronic Gaming Monthly applauded the game for its musical score, graphics, and lengthy play time, and for retaining almost all the same elements as the two Shining Force games for the Genesis. They scored it a 6.8 out of 10, calling it "the type of game made for the portable system when you take a long trip."[5]

VideoGames magazine awarded it Best Game Gear Game of 1994.[6]

Retro Gamer included it their list of top ten Game Gear games.[7]

Notes

References

  1. ↑ "Software List (Released by Sega)" (in ja). Sega. https://sega.jp/history/hard/gamegear/software.html. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Shining Force: Sword of Hajya instruction manual.
  3. ↑ Re-translations of Shining Force CD/Shining Force Gaiden I and II character names, Shining Force Central.
  4. ↑ Shining Force: Sword of Hajya, Nintendo.com. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Review Crew: Shining Force". Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM Media, LLC) (62): 38. September 1994. 
  6. ↑ "VideoGames Best of '94". VideoGames - The Ultimate Gaming Magazine (74 (March 1995)): 44–7. February 1995. https://archive.org/details/Video_Games_The_Ultimate_Gaming_Magazine_Issue_74_March_1995/page/n45/mode/2up. 
  7. ↑ "Top Ten Game Gear Games | Retro Gamer". 5 December 2014. http://www.retrogamer.net/top_10/top-ten-game-gear-games/. 
  • 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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