Home of the Underdogs
About News FAQs Contact HOTU GoogleGroup Music Manuals
Category Applications Action Adventure Education Interactive Fiction Puzzle Role Playing Games Simulation Special Sport Strategy War




Support the EFF
Welcome How you can help
Browse Games
Welcome Random Pick
Welcome By Company
  Welcome By Theme  
Welcome By Alphabet
Welcome By Year
Welcome Title Search
Welcome Company Search
Welcome Designer Search
Recommended
Welcome Freeware Titles
Welcome Collections
Welcome Discord
Welcome Twitter
Welcome Facebook
Welcome File Format Guide
Welcome Help: Non PC Games
Welcome Help: Win Games
Welcome Help: DOS Games
Welcome Recommended Links
Site History Site History
Legacy Legacy
Link to Us Link to Us
Credits Thanks & Credits
Abandonware Ring

Abandoned Places

dungeoncrawlers.org

Creative Commons License


Game #4404
Hall of Belated Fame Inductee  Rings of Power    View all Top Dogs in this genreCollection: Non-PC Underdogs
RPG   Isometric

Rating: 8.42 (59 votes)

Rings of Power box cover

Rings of Power screenshot
Rings of Power is one of the rare isometric RPGs on SEGA Genesis (Megadrive in Europe) that is much more similar to computer RPGs than typical console fare. It also happens to be very good, as well as one of the longest RPGs ever made for consoles. Your mission is to collect all eleven Rings of Power and use them to remake the Rod of Creation to restore the Golden Age of the realm. But first, you must assemble a party of six members, one from each class: Sorcerer (yourself), Knight, Archer, Conjuror, Necromancer, and Enchanter. This requires you to visit various villages and carry out tasks set by the head of each order. Once your group has been assembled, you can then embark on the proper quest.

Rings of Power is not your typical console RPG. For starters, it is played from an isometric perspective, much like Populous. Navigation is a bit frustrating at first, especially since you can move only in the four cardinal directions. But once you get used to it, you will be able to move quickly. A nice touch is that the landscape is actually a globe, so if you keep walking in one direction, you will eventually come back to the starting point. The gameworld is huge, and contrary to most console RPGs, you can explore most of it from the very beginning – no need to find balloons/dragons/ships to get to new areas.

Another facet that makes Rings of Power different from other console RPGs is the focus on magic. Weapons and armor are not used at all in this game, so you rely solely on spells in combat. The battles are turn-based, played from the same isometric perspective, and occur randomly throughout the game (although you can see the monsters before combat begins, so you have a choice of running away from it). Another difference – and one of my favorites – is the cool trading system. This works similar to the Suikoden games: each town has a special "trade item" that is exclusive to that area, which means there are plenty of opportunities to buy goods and sell them for profit elsewhere in the world. You also have to pay attention to food and water in this game, much like Dungeon Master except much more simplistic. In another twist, you can kill just about anyone in the game – including innocents and plot-critical NPCs. Naturally, you won't be able to finish the game if you kill someone who has one of the Rings or knows where to find it.

The game starts out slowly, but becomes quite addictive as your party grows bigger and more powerful. In this respect, Rings of Power is similar to the Wizardry and Bard's Tale games. There are only a few types of monsters, but that doesn't take away from the fun since a lot of them are very hard to kill. The puzzles are also quite interesting – some even fascinating – even if most of them are variants of the "find item X and bring it to person Y" errand. With a huge gameworld, over forty hours of gameplay, interesting game mechanics, and a flurry of smaller innovations, Rings of Power is a charming RPG that truly breaks the mold on consoles. Too bad it was never ported on the PC (according to Naughty Dog's page, it actually was designed for PC until EA decided at the time that Genesis games made more money), but thanks to today's emulators you can now experience this forgotten underdog. Highly recommended!

Reviewed by: Underdogs
Designer: Jason Rubin & Andy Gavin
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Year: 1991
Software Copyright: Naughty Dog
Theme: Fantasy
Multiplayer:  
None that we know of
System Requirements: SEGA Genesis
Where to get it:
Related Links:  
Links:    
If you like this game, try: Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun, Shin Megami Tensei, Shining in the Darkness

© 1998 - 2024 Home of the Underdogs
Portions are copyrighted by their respective owners. All rights reserved. Please read our privacy policy.