Finally up to date with these posts...
1. Antarctic Adventure (Famicom)
2. Nuts & Milk (Famicom)
3. Commando (Atari 2600)
4. Binary Land (Famicom)
5. Devil World (Famicom)
6. Disney's Aladdin (SNES)
7. Popeye (NES)
8. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)
9. Ys: The Vanished Omens (Sega Master System)
10 Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished - The Final Chapter (Famicom)
11. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest (SNES)
12. Lunar: The Silver Star (Sega CD)
13. Otenba Becky no Daibouken (MSX)
14. Metroid (Famicom Disk System)
15. Mahou Kishi Rayearth (Game Boy)
16. Wabbit (Atari 2600)
17. Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy)
18. Warpman (Famicom)
19. Final Fantasy (NES)
20. Transformers: Convoy no Nazo (Famicom)
21. Arcade Archives: Moon Patrol (Switch eShop)
22. Gremlins (Atari 2600)
23. Arcade Archives: Ninja-Kid (Switch eShop)
24. Shining in the Darkness (Genesis)
25. Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Gate of Doom (Switch eShop)
26. Front Line (Atari 2600)
27. Donkey Kong 3 (NES)
28. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (Game Boy)
29. Exerion (Famicom)
30. Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Bad Dudes (Switch eShop)
31. Arcade Archives: Double Dragon (Switch eShop)
32. ACA NeoGeo: Ninja Combat (Switch eShop)
33. Johnny Turbo's Arcade: Wizard Fire (Switch eShop)Data East's
Wizard Fire (1992) is the sequel to their RPG 'em up
Gate of Doom. Much like its predecessor,
Wizard Fire arrived on the Switch in 2018, courtesy of Johnny Turbo himself. By default the game is displayed in stretched-out CRT mode. I kinda like it.
Those familiar with
Gate of Doom will find this one easy to pick up and play, as few core mechanics have been changed. That said,
Wizard Fire does feature some significant alterations elsewhere. First and foremost is the expanded roster. The ninja is out; apparently Data East felt he didn't quite fit into a medieval fantasy world (Taito would beg to differ). In his stead are a male dwarf and female elf. Once again the differences between the characters are rather contrived. I go for the elf as she's apparently the fastest and most certainly the cutest. The story has been upped in this installment. Each stage is bookended by a conversation between the valiant warriors, as they approach the evil floating castle of doom. Voice-acting is comically bad and meme-worthy, but the character designs look awesome. They're decidedly amateurish, a strange hodgepodge of anime and Saturday morning cartoon, and I can't help but adore how everything and everyone looks. Despite the cornball factor and stilted dialogue, there's actually a decent sense of camaraderie among the heroes.
In-game aesthetics have been greatly improved upon as well. Significant attention to detail was paid to level designs, and the environments are much more interesting overall. The journey begins in a ransacked town that wouldn't feel out of place in the Capcom
Dungeons & Dragons games that would soon follow. Sprites are big and bold with fluid animations. And instead of being buried under the static of combat,
Wizard Fire features a rousing soundtrack that takes center stage. Even the little jingle that plays upon level completion is fantastic. A final observation: the HUD has been flipped around so it's much less obtrusive compared to that of
Gate of Doom. Overall, this is just a visually and aurally appealing slab of arcade action.
The two-button controls are back, with an isometric viewpoint utilized for navigation. There's a bit of additional depth to regular attacks. For instance, button-mashing will cause Eminna the elf to freeze in her tracks and unleash a sort of rapid-fire sword swipe, reminiscent of Chun-Li's lightning leg kicks. On the flip side, one should avoid button-mashing with some of the bulkier heroes, as they can unleash built-up charged attacks instead. "RPG" elements are kept very light: there are status effects, treasure, and equippable items, though the game doesn't do a great job in relaying what most things are actually used for.
While this may appear to be objectively superior to
Gate of Doom, there's one serious offense. The difficulty. This game is way too hard in a way that feels cheap, lazy, and exploitative. Only one life is allotted per credit. Status effects like poison and confusion are doled out constantly, and are essentially synonymous with instant death. Bosses are an absolute chore: massive HP tanks that can take hundreds of hits to kill. A certain duo of golems is the most obnoxious. They can only be harmed by direct hits to the head and the battle drags on for seemingly an eternity. The final boss is almost as obscene. Brew a pot of coffee before that fight and have a sack of quarters ready.
Wizard Fire is designed to drain one of money (in this case: virtual money) and the constant need to continue screws with the overall pacing and progression.
Wizard Fire is fun, historically compelling, and often humorous, but oftentimes a slog, and it pales on comparison to Capcom's output and even Taito's
Dungeon Magic. Still worth it for the cutscenes, though.