
	Platform Genesis Genre Role-Playing Publisher SEGA Developer Climax Entertainment Released 1991
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Shining in the Darkness

Ahh, kingdoms. If it weren't for them, what would the majority of video game villains attempt to conquer, and where would the heroes who will eventually defeat them be born?

In Shining in the Darkness for the Sega Genesis, the kingdom in question is Thornwood, the villain with the plan is Dark Sol, and the hero…well, the hero has no name, so you can enter your own in that blank.

Shining in the Darkness is a first person RPG with a perspective similar to the Genesis version of Might and Magic, with the adventure proper taking place entirely within the confines of a labyrinth on the outskirts of the kingdom. There is the throne room of the castle where the adventure begins as well a small town where you can rest, buy supplies, talk to locals, and of course heal up at the church, but these are largely static locations that allow nothing more than store-specific tasks.

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As the game begins, you are before the king of Thornwood who informs you that at the insistence of his daughter he allowed her to venture to the village, but only under the watch of your father, his best swordsman. However, in a moment of carelessness they veered from the path and are now classified as missing. Before he can get any further, we are introduced via sudden magical appearance to the requisite evil villain,

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Dark Sol. As you may have guessed, he has taken the king's daughter and will only return her in exchange for the throne to the kingdom itself. This, of course, is unacceptable, and since you are second only to your father in swordplay, it is left to you to venture forth into the labyrinth and discover what happened to the king's daughter, and hopefully find your father as well.

Initially, and true to the RPG mold, you are relatively ill equipped and inexperienced at first, however as you delve deeper into the labyrinth and slay more monsters, you gain gold and experience that allow you to purchase more capable weapons and armor, open new areas of the labyrinth, and perform additional feats. In addition, once you have spent some initial time in the labyrinth, you are joined by two companions, Milo Brax and Pyra Mist. Milo is a priest with healing powers and Pyra is a spellcaster who can, after some leveling of her own, fire off some devastating offensive spells that lay waste to groups of enemies. Of course, as your party becomes more experienced, the monsters become more powerful, so there is always a balance.

There are some puzzles, but they are insubstantial and barely warrant mentioning: floor tiles that sap magic powers, pushing a statue, and so on. They play second fiddle to the combat, which takes placed in a turn-based format in which you assign various actions including attack, use and item, defend, and run, to your party members which they then carry out. After the enemy has their turn, the process would play out again until only one group is left standing.

The graphics in the game are well done for the time. There have been some complaints about the similarity of the enemies, that many of them are simply re-colored versions of previous enemies with different names. That may be true, but the cartridge format of the game gives it a much more legitimate reason for this tactic than Diablo. The locations, including the interior of the labyrinth, are bright and colorful, and the 3-d perspective in the maze is a remarkable accomplishment for the time. If you are familiar with the other Genesis title Climax Entertainment developed, Landstalker, the same colorful approach is in play here. It gives a pleasant sheen to the entire experience, and is a nice change of pace from the dark and dreary environments that were so common even then.

The sound is typical genesis fare. Grating at times, repetitive, but targeted towards the situation, meaning it changes depending on what you are doing (fighting, walking, dying, etc.). Streets of Rage notwithstanding, the Genesis was just not known for its quality music.

The game is not perfect. There is significant backtracking, a mapping function doesn't become available until later in the game making it very, very easy to get lost in the labyrinth and getting back on track is practically a game in itself. In the grand scheme of the game, those are minor complaints. The game approach, the pseudo-3D, the artistic design, and the overall characters and story make this an enjoyable, and relatively lengthy, Genesis RPG romp.

- Darren

(May 26, 2004)


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