Sword of Vermilion
System: Genesis
Release Date: January 28, 1991
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Genre: RPG
Excalabria is on the brink of destruction by the marching hordes of Cartahena in Sword of Vermilion! This RPG adventure puts you in the shoes of the hidden Prince as he must collect a series of powerful rings in order to stop King Tsarkon before he can take over the world. A huge map of towns and caves stand before you and your destiny. So get ready to go to them all, do whatever is asked of you without hesitation, and save the world.
The game begins in the village of Wyclif where Blade, your adopted father, is on his deathbed. He drops the news that you are really the son of Erik, former king of Excalabria. He sends you to a nearby cave to collect the Ring of Wisdom before promptly dying. Towns have you walking around in an overhead view. There are people to talk to in order to find maps and information on what to do next. Shops also provide useful items, important equipment, and magical spell books. If you’re not sure what to do, a fortune teller will give you a vague hint, but the game shipped with a guide that walked you through the game, so this is just if you lost your book.
Leaving town puts you on the overworld map. The left side of the window shows you a 3D view of your surroundings. Though I like the way it looks, I realize it’s very generic. You can walk forward or backward, as well as turning left or right. The right side of the screen shows a map of the area. If you haven’t collected one before trying to move on your way, you’ll only see a one square radius around you. This also holds true for the cave dungeons dotted around the map. Caves require a light source, or you’ll have no idea of your surroundings. Candles only last for so long, while a lantern lasts your entire spelunking adventure. Each level of the dungeon has a map hidden in a treasure chest. These are typically found at dead end hallways, but can occasionally be in a weird place. I have a compulsion to check every dead end, which means I get into a lot of battles.
Battles happen every few steps and are both a blessing and a curse. Instead of a turn based menu battle system, the appearance of an enemy throws you into an action battle screen. Between one and eight enemies appear and typically rush to attack you. Pressing Button C swings your equipped sword. You’ll hear a thud if you connect, or you’ll make your enemy disappear into a puff of smoke and a scream. Button A will cast your readied magic spell. There are 14 attack spells encompassing fire, electric, water, and air. I’m happiest launching Aerios at big packs of enemies, but anything that can get otherwise difficult to melee enemies is good.
The downside of the battles is that they take a lot of your time. Take a few steps and there’s an enemy. Kill the pack, no biggie. Couple more steps, another battle. This time against scorpions or mushrooms that poison you on touch. Maybe I’ll just run away from this one by reaching the edge of the screen. The amount of experience that enemies gives you ramps up as you reach new areas, so even though level up requirements increase every time, it doesn’t really take longer amounts of time between levels. Unless you’re running away a lot, which I end up doing in the middle game. This all means that grinding is never really necessary outside of the beginning of the game when you need new equipment. You’ll be going into caves and walking between towns to get the next task enough to fight all the battles you need.
There’s a different type of battle screen, as well. At the end of quest chains, you usually do battle with an archdemon. The view switches to a side shot with you on the left and your adversary on the right. Magic is not allowed, but you can duck and swing your sword. These would kill me frequently as a kid, but I was much more prepared for them this time around. Most of your time is really spent walking back and forth fighting those countless battles. This repetition might be enough to turn some people off, but others may get drawn into the simplicity and straightforwardness of it all. I ended up getting about six and a half hours in before I realized I had at least that much left before the end. One last cool thing to share is the hidden Test Menu accessed by Buttons A, B, and C plus the Start Button simultaneously on a second controller. Here you can enjoy all the music and sound effects in the game, which I would do a lot when I was a youngster.
Graphics: 2.5
While the graphics are generic, I like them. Except the faces of human characters. What’s up with the shopkeepers or the Prince’s dead stare?
Sound: 3.5
The music is great, with each tune bringing a different feeling to your surroundings.
Gameplay: 2.0
There’s a lot of repetition present, which some may love, but I admit can drain you. I would have liked it if I could cycle through my spells in battle by pressing the unused Button B.
Difficulty: 3.0
This isn’t a hard game and your strength grows in line with your adventure. Not needing to grind is very nice in my book.
Fun Factor: 3.0
I like this game a lot. There are plenty that overshadow it and are more fun, but you can snag a good dozen-plus hours of enjoyment if you like the game.
Overall Rating: 2.8
Sword of Vermilion earns a B. This was a neat concept mix with the first person exploration and action battles, and one of my favorite games as a kid. It’s repetitive, but it’s fun.