Magic Sword: Heroic Fantasy

The player has a magic meter. It fills up while the player is not attacking, but it empties completely each time the player attacks. If the player attacks when the meter is empty or is blue, the player can only perform a melee attack when the standard attack button is used. Magical allies like the priest and the wizard will not attack in this situation. If it is red but not full, the player and any magical ally teamed up with him will perform a weak ranged magical attack alongside the melee attack. If it is full, the player and any magical ally teamed up with him will perform a strong ranged magical attack alongside the melee attack. Non-magical allies will attack when the player attacks regardless of the status of the magic meter.

The player's health is displayed as a set of five HP bars and a number next to the HP bars that counts the number of sets of five full HP bars beyond the ones that are shown on screen in case the player has more than five full HP bars. The ally has a separate HP meter that maxes out at four HP bars.

Full screen attacks can be performed either instantly when a magical book is collected or on demand at the cost of one full HP bar.

The game has about 50

During development, Capcom was going to program the gameplay so the player could have up to two allies (four in total in a two-player game). The hardest part of the game was the placement of enemies in each stage. One of the last features implemented in the game was the secret doors.[8] The game was being location-tested in Japan by April 1990.^[5]

The Super Nintendo version was announced at the 1992 Winter CES.^[9]

Ports

A single player-only port was released for the

The arcade version was also released alongside Final Fight in a two-in-one bundle titled Final Fight: Double Impact for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network in April 2010.^[12]

Reception

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In Japan, the game had successful location tests by April 1990.^[5] Game Machine listed Magic Sword on their September 1, 1990 issue as being Japan's second most-successful table arcade unit of the month, outperforming titles such as Raiden and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.^[20] In North America, it had a successful launch, with early orders of several thousand arcade units upon release,^[6] while performing well at test locations.^[21] It was a hit at American arcades upon release.^[22] In November and December 1990, weekly coin drop earnings averaged $263.75 per arcade unit.^[23] It was the top-grossing software conversion kit on the RePlay arcade charts in November 1990.^[24]

The arcade game received positive reviews from critics.

The SNES version received mixed reviews from critics. Nintendo Power called it the great action game, but with extra game options and a stage select for the lower levels compared to the original arcade version.^[15] Super Play criticized the animation for being awful, the sound effects as negligible, and the game slowing down at the slightest provocation.^[17]

References