2025 Special - Beyond Oasis

Rather than waste a bunch of time writing up a review, I'll just refer to my previous Beyond Oasis write-ups that can be found here, here, and here...? Oh.

Oh no. 

Unbelievable! I've been singing the praises of this game for nearly thirty years but never wrote anything down. That's pretty damned foolish. Well, to be completely honest, I wasn't exactly head over heels in love with this game when I originally bought it ages ago. Let's go back to that ancient time, when the newest game by the Streets of Rage 2 team shared a shelf with the astonishingly expensive Phantasy Star IV. Beyond Oasis was a "much more reasonable" $70, and that's what I came home with. A $70 Action RPG that I finished over a single weekend. I can't recall Sega ever claiming that this game offered "hundreds of hours of adventure gameplay" but somebody out there had to have inflated the numbers to get my broke self to part with a dime. Not that it matters, the money was long gone, and my idiot self was stuck with an already finished game.

How does Beyond Oasis go from being a waste of money to one of my favorites on the Genesis? I suppose the simplest answer is because I kept playing. The replay-value isn't immediately obvious. There aren't any alternate routes or additional characters. I replayed the game many times over because it just feels good to play. I'll even go so far to claim that the movement and combat are some of the best the genre has ever seen. Ali is an exceptionally mobile character. He walks and runs in every possible direction, with none of the stiltedness that sometimes occurs in similar titles. Jumping takes a little practice, but the midair control is perfectly realized, allowing the developers to devise some nightmarish (and optional) platforming scenarios. The complete lack of contact-damage is a massive boon, and leads to appreciable details like standing on the giant rat's tails to keep them from moving. 

The combat ties everything together in a manner most perfect. Obviously, my expectations from the Streets of Rage 2 team were pretty high, yet they met them with effortless aplomb. There is a fluidity to every encounter that rivals classic beatemups. Ali's various techniques all serve a purpose and effect his enemies in ways beyond draining their health. You can hit someone with a charged attack, and their body will knock down anyone it collides with. Several foes have their own reactions when hit by fire. Giant rats are instantly roasted, often leaving behind delicious meat. Every interaction carries a weightiness to it, especially if there's violence involved. Inflicting pain and eventually death never gets old. The excellent movement ties into fighting in subtle but rewarding ways. Being able to move while performing a jumping slash attack adds a dynamic feel, allowing the player to maintain an advantageous position when dealing with mobile creatures. 

The bulk of this game's puzzles revolve around the four elements that Ali controls through his golden armlet. Most solutions are pretty basic, like using a water bubble to put out a roaring fire, or the long reach of a shadow to help the player cross gaps. This simplicity keeps the game moving at a brisk rate, especially when you consider the means to summon help are always nearby. Efreet, the fire elemental, can appear from a campfire, a torch, or... if your timing is right, an explosion. Summon the water element Undine from a slime if you're desperate for a healing. It's clever but not so clever that it becomes overbearing. You're not required to know intricate details just to progress or find secrets. It's all for the sake of efficiency. 

I think efficient is a good word for describing Beyond Oasis, and I'm not just talking about how it can be completed in a few hours either. There is efficiency in knowing where to position oneself in a fight, tapping the jump button at cliffs to quickly leap off of them, and even using the six-button controller for quicker menu navigation. This is a speedrunning game, every aspect designed to assist the player in cutting minutes and seconds off of their completion time. Dungeons start at just a few rooms in size, and though they eventually become larger, there is always a momentum to them. Backtracking is a welcoming surprise instead of a tiring norm. The same can be said for puzzles. They're quick and to the point, never requiring the player to push multiple blocks onto multiple switches. Perhaps I love this game simply because it doesn't have sliding block puzzles or "simon says" riddles or rhythm-based minigames or... let's move on.

What wasn't obvious to me in my first couple play-throughs is that there is actually a lot of optional content. Let's call them challenge dungeons. The first anyone will (literally) stumble into is behind a tree in the forest. It consists of 100 floors, all involving fights with the many denizens of Oasis. The benefits of efficiency are definitely felt here, because not once in my absurd number of play-throughs has this challenge dungeon ever felt like 100 floors. Enemies have slightly less health than usual but remain a threat due to enhanced aggression and reaction time. The aforementioned platforming dungeon features everything that has ever moved or disappeared under Ali's feet, with some added obstacles like powerful winds or obnoxious gargoyles. Another challenge dungeon involves false treasure chests that must be avoided to obtain the real reward. There's even a racetrack for Efreet to dash around. A neat idea, even if I'm not a fan. 

In spite of having one difficulty setting, Beyond Oasis has multiple ways for players to limit themselves for a greater challenge. The most obvious is to stop eating. Food is everywhere and Ali has incredibly deep pockets. Refraining from snacking makes encounters much more dangerous. Leveling up raises rank, increasing both strength and survivability. Avoid the hearts that occasionally drop from enemies to keep rank as low as possible. Other methods might require some serious planning or resource management, but the point is that you'll always have a way to push yourself further.

My initials thoughts on Beyond Oasis are long past irrelevant. Now, I recognize it as one of the greatest games of the 16-bit era. Maybe that is saying a lot, and maybe I've just grown more attached to it than most internal organs. Still, I have returned to this adventure too many times to count and have never found myself bored or merely going through the motions. Every aspect is exemplary, with hardly a wasted second or questionable design decision. It's a very lean game that know when to demand the most out of its player to keep them engaged and entertained.