2025 Special - King Colossus

One of the reasons why I came up with 2025 Special was to tackle lesser-known games that had been living on the outskirts of my radar for many years. I figured that if I didn't play them now, I'd never get another chance. This is not intended to sound morbid.  It's just a herculean task keeping up with 30,000 new releases a year, while also trying to make time for the classics of the past. Of course, I say all this knowing full well that I'm ignoring my exponentially growing modern games backlog to dig for fossils like King Colossus. Hm... Maybe it's an unfair thing to say. Sega's 1992 Mega Drive Action RPG is a way more interesting discovery than some dusty bone. 

A "room" full of monsters. Classic stuff.

According to Sega Retro, King Colossus was planned for western release under the name D-Axe. Weird choice, though I guess it was intended to evoke Golden Axe. Whatever the case, the deal fell through with nary an explanation. My assumption is that Sega of America wanted a competitor for The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past's inevitable NA launch. They changed their mind just as soon as both games were placed side-by-side. No disrespect intended, but the subject of today's review would've caught an infinite number of unflattering comparisons to Nintendo's 1992 juggernaut if they were both on shelves during the 16-bit console wars.

Of course, King Colossus still released in Japan without a hitch, and it's clear that in spite of its spartan presentation, the dev-team put a lot of love into it. To start with, I want to mention Ken-Ichiro Isoda. These days, he's known for his absolutely lovely soundscape albums, but he was in the video game industry for a short time. His works are few but notable, with this soundtrack being one of his best. No really, the music for this game is excellent, astonishing even. Everything that happens onscreen is significantly elevated by Isoda-san's work. Speaking of, I should also credit Shigeharu Isoda, Ken-Ichiro's brother and a brilliant sound engineer. Their efforts show what the Mega Drive's sound hardware is capable of. That said, I have to point out that there's an orchestral production of the King Colossus OST. You have to give it a listen.

This collapsing bridge is pretty cool.

Now, as for the game itself, the first word that comes to mind is spartan*. Soundtrack aside, the presentation here leaves a bit to be desired. I admit, the only reason I got past the opening minutes was because of the 2025 Special. This is an Action-RPG with a top-down view starring a guy with a sword and I'll be damned if I don't give it a serious play-through. I'm really glad I did, because what's here is actually quite impressive. The gameplay starts off in a manner typical of the era. You're a young man with a sword, slaughtering anything that gets close at a normal pace. There's no zipping around poking this or that, but it's not methodical either. There's a very workman's quality to everything. It reminds me of Sword of Vermilion in a way. Call me old-fashioned, but I just love it when older games have understated yet solid fundamentals.

The bulk of the game takes place in dungeons & caves. There aren't any real towns to visit and you're not going to hear a lot of "flavor" dialogue. In fact, almost the entire game is linear, with the protagonist shuffled off to the next destination after completing whatever it is they're ordered to do. It actually works quite well, since all of the attention is on making the exploration just compelling enough to retain the player's attention for 6 to 8 hours. Part of this compulsion can be tied to acquiring new equipment, a perk of being thorough. Now I mentioned the sword, but there in fact many other weapons to acquire, all with their own characteristics.

You'll be spending some time at the coliseum. Beat them to DEATH!

Let's go ahead and set aside a paragraph here, because King Colossus has a lot of interesting toys to play around with. One of the early-game weapons is a ball & chain. Pressing the attack button swings it around the protag in a wide circle. What makes the weapon intriguing is when the attack button is released, the ball flies off and rolls around, crushing anything it makes contact with. This is such a neat little weapon to play with once you get used to its eccentricity. A myriad of other weapons exist in this world, such as crossbows, spears, and even fire rods. There are a lot of opportunities for "player expression through violence" here, which is just lovely. It gives your play-through identity and flavor, so you're not liable to go through the same motions as everyone else.

However, there is one flavor that not everyone can appreciate, and that flavor is platforming. As early as the first dungeon, you'll be introduced to the joys and pains (mostly pains) of jumping over gaps. In fact, if you fail, you're most likely going to end up in the rushing water and pushed back to the beginning of the dungeon. I feel like this is a serious issue that the bulk of my review should revolve around, but it isn't. It's all because this game has a save-anywhere function. Don't like the consequences of your actions? Just reload. There's no harm in it. All that said, the platforming is more than adequate, and you'll make at least 95% of your jumps without issue.

Like a lean cut, King Colossus has a lot of beef and very little fat. You'll run into a few of the same enemies eventually, and the music (sadly) repeats at points, but each locale you visit has purpose, as well as its own array of obstacles to contend with. The restoratives are generous enough to keep you moving forward, and the allure of a new weapon or armor upgrade is hard to resist. The visuals aren't amazing, but everything that matters is well-crafted and engaging enough. I can't even recall some section or boss that threatened to upend my enjoyment. For the most part, the difficulty ranged from fair to slightly easy. If there are any exceptions, it's probably because I actually had to change my tactics.

Honestly, I'm a little disappointed in myself. Although I played through the entire game and have since thought about it for at least a couple hours, I can't recall anything significant that's worth complaining about. Isn't that just the most shocking thing? 

*Yeah, I totally said spartan presentation in back-to-back paragraphs. Oops.