PixlBit

A typical JRPG with an Arabian setting

Thanks to the success of Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, JRPGs were all the rage in the early '90s, even in North America. This spawned a lot of clones of these games, most of which were not good. A decent little Dragon Quest clone appeared on Sega's handheld in the early '90s. Defenders of Oasis was developed and published by Sega for the Game Gear in 1992. It's a decent handheld JRPG, although certain things might ruin the fun for some players.

You play as the prince of Shanadar, who goes by "Prince" the whole game. Shanadar is an Arabian-style place. The city is attacked, the king is killed, and Prince joins the resistance group to fight against the Empire (which is very typical). Along the way, you'll get three allies: Genie, Saleem (a young guy who can do killer dance moves), and Agmar (a sneaky thief). The game is broken into chapters. Each chapter will begin with tiny cutscenes where the villain will talk to an evil face in the mirror and plot his next move. Okay, so they're really not cutscenes because they're very simple, but they're still cool.

Battles play out just like in Dragon Quest. Each character has a box at the top of the screen and the enemy(s) is shown just below. Characters will take turns attacking. It seems like the order of your attacks is often random, with some characters even allowed to attack twice in a row. The four party members can use different abilities: Prince has strong attacks, Genie can use magic spells, Saleem can dance (which can hurt multiple enemies), and Agmar can hide (so enemies cannot hit him, very useful). After each battle you'll get experience, which will lead to characters gaining levels and becoming stronger.

While the story is nothing amazing, some of the dialogue in the game can be quite hilarious. Usually this is because of that Japanese quirkiness coming out. The graphics are also very colorful, although unremarkable. Enemies are big and detailed at times during battles, while some characters you meet during the game look horrible. The music has an Arabian flare, although none of the tunes are very interesting or even enjoyable to listen to.

DoO has plenty of problems as far as JRPGs go. First off, items are not explained, leaving you in the dark about what some of them do. In order to find out, you'll have to buy them and do some trial and error. At points in the game it's hard to tell what to do next or where to go. The game is littered with random stuff to pad out the adventure and make it long. For example, you have to talk to a certain guy in town before moving on. Genie, the second member of your party, cannot gain levels for some reason.

But by far the worst thing about DoO is the high random encounter rate. At times you'll be attacked every few steps! This can be so annoying. Because of this, dungeons can be very long. Battles can also become tedious and frustrating due to little things. For instance, if a character is poisoned too many times, he may collapse, even if he has plenty of life. This happened to me far too often. These problems pile up to make the game a chore. JRPG fans may be able to endure them, but other players won't have the patience for it.

At the end of chapter two, you'll get the teleportation spell, which will enable you to travel to previous places and save a lot of time, but dungeons will still be long and grueling. In the end, this is a flawed JRPG that still has some redeeming qualities.

Final Verdict--3 Stars: It's Okay

If you have the patience for it, Defenders of Oasis can be an enjoyable game. But with the constant battles, long dungeons, and confusion over the items, it can also be a grind. The Arabian setting is neat, but the gameplay holds back the experience from being really fun. Feel free to try it out for yourself; it's available for download on the 3DS Virtual Console. Just be prepared for some typical JRPG grinding.

Join me every Saturday as we take a look back at all kinds of retro games, good and bad.