1.
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
2.
Gyromite (NES)
3.
Lucy -The Eternity She Wished For- (Steam)
4.
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys (Famicom)
5.
Radical Dreamers (SNES)
6.
Video Games 1 (TI-99/4A)
7.
Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken (Famicom)
8.
Exile (TurboGrafx CD)
9.
Exile: Wicked Phenomenon (TurboGrafx CD)
10.
Xak (PC Engine CD,
Xak I・II)
11.
Xak II (PC Engine CD,
Xak I・II)
12.
Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
13.
Captain Silver (Sega Master System)
14.
Märchen Veil (Famicom Disk System)
15.
Vanguard (Atari 2600)
16.
Kangaroo (Atari 2600)
17.
Front Line (Atari 2600)
18.
Mario Bros. (Atari 2600)
19.
Harmonia (Steam)
20.
Donkey Kong (Atari 2600)
21.
Jungle Hunt (Atari 2600)
22.
Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes (TurboGrafx CD)
23.
Gorf (Atari 2600)
24.
Neutopia II (TurboGrafx-16)
25.
Dungeon Magic (PlayStation 2,
Taito Legends 2)
26.
The Lost Vikings (SNES)
27.
Blue's Journey (Wii Virtual Console)
28.
Wizard Fire (Wii,
Data East Arcade Classics)
29.
Super Mario Run (Android)
30.
Dragon Warrior II (NES)
31.
Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure (GOG.com)
32.
Witch & Hero (Nintendo eShop)
33.
Phoenix (Atari 2600)
34.
Emerald Dragon (Super Famicom)
35.
Sky Skipper (Atari 2600)
36.
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
37. Cadash (TurboGrafx-16)
38. Cadash (Genesis)"Arcade RPG." It sounds like an oxymoron, but there's been a handful over the years. Most notable are perhaps the RPG / beat 'em hybrids by Data East and Capcom.
Cadash, originally released by Taito in '89, is not a proper beat 'em up, but rather an action-platformer with light RPG elements and a small semblance of non-linearity. Two ports followed. The PC Engine version was later localized by Working Designs and arrived on the TurboGrafx-16 in 1991. There's also a Genesis variant, published by Taito themselves. It's a North American exclusive, oddly enough. Unfortunately, I lack a copy of the PAL-only Xbox
Taito Legends 2, which contains an emulated version of the arcade original.
I played the TG16 and Genesis ports back-to-back because that's how I roll. I'll dedicate most of this post to the TG16 game, as it was released first and is (in some ways) more loyal to its arcade origins. Then I'll touch in what was altered (like a beast) in Genesis Land.
Cadash allows for two players, and four playable characters are present. The mage and priest each come with their own arsenal of spells, but I wouldn't bother with 'em given how awkward the magic system is. That leaves the physical characters. The fighter is the tank. Big and tough with a short range attack. Meh. The ninja is the shining star, the god-tier hero of
Cadash. He wields a projectile weapon, and despite starting off weak he becomes pretty burly after a bit of level-grinding.
The game consists of five "stages" total, though they're interconnected and you'll have to weave in and out of each one a few times. There are towns along the way, with inns and shops. Each character has his or her own specific weapons and armor to purchase, and appearance changes based on what's equipped. Using items is kinda weird. First, there's no status screen to even indicate what's in a character's possession. And items are used automatically when the proper situation arises. This is both a blessing and a curse. It's nice to instantaneously recover HP when it hits zero, but consuming an antidote as soon as poison sets in is something of a set-back: some rooms have multiple poisonous enemies and it would be preferable to simply use one antidote after escaping.
The graphical style is pretty unique. Everything has a sort of warm and soft feel to it, like it's glowing slightly. Some scenery is admittedly drab (like the first cave) while other areas are incredible. Towards the end of the game there's a sort of "death world" comprised of fire, graveyards, and floors and walls built from the bones of wannabe heroes. Awesome. Navigation is typically straightforward. There are branching paths here and there, but many simply double back and the "correct" route is almost always apparent. Music does it's job. Peppy, energetic, and inoffensive, but ultimately not very memorable.
There's a typical "save the princess!" narrative here; thankfully some more intriguing sub-plots present themselves along the way. One town must sacrifice a local to a kraken each year to remain at peace. When the hapless girl is rescued she reveals herself to be a mermaid, and begs of you not to reveal the big secret to her adoptive mother. There's a town full of dwarves adjacent to a forest maze, complete with houses that are too small to enter until the hero (pick the ninja!) discovers a way to shrink in size. A robber's hideout - and the pathway to Castle Cadash - can only be revealed once one (pick the ninja!) figures out how to communicate with dogs. These little vignettes are tremendously charming, and prevent the game from falling into "mindless" hack and slash territory. As mentioned, Working Designs is responsible for the translation here. The dialogue is straightforward and acceptable for the most part, with some occasional funny lines uttered by choice NPCs. Didn't really need a random Carl Sagan joke tossed into the mix though. Victor gonna Vic.
As this is an arcade port, a skilled platforming veteran may expect to just roll right through. Guess again. Even the ninja will fall victim to the giant "pudding" first boss without some amount of grinding. Thankfully, enemies spawn often and quickly so it's pretty easy to slaughter a bunch in tandem for some quick level-ups. Combat, and the overall controls really, are a bit stiff and deliberate, but it soon feels like second nature.
Trust me on this grinding bit. You don't wanna die. Because despite it's hefty length,
Cadash offers up exactly one life and zero continues. It's a terrifying prospect, but inns are numerous, healing items are cheap, and there are a couple of semi-well-hidden elixirs to be found which restore HP completely when it reaches zero. For these reasons, the first stretch of the game is arguably the hardest, as no shops and inns have presented themselves yet, and while max HP is increased upon a level-up current HP does not rise.
Bosses are pretty impressive beasts. There isn't much strategy to most of these battles, however, as they're huge and avoiding their attacks is nigh impossible. I take the
Ys approach. Level up a lot, then charge in swinging and hope for the best.
A first-time player who grinds and treads carefully (remember, only one life!) will find that
Cadash takes a couple of hours to complete. It's
just long enough to have me wishing for a periodic password, though it's unreasonable to expect such things out of an arcade port I suppose. Set aside a full evening for this one, it's a lot of fun.
Oh yeah, the Genesis port! It's quite different, actually. With no Working Designs involvement the dialogue is uniformly dry. The game has more of a "zoomed-in" viewpoint, with huge character sprites. Everything's dark, gritty, and has a more "Western" look overall. Dungeons seemed a tad easier to navigate, but that may just be my playthrough of the game on TG16 influencing me.
It's tough to determine which port is more difficult. On the Genesis there are continues available, as well as additional elixirs. But enemies pack a bigger punch overall and total inventory space is limited. There's an inventory screen, which surprisingly reveals how much experience one needs to level-up. This was sorely missing from the TG16.
However, the Genesis port takes a big hit in the character department. The priest and ninja are missing entirely, so I had to play as the fighter. Ouch.
Overall, I'd give the nod to the TG16 port. Mainly for its ninjaness. Not to say the Genesis port is markedly inferior. It isn't, and much like
Exile and
Ys III the game's entertaining enough to enter the "why not both?" category. The Genesis port is certainly cheaper, exponentially so.
There really isn't another game like
Cadash. It's certainly an RPG. The combat isn't nuanced enough to consider it a beat 'em up. And the game's not non-linear enough to qualify for "Metroidvania" status. It's a true platformer / RPG hybrid, and in a class by itself. Highly recommended. One of the cutest gaming princesses to boot: