Hi all,
I feel like some of you guys are really selling this game short. I myself sometimes plow through a good game, just by continuing to put quarters in, and wonder what it would be like to try to get good at it and try to get through on less. It is not always clear which games it is worth doing that on, and which are just quarter eaters. Magic Sword, like many fine games, can be a quarter eater, but with a little effort, you can get pretty far on a quarter. If you read some of the hints on the 'Net that are available for the game, it says it is possible to finish on a quarter; although I didn't find much to convince me of that at the time. I started trying, and lo and behold, with much effort, I was able to do it. You can see me do it on YouTube. The playlist is here:
http://www.youtube.com/my_playlists?p=15F15F7103E01306>No depth and all you do is pound buttons and run to the right as fast as possible. Fun for a few minutes....
I disagree. There many levels where that gets you killed quickly, unless you just keep adding quarters.
>I was sick of playing it and didn't want to have to fight another huge boss that just flew in circles and rammed you.
These bosses can be played with very few hits ordinarily (excepting the very last one) if you take the time to learn the right strategies. Only one, the worms, is more or less a fixed pattern, however.
> Most side scrolling beat em ups really aren't that deep. I think they got the idea down with King of Dragons and Knights of the Round.
> No depth and all you do is pound buttons and run to the right as fast as possible. Fun for a few minutes....
Not at all the case, if you are trying to finish on a quarter. The first few levels are more or less like that, except for the mini boss on level 0. Knights of the Round looks like Golden Axe part 27 to me. In my opinion, Knights of the Round is more like Golden Axe than is Magic Sword. I consider Magic Sword to be closest to Rastan - although modernized considerably.
>I never quite figured out weapon strength either
>As for the more powerful weapons... you get different weapons but how do you determine their power? You get Thunder Sword! Great! What does that mean?
The gimmick of the game is the magic swords you get all through it. You get a new sword ever so often at fixed points in the game (unless you lose it), and your attacks against a given type of enemy will do more damage. The things I call the talismans (gauntlet, blue bottle, gold scroll, etc.) also modify the attacks. The attract mode tells you about them. I generally consider the gauntlet as the best for attacking, until the final levels, when you get the blue beam that goes across the screen; in which the blue bottle seems to help the most. The blue bottle is almost as good, but the other talismans don't help you attack. The thing to really watch out for is the red hearts. They cause your companion to go up in level, and have a stronger attack. For example, the girl starts shooting fire on level 6 or 7, and the knight starts firing two bolts on level two, three on level three, but never more than three. You just get a wider spread, and more damage after that.
>You collect money through the game, it would've been nice to buy items at different points of the game.
Money helps you, because it calls the fairies which bring you food at certain fixed point levels; and the gold and other items add to your points.
>And throughout the game, you do get more powerful weapons/allies.
>There are definitely more allies. I don't think they are more powerful though.
They most certainly do get more powerful. I generally gravitate to the girl, until I can get a lizard man (golden dragon ally) or a knight. These certainly do get more powerful at higher levels. Getting another ally causes you to get that ally at a lower level, but once you have gotten into the level 2+ knights, you never get stuck with a level one one again. Part of the fun of it, is figuring out which allies and which amulets are the right ones to have in various places.
>It's not the difficulty. It's that there isn't a proper reward system to justify going through the game more cautiously other than paying less quarters.
Sorta. The thing is, by being cautious over using more quarters, you can get an ally or, e.g. a gold scroll for more food, or the necklace for more points, but you usually are over the setbacks of not being cautious in another two levels.
>As it is, it's just a pump and run type game. Pump in quarters and run to the next level.
Yes, for those who can afford it. That's what games are invented to do. Get money out of you as you learn them. I find the puzzles quite clever and challenging; if you are willing to figure out how to get through without taking much damage - on a quarter for the ultimate challenge. Even though I played the game many times before, on my video, I was still discovering better strategies on how to handle various levels on the spot. They are not as simple as they might at first seem.
>I keep hoping someone will pick it for the high score competition so I can get some tips.
Too late. There are tons of tips in my video. I did find a page which had a high score that was astronomic; but couldn't seem to get a playback on it. I've seen no one else who has a score anywhere close to mine. I've found some secret doors and secret bonuses that aren't in the hints, and yet still found it very challenging to finish on a quarter.
In short, I suggest that there are many games that tempt you to plow through them just by adding quarters. The vast majority are just quarter eaters, and don't improve much if you try to play them frugally. There are some, however, that you are really missing a lot on if you just keep plowing through them by adding quarters; and it is submitted for your approval, that Magic Sword is one.
I'm not saying it couldn't have been improved. Buying things with your gold would have been nice, but then it would have affected your health adversely, since gold brings the fairies that bring food that adds to your health. They would have to redo the health system entirely. Making choices early on that affect you for more than a few levels would have been good too. Sure, it could have been more 3d, and it is downright illogical in some respects. Since when does food heal injuries, and who expects to get gold from giant hornets and skeletons? Who expects to get food from mummies? It isn't about logic, but creating a playable game, and IMHO, it is very playable. Sure, there are infinite features that the ultimate game of all time might have that every other game does not. It is what it is, and for its time, I think it was, and is, pretty good. So many games are derivatives of Golden Axe, or R-Type, or Street Fighter/MK or Galaxians; or are just quarter eaters, that they do not interest me much. Once you actually get into learning how to play this one well, you see it is not much of a clone of anything else other than Rastan, and then, only distantly.
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Topic: Magic Sword - could've been so much more (Read 4038 times)
