Elemental Master Game Sample - Genesis/MD
25Elemental Master was another video from our old channel that was lost many years ago, and it probably needs no introduction to the hardcore Gen/MD crowd; it's one of the best top-down shooters, sharing fine company like Capcom's port of "Mercs" and the highly sought-after Japan-only gem, "Twinkle Tale", though Elemental Master scrolls vertically automatically. This was one of my favorite games growing up due to its fantasy theme, cutscenes, variety of weapons and how they play into the level designs, selectable starting levels, awesome soundtrack and OP fairy. The game's greatness should come as no surprise coming from one of the masters of the SHMUP genre at TechnoSoft (they brought us titles like the "Thunder / Lightening Force" series, "Fantasic Pinball", "Herzog Zwei"... ya). The game was originally released in Japan in 1990, but it was so good that Renovation Products couldn't pass it up, publishing it some three years later in 1993 (it was the last game they published for the stock Gen/MD).
Even with the multitude of shooters on the system by this point, the game holds up well and fills its own little niche in the system's line-up. The cutscenes are pretty typical fare (and the translation still isn't great, but they came some ways since Beast Wrestler) but the in-game graphics have a lot of nice accents and little details: leaves blowing, splashes in water, many little enemies with different animations, clean effects, large bosses, and a framerate that doesn't skip a beat. The one thing of contention is that it's a little hard to tell which objects pose as obstacles on one or two stages, but it's a minor inconvenience at best.
The music essentially sounds like if you took the composer of the Thunder Force series and told them to just put a medieval/fantasy coat of paint on the soundtrack... which is just what they did since Toshiharu Yamanishi also did the soundtracks for Thunder Force III & Thunder Force IV... this is NOT a bad thing. Elemental Master's music fits the theme of each level and varies from dark and brooding to adventurous and uplifting. The sound effects are more or less typical shooter fair, but considering one of the theme's was remixed and made its way into "Dragon's Fury", this should serve as a testament to the overall quality of the soundtrack.
The gameplay is where this title really shines. The game is a vertical-scrolling shooter where you travel on foot while shooting enemies and avoiding obstacles and traps, making it a cross between your foot-soldier titles (Mercs, Twinkle Tale) and your typical vertical shooter (Truxton, Grind Stormer, M.U.S.H.A., etc.). Our hero, Laden, is out to stop an evil ruler, Gyra, from taking over the world, though he is conflicted as he has taken the form of his brother, Roki, and can only stop him if he gains the power of the elements. Initially, Laden's firepower is limited to simple concentrated beams, but he can offset this by opening treasure chests that enhance his abilities, giving him after-images that shoot with him, a barrier to deflect several damaging blows, and even items to heal or increase max health. Another great thing is that you can shoot behind you at will and the game will occasionally throw waves at you from every angle, testing your reflexes, which makes it more satisfying when you pull through.
Lastly, you get to choose the first four levels in any order, which will have an impact on the difficulty depending on which ones you tackle first. Beating your first level will grant you an element ability as well as Neena, a servant of the Elemental who attacks nearby enemies and enhances each of your core spells by allowing you to charge them up and release a more powerful spell. Once you have all five skills, you'll have tons of firepower for every situation, though almost every weapon can be used in every situation and learning which weapon to pull out and when is the best part for high scores and surviving. When all is said and done, the game's not particularly difficult even on the highest setting (though I like how enemies and placement changes on different difficulties) and the options are slightly hidden by default (hold a button while hitting start). While not every game I grew up with is as good as I remember, I'm glad that Elemental Master still looks and plays great. This is a video of the game in action. Enjoy.
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