Sleeper of the Week: Warsong (Sega Genesis)
All right. Some of you have heard of Warsong. Some of you are even hopelessly addicted to Warsong. But this is one of those games that most people missed, and due to it’s scarcity, many of you may have no clue that it exists. Back when Warsong came out (around the same time as Phantasy Star III), no one was playing strategy/RPGs. Well, almost no one at least. Hell, most places didn’t have Warsong on their shelves. I personally had never seen the game until about 1993 myself, and I never found a copy for sale until 1995, well after I’d blitzed through the game on my friend’s loose cart. In short, it was not an easy title to find back in the day. In fact, until recently, complete copies were selling on eBay for around $80 US. I paid $40 for mine new, and the average used complete price has dropped into the $35 range for now, but this is one game that may go back up in value.
But what is it you ask? Well, Warsong is a strategy game with a handful of RPG elements, including leveling up, a nice plot, and some special items. Basically, though, it’s an incredibly strategy game, easily on par with Shining Force or Final Fantasy Tactics. Being from the Genesis days, you’re looking at standard 2D graphics with a top down map, square based instead of hexes. You’re a prince taking command of a group of other generals, and fighting some rather nefarious characters intent on killing you and usurping your power. But the battles…there’s where things get interesting!
Warsong features a very cool battle system. Instead of single characters fighting each other, you have up to 10 units on each side, much like Military Madness. However, unlike Military Madness, after battle is selected, your units actually run towards each other in a huge melee battle, complete with screams of pain, the clashing of weapons, and in the aftermath, dead soldiers scattered across the field! Terrain effects are displayed visually too, with troops running up and down hills and fighting from battlements. Very interesting to watch!
The music is decent…nothing really amazing but definitely not bad. The game itself is of course a port of the first game of the Langrisser series. Unfortunately, it was the only game in the Langrisser series to be translated into English. Not a surprise considering how hard it was to find even when it was out. There are six main Langrisser games, as well as one for the Wonderswan. Sadly, all in Japanese, so they’re fairly difficult to play unless you’re dedicated or read the language. The second game, which is also quite good, has had the ROM fan translated if you end up with a hankering for more English Warsong after you play the original.
All in all, one of the more ignored titles on the Genesis and a damned fine strategy game. Honestly, I consider Warsong in the top five strategy/RPGs I’ve ever played. You really have to play it to understand how good it is, not much else can do it justice. This is the game that made me a strategy/RPG fan well before I played Shining Force. Now go try it!
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