Dark Wizard (Dark Wizard: Yomigaerishi Yami no Madoushi) was a RPG developed for the Sega CD system that featured long anime-based cutscenes to develop the story. The gameplay took place on a hex-map, and featured turn-based tactical battle scenes. You played as your choice of 1 of 4 playable characters, each with their own attributes, abilities, and available units.

Main Characters

Armer is the son and heir to the throne of King Wynrick VIII.

Robin is known throughout the land as the finest warrior in Cheshire and has pledged her life to defend it.

Amon is a vampire and the ruler of Cheshire's undead. He disguises himself as the King in order to command the army.

Krystal is an enchantress tricked by Velonese to do his work for him.

Story

300 years ago, the high priest of the Kingdom of Cheshire tried to disturb the balance of good and evil by summoning the dark god Arliman. Sabrina, Goddess of Light, saved the Kingdom by giving great powers to two of Cheshire's leaders who defeated the high priest and helped the King's high wizard to entrap Arliman in a magical jewel. Velonese, the high wizard's apprentice, was given the task of guarding the imprisoned Arliman on the Island of Raven. Over the years, his anger towards the kingdom grew and now he is commanding four generals to conquer Cheshire while he is trying to free Arliman.

You take on the role of one of four playable main characters and must re-conquer the land that has already fallen into Velonese's hands and find a way to defeat him and prevent Arliman's resurrection. The four main characters feature largely different stories, however, every game begins with the King's death and your character becoming the new ruler of Cheshire.

Sub-characters

Each of the four main characters have two unique recruitable subcharacters. Certain conditions must be met before they join.

• Armer gets Marie, a mage, and Dianna, a warrior.
• Robin gets Kail, an elderly sage, and David, her swordsman love interest.
• Krystal gets Marcus, who is hunting for a sword called Traeger, and Katrina, a priestess.
• Amon gets Susan, a mage, and Andrew, a vampire-slayer.

Units

One of the unique aspects of this game is its use of various mythological creatures as hired and summoned units.

• Centaur
• Harpy
• Roc and Phoenix
• Serpent and Hydra
• Ghost
• Chimera
• Dragon and Wyvern
• Cockatrice and Basilisk
• Griffin and Hippogriff
• Unicorn and Pegasus
• Elf, Dwarf, and Hobbit

Trivia

The back of the game box features screenshots and description of the game headed with the banner "You're Off To Beat The Wizard!", a pun on the famous line "We're off to see the Wizard" from L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

External links

• Dark Wizard at RPG Classics a detailed review and walkthrough
• Dark Wizard at FantasyAnime contains a review, movie clips and screen captures