Isometric Treasure: Landstalker for Sega Genesis - A Review | hungrygoriya

Landstalker The Treasures of King Nole is a fantastically challenging isometric platformer for the Sega Genesis worth tackling. It makes up for what it lacks in character development and story with a ton of clever puzzling and problem solving. It's definitely worth exploring this huge title! 🍖
The introductory animation and outro text were created and designed by Saad Azim.
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#retrogaming #landstalker #segagenesis #segamegadrive

[@Dragynn999]

I love how this game just is an Old-School version of Alundra. It has everything. The Big boots, the swagger walk cycle, the stacking things on top of each other just for fun, the pretty amazing feeling of exploration... Landstalker is just one of those games that would have been up high on my favourites list if I had it during my childhood.

[@hungrygoriya]

I've heard great things about Alundra, but haven't had the chance to play it for myself yet. I'm glad to know that I can escalate my stacking shenanigans in a brand new adventure someday.

[@msd5808]

The company that made Alundra, Matrix Software, was formed out of former employees of the company that made Landstalker, Climax Entertainment. However Alundra has more of a top-down Zelda-like perspective.

[@nickharris5231]

This is the kind of game I'm super excited to finally play on my retro handheld devices. I rented this a number of times but always recall getting stuck and of course having to start over from scratch each time. So I shall save scum the hell out of this thing on my Miyoo Mini and love every minute of it!

[@hungrygoriya]

@@nickharris5231 Enjoy your time with Landstalker!

[@michaelfitzsimmons8393]

@@hungrygoriya I really hope you get the chance to play Alundra. It's one of my most favorite titles on the PS1.

[@michaelcirco3948]

I appreciate you for having the patience for all the games I didn't. There's a whole corner of the gaming world I've always been adjacent to but never successfully immersed in. Your channel brings me to places I'd never reach alone.

[@hungrygoriya]

Awww that's a cool sentiment! Glad to bring you along for the ride on my gaming journeys.

[@thrillhouse_vanhouten]

Well said, I feel the same way. Goriya's doing god's work.

[@waxknucklebearingjuice5592]

Agreed...my adhd ass can barely play anything for more than 20 minutes... so these videos are the perfect length.

[@alexanderyagiela1724]

Good comment lol I feel this

[@zeliardforty-two4692]

When I was a kid I had Nintendo, but a friend had Sega. So it was always fun talking about games we came across for our respective systems. One day he got a hold of Landstalker and he was having troubles figuring out the controls. He wasn’t that good with isometric. I was on the other end so it turned into a rare case were I would be playing the game well he watched. We fell in love with it and wished for something more. This game has ended up as iconic to Genesis as Sonic, Phantasy Star or Shining Force! It’s one of the few games I still have now with the box. I think I’ve played it so many times it’s play style is second nature. Although I do have to unlearn after I play 😅 I think the one thing that made my friend and I almost quit was in the second town. We just couldn’t figure out how to proceed until we figured out a kid was behind a building that you couldn’t tell you could go behind there! This is when we learned how to check everything! We left no stone unturned! Cause you never know! I think they were trying to go for a more humorous approach to the characters and design. Unfortunately they could only do so much with a 16-bit machine. I did like the idea that you aren’t on a quest to save the world! You might at one point save a princess, but that is never the end goal. Our hero is a treasure Hunter! That is why he went to the island and that is his end goal. Sure it does make him a bit shallow but it is a different plot then the usual If anyone made it this far and has a Switch, there is a great collection of Genesis (Genesis Classics) games that has Landstalker on it! As well as a few other gems when you’re done Well, that’s it for my post review rant! Love your selection of games! I’ve had a blast going through your reviews 😊

[@hungrygoriya]

The Landstalker control scheme is so unique eh? I wish it was transferrable to some other adventure. Perhaps there's one out there I'm just not aware of yet! It's cool that you have those memories with your pal, and that you got to shine for this one adventure! I know isometric stuff is extremely divisive and people either love it or hate it. It's so nice that you got to bring your friend along with you on this one. And I'm really thrilled that Landstalker's available in so many forms these days. The Nintendo Online Service is a pretty new addition to the many ways to play it. It's great to see this awesome game getting out to so many new people! Thanks so much for some more thoughtful comments and for sharing some more memories.

[@RicanJCap]

There was also Light Crusader another underrated game very similar to Landstalkers.

[@zeliardforty-two4692]

@@RicanJCap seen it mentioned once or twice but never got my hands on a copy. I think it’s on the Sega Classics Collection also. Maybe I’ll go try it out! 👍

[@RicanJCap]

Also Beyond Oasis. That was a well done game imo.

[@sand-motox32]

@@hungrygoriya Dark Savior on the Sega Saturn is the unofficial sequel to Land Stalker.

[@SurvivalHorror100]

Used to love watching my dad play this back in the day. Pretty sure the guys who developed this went on to create Alundra. If you enjoyed Landstalker, you will LOVE Alundra. It's such an overlooked masterpiece.

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm definitely excited to try Alundra sometime. I haven't gotten around to it yet.

[@Minty0091]

Such a underrated game.

[@hungrygoriya]

Agreed! I hope more people are getting the chance to play it now that it's out on the Nintendo Online Service.

[@CD-vb9fi]

Yep... I played this game until the cartridge died a heat death.... those were the good old days!

[@worsethanhitlerpt.2539]

This came out when I was really into diagonal-view games like Solstice but the tedious dialouge in Landstalker was too much

[@AB0BA_69]

In fairness it's only underrated because it's on Genesis. If this was on SNES it would have some stiff competitin

[@jayesun3420]

I Love Landstalker, that game frickin changed me. I love that game

[@hungrygoriya]

I agree! It was very fun!

[@StewNWT]

have you played Alundra? Same devs, even better game

[@andrewkelly6828]

I loved this game. Did anyone else have the Sega Channel back in the day? It was the greatest thing ever. You paid a monthly fee to Comcast and got access to a boatload of rotating Genesis games every month. It's how I enjoyed all these classics without ever owning them.

[@hungrygoriya]

I didn't have the Sega Channel, but I really wish I did. It sounds like it was a really cool experience.

[@KOdenwalder]

One of the tricks with nigel's big feet is if you hang his toes off an edge and there's a moving platform that connects to the edge, you will automatically be transferred to the moving platform. It helps when you can't tell where the platform is like in the blue room you showcased. That being said, it's a shame he has such big feet but the color doesn't change to match the boot type like his chest plate and sword do

[@hungrygoriya]

I noticed I was being transferred to a new platform only sometimes. That's good to know! I wish his boots had changed as well! That would've been a very nice touch!

[@fancycrafts7774]

Seems like the big feet were an attempt at making an iconic character. Land stalker evokes movement/exploration. The gameplay revolves around movement mechanics. What represents movement in a character? Usually feet.

[@GreatistheWorld]

It was a treat finally diving into Landstalker and Crusader of Centy a couple years ago. Some of the best non-Zelda Zelda games

[@hungrygoriya]

I liked both games as well!

[@Lovuschka]

According to various internet sources (the earliest seems to be one FAQ from David Richey and Victor Trent in 1995), the Lifestock indeed increases both hitpoints and attack strangth. Apparently nobody tested yet if attack strength can overflow. Swords don't make much of a difference regarding non-magical attacks according to another source.

[@hungrygoriya]

There would be an easy way to test how high strength could go with that one shop in late game that seems to stock infinite life stocks...

[@Lovuschka]

@@hungrygoriya Yes, but from what I read those are also pretty expensive at 1200 each. So I never played Landstalker, have no clue how long that would take. But someone reported defeating the final boss in just a few hits.

[@alcheMikhail]

On the board for the speedrun, the WR holder has a damage table spreadsheet while using the Thunder Sword and mentions any difference in damages for all of them

[@Lovuschka]

@@alcheMikhail Thanks!

[@SaviorGabriel]

​@@hungrygoriya To my understanding, those Life Stocks you can buy at Kazalt cap once you reach 99HP. However, you can exceed that cap by finding any Life Stocks outside of Kazalt. So theoretically, you could go through the entire game without collecting any Life Stocks, buy up the max at Kazalt, the go collect all the ones you missed, and be stupid strong.

[@HybridAngelZero]

Oooo, this one is near the top of my Genesis "really want to play" list! I do own on it on a few platforms. It reminds me so much of late 80s and early 90s comedy fantasy adventure anime and I can't help but love that vibe xD

[@hungrygoriya]

This will definitely scratch that itch for you! The humour in it is pretty funny!

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

Yeah, it was totally influenced by fantasy anime. It was originally planned as a spinoff of the Shining series. The working title was Shining Hero. Sega had experience working on anime to cross promote its products and took a lot of inspiration from those projects. It's very clear from a lot of their games that they were more comfortable with taking inspiration from popular media than Nintendo, which was largely traditional with some cheeky moments here and there. GTV Japan has a couple videos on Sega's forays into anime. The Zillion video is particularly good

[@TFitz1]

I was an SNES kid but then I got step brothers and they had a Genesis. They introduced me to this game and we all loved it. It was a treat watching you stream it!

[@hungrygoriya]

Oh nice! It's cool that you got to share in some uncharted waters with new family!

[@mamaharumi]

Man, I absolutely love how this game looks. Also, I wish isometric's would make a comeback. Like, I am still upset that Falcom went full 3D.

[@hungrygoriya]

Never say never! My fingers are crossed there will be more adventures like this to enjoy.

[@principe_de_plata489]

Time to discover a new game before bed time. It's worth repeating that your volume and tone are easy on the ears.

[@hungrygoriya]

I hope you enjoyed the video! Have a good sleep!

[@thesaurus9226]

I love how the giant oversized boots get their own section in the review! xD

[@hungrygoriya]

It's hard to ignore them!!

[@RPGFort]

Loved this game as a kid, it was nice to see some fair criticism levied!

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm glad you thought that some of my criticisms were fair ones and not too nitpicky. Even with its frustrations, this was still a great experience that I really enjoyed.

[@Shamazya]

One thing I really want to see an isometric style game, probably not a platformer, is take advantage of the shortcomings of the style and create 'impossible' layouts for part of the game. Probably not the whole game but a dream sequence or final/secret stage would be good candidates.

[@hungrygoriya]

That would be a really interesting take on this format!

[@jesusbreamusic9831]

Nigel did have some noble traits, and he did saved Fara and that wizard dude, after all. Yeah, he was motivated mostly by greed but I never imagined him doing anything stomach-turning. Thank you for reviewing one of my childhood faves 😊 your channel is so underrated!

[@hungrygoriya]

Awww thank you so much! I hope more people give Landstalker a try.

[@sammyyo461]

this game definitely needed a drop shadow for so of those tough platforming areas. the developer "Climax" made several of these isometric adventure/platformer games, one of which is a DS game "Steal Princess" which was a Puzzle/Platformer also featuring a greedy treasure hunter with a fairy companion!!! its quite good!!

[@hungrygoriya]

It's funny how absolutely nothing has a shadow, though I don't know if shadows would've helped with no floor anyway... Steal Princess, you say? I'll have to see if I can find it!

[@opaljk4835]

There’s also lady stalker on the sfc and the Dark Savior game on the Saturn

[@goatbone]

9:58 "I thank you from the bottom of my heart." Yes.

[@hungrygoriya]

My shenanigans only increased over the course of this playthrough, haha

[@ShawnRaz87]

The thing with movement is you don't want to press the diagonal to turn yourself and then press the Cardinal directions to move in the direction which you've now turned you want to press diagonal and continue holding diagonal to walk in that direction maneuvering entirely with only the diagonal inputs you really never want to be pushing Cardinal directions on your d-pad

[@hungrygoriya]

Yeah, it's just different from the conventions of every other isometric game I've ever played. Old habits are hard to break! I know people play this game with an analog stick and it saves a lot of headaches for them.

[@garou1911]

Ghost Assault sounds like a great band name

[@hungrygoriya]

It's all yours!

[@Zopharr]

Another side note: I used to put my dads shoes on and run around the house pretending I was Nigel, because his shoes are so prominent 😂

[@the1ucidone]

I love this review and episode so much. Honestly, it's your best work yet! Thank you for an episode that I will watch over and over again. I'm pretty sure there is a sequel to this game too and then a spiritual successor named Alundra for the PS1 as well. I'm no historian but they are all great games I'm sure you'll love.

[@hungrygoriya]

Awww well thank you! I put a lot of time into this video and I'm glad it came together well. I haven't played Alundra yet, but I've had it for a couple of years now. I'm looking forward to it!

[@StewNWT]

@@hungrygoriya Can't wait til you play Alundra it's so good

[@SonofSethoitae]

I've been waiting for this since we talked about it in the comments of your Solstice review! It's an acquired taste, for sure, but one i've definitely acquired for myself. Easily my favourite Genesis game. I got around the control issues by simply using the diagonals at all times. You can use them without using the cardinal directions at all. Much smoother. Also, I dunno, i liked the characters and the goofy cartoon story. Nigel makes like he's motivated entirely by gold, but he also gives up the lithograph for Friday, so he's not totally heartless. It was a nice change from the bog standard fantasy adventure game story.

[@hungrygoriya]

It's a great one! I played it not too long after I played Solstice, but it took me a little bit to get the review together. It's also cool that you can use the diagonals the entire time. I don't know if I ever ended up trying that since I'm hard wired for the cardinal directions. I think the problem was more with how the controls broke from normal conventions in other games I was already used to more than it was a problem with the controls themselves. It's likely more a me problem than anything else, and I hope that was clear in the review! And you're right: these characters were a nice change from brave heroes that just charge aimlessly into battle to seal away an unsealed bad guy that's bringing monsters into the realm. I just wish I liked them more!

[@NESMasochist]

I remember spending the grand majority of a summer on this game. It's so fantastic and I would say my favourite part was the crypt with all the riddles you must figure out in order to move on. I also liked that it was in the basement of some random house buried in the corner of the town.

[@hungrygoriya]

I looooved that part. It was so much fun to run into it without knowing of it in advance when I played that I didn't want to spoil it here. It was a huge highlight for me too!

[@NESMasochist]

@@hungrygoriya That's awesome! I felt the music and the atmosphere stood out and was spot on. I made a separate save just to play it over again 🤣. P.S. I love your channel. Even if I can't watch it, I listen to it while I work. Thank you for everything.

[@misterhat144]

Oh my god I can't believe you're covering this!

[@hungrygoriya]

It was awesome! I'll be sad when I'm out of isometric games to play for the first time.

[@deathisaprimitiveconcept]

Awesome, have been wanting this one! Have always been ambivalent about this game, it looks awesome but I've never been able to fully get in to it.

[@hungrygoriya]

The controls were a huge barrier when I started it up, but once I got past all that, it was great. I hope you stick it out sometime and that it finally clicks with you.

[@zy-blade]

Thanks for reviewing this game, I liked it alot back in my childhood. You made some good points, about what could be better, but also appreciated the good stuff.

[@hungrygoriya]

That's really what I strive to do in every review: look at a game for its good and its bad and talk about my personal experience with it. Thanks for checking this out!

[@ichrius]

Fantastic game, fantastic video. Glad you enjoyed this one HG. Played the heck out of it as a kid!

[@hungrygoriya]

Thanks so much! I think I would've really liked this one back in the day if I'd had the chance to try it out.

[@chasonlapointe]

I could have sworn you'd covered this game previously... looking through your videos I found out not only was I wrong but that you've been doing the youtube thing for a lot longer than I'd realized. Good video, Landstalker is a fantastic game.

[@hungrygoriya]

I did stream it, so maybe that's what you were thinking of? And yeah, I've been making videos here since 2016. I've had this channel as long as I've had Twitch channel and active on both the entire time. Thanks for taking a trip into the past, haha

[@Schpoo]

I really enjoy this aesthetic! Great review. 😁

[@hungrygoriya]

I loved how this entire game looked. And thanks so much for stopping by!

[@Guardian978]

Always glad when I discover a channel and they're still uploading new content, means it will take longer for me to get through them all lol

[@hungrygoriya]

I try to get something new out every couple of weeks. Thanks for checking out my little corner of the internet.

[@msd5808]

One of my favorite games as a kid. So glad to see such a detailed and thorough appreciation for it!

[@hungrygoriya]

It was a great one! I think I would've enjoyed it a lot as a kid too. Lucky!

[@msd5808]

@@hungrygoriya I read the sad news that the artist for Landstalker, Tamaki Yoshitaka, died earlier this year of lung cancer. He also drew the art for Alundra, Dark Savior, Shining Force and others. The website Time Extension has an article about it showcasing some of his illustrations.

[@MazokuRanma]

This was my absolute favorite Genesis game. I already had it on the Switch collection, but I'm loving playing through again via the online addition with an actual Genesis style controller. I suppose I could have done it via the collection before, but the buttons aren't mapped properly and I didn't want to remap them. Also, Nigel is motivated by the treasure hunt more than the treasure itself, but you literally have no way of finding that out without beating the game, which is no simple task. Once he's richer than Midas, Friday mentions another hidden treasure and he's all in regardless.

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm glad you're getting to experience it with the correct controls, even if they did drive me a little crazy! And yeah, the ending was very underwhelming considering how hard I had to work to get there! It's good that Nigel has more to look forward to with all the treasure hunting ahead of him. I took him wanting to go on more treasure hunts as wanting more treasure. I suppose what you've mentioned here makes sense too!

[@PsychOnlineAldrian]

As someone who grew up with an 8 bit Nintendo and only got to play it well into the 16 bit cycle, i love seeing all the things i missed. Thank you so much for sharing these videos! 🎉

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm very late to the party on a lot of these games myself. Glad you're along for the ride with me!

[@wolfman11983]

OH MAN I LOVE THIS GAME!! I was looking for it for ever as a kid, and my parents got me Light Crusader based on my description. (fun game too) but this one is just so much fun.

[@hungrygoriya]

I haven't tried Light Crusader yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm glad you eventually got to try out Landstalker, even if your parents had other plans for you, haha

[@SprocketGames]

Watching a Hungry Goriya video is a great way to relax at the end of the day!

[@hungrygoriya]

Awww thank you! I'm glad I finally got this out for all of you. It was a long one!

[@geraldcortez826]

I'm glad you made this video, I played this as a kid and couldn't remember the name of it for nothing. So when I seen this in the KZbin feed I was happy. I remembered it being on the SNES though guess I remembered it wrong, probably was one of those games I got to play on the sega channel what a great thing that was back then.

[@hungrygoriya]

Oh nice! Someone else mentioned it was part of the Sega Channel, so your memories are probably correct on that! Glad you remembered!

[@geraldcortez826]

@@hungrygoriya yeah I remember beating so many games because of having it through the cable company. Offering a low price a month. Ashamed Nintendo never bought the Sigma broadcast service to the USA, it never made it out of Japan. Wouldn't it have been awesome to play remake games like BS Zelda on our SNES like we did on the Sega Genesis with the Sega channel. Oh well at least we can track down the rooms of BS Zelda today. Take care

[@sevencastleforest]

When I do my grocery shopping I pick up each item one at a time and throw it at the cashier, purchase it, then I leave the store and return so I can buy the next item. Finally a game that reflects my life! Anyway, thanks for the great video as always!

[@hungrygoriya]

I bet all the cashiers run when they see you coming! Thanks for taking the time to check this out!

[@paulwatts1670]

Love this game. I first played it when i was 13 back in 1994. Took me at least 6-8 gos until I finally killed the dragon and finished the game though . :) around 6 years ago I ended up buying it second hand off eBay . There will be a day where I’ll play it again and play it in my 50’s lol. Bring back my childhood memories :)

[@hungrygoriya]

Oh nice! I was lucky to get through the final boss on my first attempt so I didn't have to walk back through the whole dungeon again, but I got really lucky and used quite a bit of magic. I just barely made it!

[@kromanaut]

I just picked up a copy of Landstalker last weekend because I heard good things about it. I haven't had time to play it yet, so I figured I would check out your review to see what to expect. As always, I loved your video, and it made me excited to play the game. Your reviews really are the best. Keep up the great work!

[@hungrygoriya]

I hope you enjoy your time with it! Congratulations on the new pick-up!

[@evilash570]

I hope everyone appreciates your Trinitron! A thing of beauty!

[@hungrygoriya]

If other people don't, I sure do! I love how games look on them after growing up with a very fuzzy RF signal.

[@chriskoschik391]

I just got Equinox last night. What a coincidence you review this lol. Will have to give it a try!

[@hungrygoriya]

Aha! I haven't played Equinox just yet, but I've heard it's excellent. Good luck with the playthrough!

[@Gaulto]

What a great review. Your narrative is immersive, I felt that way. You can clearly make the connection between what you hear and what you see. Remarkable work. Who knows, maybe I'll try the game. What is for sure, is that I will remember your review. Keep it up, girl.

[@hungrygoriya]

I spend a lot of time writing with my own experience in mind, and then go back through hours of gameplay to find what I want to show on screen that I wrote about. Glad you noticed, and thanks for the kindness!

[@EbenezerEibenhardt]

2:05 - Right away I said to myself, "Wait, where have I seen that green bird with the spear before?" He's almost a dead ringer for the Chest Beak enemy from Shining in The Darkness. A little quick Google research later and I discovered that both of the artists credited to Landstalker also worked on Shining Force: Hidehiro Yoshida and Yoshitaka Tamaki. =)

[@hungrygoriya]

Yeah! There were some folks that worked on Shining games that also worked on this too. The town music here reminds me an awful lot of the town music in Shining in the Darkness.

[@EbenezerEibenhardt]

...also, the big, blobby boots very much seem to be a part of their signature character style.

[@KajDarkwind]

Nice, I loved this game as a kid, and still find it pretty charming. I always got stuck as a kid in the riddle dungeon where you have to solve all those riddles (some of which are pretty cryptic) to get ferried across the water.

[@hungrygoriya]

I was stuck there for a little while myself. There was one riddle that I accidentally solved, but then died before I had to save. I had no idea how I did it the first time and was stuck there for far too long!

[@dmxdxl]

I remember playing this on Sega as a kid, thinking to myself that graphics couldn't get any better than this, and it felt like a full 3D game to me at the time, looking back I still love this game for LIFE, and could play it through another 6 times!!!..

[@hungrygoriya]

I hope you do give it another playthrough one of these days. I love how this one looks too!

[@dmxdxl]

@@hungrygoriya DO IT, this game is so underrated and an absolute GEM!!!...

[@sneakyskunk1]

That bit about Nigel being a greedy murderer made me laugh pretty hard. The accompanying visuals provided by HG made it even funnier. I hope Alundra makes her playlist some day.

[@hungrygoriya]

I have intentions to play Alundra eventually. I'm glad you liked the video :)

[@sneakyskunk1]

@@hungrygoriya The funny thing about Alundra is that it is a pseudo sequel to Landstalker. Why they didn't just call the MC in that game Nigel is beyond me. Thanks for another great video and for replying!

[@larrynintendo6838]

One of my favorite games of all time! ❤️ I still playthrough it every few years.

[@hungrygoriya]

It's an awesome game! Definitely tough in spots, but also very enjoyable on the whole!

[@urdnal]

I also loved the vibe in the outdoor sections.

[@hungrygoriya]

It was somehow perfect! I really loved the parts that had waterfalls since you could walk behind most of them too!

[@Leynx-Et-Fenrir]

The OG trilogy of Climax games (Shining and the Darkness, Shining force and Landstalker) needs a revival with that same character design.

[@hungrygoriya]

I would love this!

[@retrogamingknight]

I don't recall having those issues with the controls when I played Landstalker a few years ago. Maybe it's because this and Q*Bert are the only isometric games I've really played with a controller or joystick. I guess I didn't have to unlearn a more standard control scheme. I don't remember a huge amount of my playthrough, but I did remember falling into that ghost pit countless times though.

[@hungrygoriya]

It's definitely different and felt weird to me, but if you haven't already gotten the feel for a lot of isometric games before getting to this one, that's almost a good thing.

[@magnum3.14]

I am not even sure how an isometric control scheme can be more "standard" than what Landstalker does. You wanna go up-left, you press up-left, and so on. The 2 romhacks shown in the video set it off by 45 degrees in one direction, which sounds worse to me.

[@InkyMuste]

I think they made the boots so large to give a better sense of how big of a space the character occupies, the boots basically form a 1x1 square area.

[@hungrygoriya]

That's a great point!

[@Toad64]

This one looks interesting but man, I don't think I'd have the patience for some of those isometric jumps it was asking of you! Great video!

[@hungrygoriya]

There are definitely a few mean spots, but a lot of it is pretty fun and fluid. I can understand that this isn't going to be for everyone but I really liked the challenge of the platforming. Except that blue dungeon I mentioned near the end of the video. That one can eat a crap sandwich.

[@EarthboundX]

Remember playing this as a kid, recalled enjoying it, but got to a part in what I think were called the Dwarven Mines or something like that where the isometric platforming got really hard, so I stopped playing. I think I have the game in one of those Sega collections, so I definitely want to go back and finish it someday.

[@hungrygoriya]

I think I know the area you mean. It definitely keeps getting harder, but that incremental learning curve I mentioned was actually perfect for me to pick up the skills to conquer later areas. Except for that blue dungeon, which can rot in hell, haha

[@Filmonaut]

Never noticed any hidden leveling up system, very interesting. Back in the day the story was a breath of fresh air compaired to the usual "chosen one has to defeat a great evil".

[@hungrygoriya]

The story's definitely different. I just wish I didn't dislike the characters so much! I watched a few other reviews after I got mine out last night, and people mentioned that after so many life stocks, you get a big heart beside the small heart meter. Apparently the number of big hearts you have is relative to your overall strength. I don't know what source that comes from, but it seems plausible.

[@Filmonaut]

@@hungrygoriya In the original japanese version there is even a brothel in Mercator and a few other sexual innuendos that were censored for western audiences. I can see why you disliked the characters although I found them likable. The twist with the duke being the bad guy instead of his brother was pretty good for the time in my opinion.

[@stikupartist3698]

Damn,I remember playing, beating, and loving this game as a teenager.

[@hungrygoriya]

Nice! It's a really great game, even with that evil blue dungeon area that made me want to scream.

[@namae3]

Great review! As usual, a really thoughtful encapsulation of the good and bad in this game. I randomly returned to this one a while ago and finally completed it. It was a very rewarding experience, for sure, and something I always wanted to finish since we'd only rented the game as kids. I loved the section with the riddles in the tombs - those are some of the most memorable and fun puzzles I've experienced in a game. Agreed on the soundtrack, I love the composer and the music is great, but a few more songs sprinkled in would've worked wonders. His work on Shining Force 2 was breathtaking

[@hungrygoriya]

Thank you! I had a lot to say about this one! The riddles in the tombs were really, really cool. I wanted to talk about them specifically, but it was so cool to discover that without knowing about it in advance. I would hate to spoil that for someone. And there's something very "Shining" about the music, indeed! The song in towns really reminds me of the music from the town in Shining in the Darkness. I really liked 95% of the music in this game, and given how long it was and how many different songs there are, that's saying something!

[@littlemixer7522]

I was thrilled to watch you play through this one live, as it's one of my favorite games I had growing up! That final dungeon stumped me for a month as I remember trying to brainstorm about it at school, but you knocked it out without much trouble at all, and even finished all the bosses in the end off without the best armor. Another prime example of why playing these games with no hints or guides results in some very unique stuff as we've seen in the past!

[@hungrygoriya]

As I was rewatching parts of the vods searching for the footage I wanted to use, I was reminded of how you helped me to track down that armour in plain sight that was driving me crazy! I still can't believe I missed the final armour upgrade. Very typically me! There's nothing quite like pushing through a game that's tough and demanding with no help. I'm glad we're on the same page with that thinking. It's cool seeing how you pull stuff off in so many games as well!

[@littlemixer7522]

​@@hungrygoriya I missed that same armour my very first playthrough as well! Just like you mentioned in the video, the armour is not something you'd expect to be in a store at that point, much less stuck over there by itself. Amiko watched your review with me, she loved the commentary and thoughts on the game as well cause she really likes this one as well. Looking forward to your next video!

[@hungrygoriya]

@@littlemixer7522 Awww tell Amiko thanks for watching! I appreciate you both!

[@jonothanthrace1530]

I played Landstaker via Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Classics years ago and ran into a wall when I had to deal with one of the moving platform puzzles. It's the one at 16:28, in fact!

[@hungrygoriya]

That part definitely took me a while to figure out. I think I pulled 20 seconds of what was easily a 10 minute+ clip of making it up to the top of that ledge!

[@tommylakindasorta3068]

Excellent review. I enjoyed this game despite the high frustration factor. Looking back, it's probably the best game Climax Entertainment ever made. I think I've mentioned before in these comments that Dark Savior on the Saturn made me want to punch a wall. It took Climax's signature obtuse isometric jumping challenges and cranked them up to 11. At least that's my recollection -- I haven't played through these games in decades.

[@hungrygoriya]

Landstalker's definitely a great game, even if it comes with some very frustrating sections. I haven't played Dark Savior yet but I've been looking for a copy to try.

[@tommylakindasorta3068]

@@hungrygoriya If I still had mine I'd send it to you!

[@Hasekbowstome]

Just found your channel via this review! Landstalker was one of my childhood favorites, and I'm glad you enjoyed it too! There's really only one jumping puzzle (which you highlighted) that I found especially troublesome when I played it when I was younger, and I think Landstalker's 3D perspective is part of why I have really good spatial reasoning skills as an adult. I'm glad you pointed out Nigel's feet, too - I've always found them to be kind of cartoonishly cute. Looking through your other reviews on here, I have to say, you do a really good job of reviewing these classics. Your scripting is really thoughtfully articulated while also being pretty brief. Hope you keep up the great work, I look forward to seeing more of these!

[@hungrygoriya]

Hey thanks so much for your kindness! I'm glad you're enjoying the channel so far. It's so nice to be able to share my experiences with these games with people, even if I'm very late to experiencing a lot of them for the first time. I didn't have a lot of games growing up. Landstalker was an awesome time and considering how much I liked other isometric stuff as a kid, it was an easy game to decide to play. I'm glad I'm not the only person who got stumped by some of the jumps here!

[@merlin1649]

I enjoy the Zen moment you bring to the internet. Share your pleasure with these old gems. I haven't played them as they were before my time or were out of reach at the time.

[@hungrygoriya]

Awww thanks! I'm only getting to a lot of games nowadays myself, if it's any consolation. I was finally able to do a bunch of collecting over the past 10 years or so. I found some great titles!

[@merlin1649]

@@hungrygoriya Gets harder to enjoy with so many options shortened attention span, and time passing faster. It's a strange touch grass you offer. Life is short so do what you love even if this is a flash in the pan for your fans. Thanks for the smile.

[@chavesa5]

Always a pleasure when hungr goryia updates

[@hungrygoriya]

Thanks for stopping by!

[@JaseNeverSleeps]

I've just discovered this channel and I'm loving it

[@hungrygoriya]

Oh nice! Thanks for checking out the channel. I appreciate it!

[@brandonporpoise]

Just yesterday, I was binging a few vids waiting for the next release. You really give me such a hankering to play some retro games.

[@hungrygoriya]

Thank you for checking out some of the other stuff on the channel! I spend a lot of time writing and editing so it's usually a couple of weeks between releases. Sometimes longer depending on real life stuff! I hope you liked the video!

[@brandonporpoise]

@@hungrygoriya Immensely! Keep at it!

[@josephbradshaw6985]

The Genesis graphics always reminded me of computer graphics of the time. It's like I have nostalgia for the Genesis even though I didn't play it much, because of the graphics/colors.

[@hungrygoriya]

That's really interesting! I hadn't considered how similar some Genesis stuff looks to PC. Nintendo stuff has a completely different feel.

[@justinbladedemonsoul]

Big boots while adventuring are a must

[@hungrygoriya]

You never know when you're going to run into some serious rocky terrain!

[@jovalleau]

Landstalker was one of my favorite Sega games. Only was able to play it thanks to Sega Channel!

[@hungrygoriya]

I had no idea it was on the Sega Channel! I had a Genesis growing up, but we never had access to that.

[@mumm-ratheeverliving3138]

Hmm, rethinking this one now. I started the game about 4-5 times, and couldn’t make myself play past the first 20 minutes or so. I remember the music on this title being amazing back in the day, and it still seems to hold up. For a while, I thought that the Genesis sound hardware was cursed and in the hands of the right composer it can actually do some impressive things. As always, thanks for the huge effort that you put into these videos. Much appreciated.

[@hungrygoriya]

If you do give it a try again, just go in with reasonable expectations: a controls learning curve, some huge difficulty spikes, some "charming sound effects", but a really rewarding experience once you get going. And that's really sweet of you to say! This one did take a lot of time to put together and I'm really glad to know it shows.

[@MotherKojiro]

The visuals are about all I remember from playing this... probably something like 12 years ago? They took the usually muddy palette of the Genesis and made something very charming out of it. Not sure if you've played Light Crusader, but that is also an isometric Action-Adventure with a heavy emphasis on puzzles that you might enjoy; the controls are generally more fluid, for one thing, and I say that as someone who's not great at isometric platforming.

[@hungrygoriya]

This game is gorgeous! I'm pretty enamoured with how colourful and charming the graphics are. I don't think I've seen anything quite so sunny, save for Crusader of Centy. I haven't played Light Crusader yet! I have to save up some fresh isometric platforming fun so I don't run out too soon.

[@GentlyWitherchainsaw]

You should play Dark Saviour on the Saturn next. It’s the spiritual successor to this, but has a completely original battle system and story progression system 😊

[@hungrygoriya]

I'll keep an eye out for a copy. I haven't come across it in my collecting adventures yet.

[@Unholy_Louie]

@@hungrygoriya SOOOoo recommended. You can buy a very high quality repro too if the price is too ridiculous.

[@Darkkfated]

Dark Savioiur is a weird beast. It wants to be Landstalker 2, but this was AFTER Climax lost a lot of its talent to the people who left to form Camelot Software Planning. Plus it's on the Saturn, which as everyone knows was a stupidly hard sytem to make good games for. The end result is very weird. Still fun, but it has this really bizarre dueling system where you're locked into only being able to move forward and backward, almost like a fighting game, but with shallow Landstalker combat. You can "block" by attacking at the same time as your foe, and you can move, jump, and attack. That's it. It's SO WEIRD in a very "Yep, this is a Saturn game alright" way.

[@hungrygoriya]

@@Darkkfated It sounds intriguing to say the least!

[@DezorianGuy]

Faxanadu, Landstalker and Ultima 8 are my favorite games, as they share so much in certain qualities.

[@hungrygoriya]

Faxanadu's amazing, and Landstalker was also very fun. I have yet to try Ultima 8 though. Good to know there's more awesomeness to experience in it that'll remind me of these others!

[@DezorianGuy]

@@hungrygoriya Play Ultima 8. That's all I need to say to make your day. Music, atmosphere and ADVENTURE - all inside this tiny little creepy gem. It truly is the Landstalker of the PC. I even made comparison videos on youtube back in the days.

[@NeufAtora]

After getting every game available for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Collection on Steam, I realized this was one of them, and I'm looking forward to trying it out. I barely have any experience with isometric games, and the control scheme is definitely taking some getting used to. It looks fantastic and seems pretty straight forward. If the characters aren't all that great or likeable, it's not a dealbreaker for me as long as they're written consistently. There are two other games in that collection as well that I'd recommend, an RPG/beat 'em up named Beyond Oasis and an isometric dungeon crawler named Light Crusader. I haven't played much of either but I really like what I've seen so far from both, Light Crusader especially. Even though it's an isometric perspective, the character moves exactly how you think they would based on your inputs, making it possibly one of the most natural-feeling control schemes I've encountered in a video game. I felt fully in control of my character from my first movement.

[@hungrygoriya]

Oooo Beyond Oasis and Light Crusader are on my list of things to play sometime. Light Crusader's especially interesting to me because of that isometric view you mentioned, though I don't really know much about it other than that. That aspect's enough to get me interested though!

[@NeufAtora]

@@hungrygoriya One feature Light Crusader has is auto-item usage. I can't remember which game you reviewed that had that as well, but if your thoughts on it are anything to go by, then I'm sure you'll love it. But in all seriousness, you have the option to turn it off, which is fantastic. I played with it on at first and quickly realized how incredible item autonomy really is

[@WWCL4Life]

I always hoped you would give your thoughts on this classic! I used to play this game non stop as a child, and I remember it vividly- the first time I had played it on a black and white television (my grandmother forbid the use of her floor model colored television lol) It is easily my favorite game of all time. Such nostalgia! Thank you for uploading this! 💜

[@hungrygoriya]

Landstalker in black and white must've still looked beautiful. I can imagine how exciting it must've been to see it in colour eventually. Thanks for taking the time to watch! It was my pleasure to shine some light on a game that hopefully some other folks will check out too.

[@Y9Power]

It is normal to get used to the perspective of this game. You are a good gamer, the learning curve of this game gets the best of us. I used to go to my friends house to watch him play. I never brought up the courage to play this yet. If I get the time I will try this. Good review as always.😁❤

[@hungrygoriya]

Hey thanks for saying so! Isometric games and I tend to get along quite well. I hope you try this one out sometime. I'm sure you'd get a handle on it and get through it yourself too!

[@user-yg1dg6xm2g]

I'll never play this game. I just watch because you are so good at reviewing these games. Very thorough!

[@hungrygoriya]

It's not for eveyone. I was pretty excited to try it out since I like isometric games so much.

[@Shotgun-Seba]

I still play this game once a year on my old Sega Mega Drive.

[@hungrygoriya]

I don't blame you! I imagine it's especially fun once you know where to go!

[@thewingedavenger1007]

Great review! And thank you very much for mentioning those hacks, because I was unaware of them and had written this game off as having an annoying control scheme. For me, the game is far better with one of the hacks that you mentioned. The better one for people who have played the classic isometric games is the one called "Alternate Controls" by Jon Najar, because it gives you what I consider the standard isometric controls (as in Solstice and Snake Rattle & Roll), in other words, when you press up your character goes diagonally up and right. The other hack, titled "Improved Controls (MIJET)" by Pennywise, makes it so that pressing up makes your guy go diagonally up and left, which no classic game has done to my knowledge. Maybe there's some beloved ZX Spectrum game that did that, but anyone in North America will probably want the "alternate" hack.

[@hungrygoriya]

Thanks for the info about which hack works best! I'm curious to see what the hacks feel like because I think the controls were still messing with me right up until the end of the game! I got used to them, but I still faltered with them once in a while. I'm happy you got around to giving this a try with the improved control options.

[@rawrharhar]

Thanks for the review. This is a top 3 Genesis game for me. I can't wait til you get to Alundra. That game is a transformative experience that no one expects.

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm both intrigued and scared to play Alundra. I've heard the puzzling is ruthless and that the story is gut-wrenching. Still, I'll definitely play through it one of these days.

[@partridgestorm]

I was just thinking of you. Jeremy Parish did a video of A Boy an his Blob and Crystalis, which made me think of you. When I was done watching the video this review appeared in my feed. YES! I always wanted to play Landstalker, but I still need to play Shining Force, Shining in the Darkness, Beyond Oasis and Crusader of Centy. It needs to get in line because those are all games I KNOW I will like.

[@hungrygoriya]

Oh nice! I'll have to check out his video. Of your list here, I've played Shining in the Darkness and Crusader of Centy so far. They're both great for their own reasons! I hope they impress you when you do get around to them!

[@euanforrester7723]

You might also enjoy Light Crusader on the Genesis: it's another isometric RPG/platformer/puzzler. It lacks the charm of Landstalker, but the character has a shadow and can move in 8 directions instead of just the 4 diagonals. I found that Landstalker really leaned into the confusion created by its perspective in a way that I found a bit frustrating as I played through it. I kept picturing the designer cackling to themself every time I missed a jump. Light Crusader didn't have that particular issue, although it has its own problems with jankiness here and there. I just finished playing through it after previously completing Landstalker and craving more isometric action. I think it has lower highs and higher lows than Landstalker, if that makes any sense. It certainly seems better than some of the stuff you've suffered through for your channel!

[@hungrygoriya]

I'll definitely give Light Crusader a shot sometime. I picked it up last summer and haven't gotten around to it just yet. I keep trying to space out my isometric gaming experiences so as to not use them all up at once. I'd hate to run out of new-to-me games so soon! I also imagined the game designers cackling away when things went horribly wrong for me. I thought I was the only one that did that!

[@caseyhayes4590]

As a kid I only had the $ to get 3-4 game a year so every one really counted and getting a dud was devastating. Landstalker was one that I did not regret at all. It was the perfect amount of challenge. The Genesis doesn't have a ton of great action RPGs but this one really is top 5 of action/rpg genre for all of the 16-bit era.

[@hungrygoriya]

It was a great buy! Good thinking!

[@AggelosKult]

I really like the background graphics in landstalker. Look a little like dioramas!

[@hungrygoriya]

Agreed! Like those little 3D boxes people make eh? Those are really neat!

[@psychodiagnostik]

Love your reviews and especially this one! Started watching your Twitch channel as well.

[@hungrygoriya]

I saw the follow over on Twitch! Thanks so much for checking out the streams and the channel! I'll hopefully be able to get through this pesky StarCraft mission soon enough.

[@Marionette_Doll]

Glad to see a video on this one! It was a lot of fun to watch, and I think it was the game you were playing when I first found you on Twitch.

[@hungrygoriya]

Awww hooray! I was really pumped to stream this one. I'm glad you enjoyed the playthrough and the video here.

[@g40rc378]

What a fun looking game! If I had a Genesis growing up, I would have played this a ton

[@hungrygoriya]

I wish I'd discovered this game way earlier. I grew up with a Genesis but barely had any games for it. I would've enjoyed this one a lot!

[@chewygad7899]

Hey hi! This channel is great. Your verbal economy is perfect. I watch now just for the vibe.

[@hungrygoriya]

Hey thanks so much!

[@raze667]

One of the only Camelot games I still don't own a physical copy of. I'm a collector of their work owing to a long love of Shining Force. Glad to be able to enjoy such a long and thorough review!

[@hungrygoriya]

Ohhhh I hope you can find a copy someday! I waited for a long time until I finally found a price I was willing to pay for the cartridge. I don't have the box or manual, but the cartridge is good enough for me for now.

[@raze667]

@@hungrygoriya Shining Force 3 ate a huge hole in my pocket. T-T

[@hungrygoriya]

@@raze667 For the Sega CD, yes? It's a dream of mine to own it someday, but I doubt I will at this point! I'm glad you found a copy.

[@raze667]

@@hungrygoriya Oh when I picked up my Saturn a decade ago, so that I could play Shining the Holy Ark, I checked the SF3 prices and went "Nope." They've doubled since then. I got my copy as a birthday gift. Lucky me :D

[@RicanJCap]

This and beyond oasis and Light crusaders were such underrated games oh and sword.of vermillion. Would love to see all those remade

[@hungrygoriya]

I still need to play all of those! I've heard good things though.

[@Belzeboobies]

Ah, Landstalker. I would put it in my top 100 videogames list. I'm glad you liked it, too! The isometric perspective is hard to sell, considering the puzzles hang on that most of the time. On the other hand, I personally really like the sounds. They might be goofy but it adds a lot to the charm.

[@hungrygoriya]

I really like the isometric nature of the game, but I can see why it's not for everyone. The sound effects are something else! After hearing them a million times, I wasn't sure how to feel about them. They are definitely unique though!

[@DjDreamcastle]

Yo, thank you for featuring my favorite Genesis game. About to watch!

[@hungrygoriya]

I hope you liked the review!

[@DjDreamcastle]

@hungrygoriya It was fantastic! Much better than the rest I've seen.

[@Domarius64]

15:30 "I'd love to pick the brain of whoever thought a chicken caw was the best sound for a monster succumbing to the blade of our hero" Man, how many times have I wondered something similar, playing games from this era and hearing some of these sound effects, even back in the day as a kid! The answer to these strange things in older games is usually time and budget constraints, and perhaps some inexperience as well. Sound effects often got the short end of the stick, and probably cobbled together by some programmers scrounging up vaguely appropriate sounds off sound effect CDs and editing them, or even recording them themselves, rather than paying for an experienced dedicated sound technician. The combat code and ROM budget is assigned "enemy hit sound" and "enemy death sound" early on, without much extra thought as to how it will come across when they start adding a variety of enemies, and some person at some point is assigned to fill this out with only a vague request, and not much time to do it. Eg. A "death sound", well that should be a "scream", right? I guess I'll find a scream somewhere on this action movie... play through it a bit - there's someone screaming, let's clip that out - I guess it sounds a bit weird out of context but whatever, it will do. Oops, it's increasing the storage budget by too much, let's trim a bit off the ends (giving it a wierd short clipped sound), give it to the programmer to implement, move onto the next task... That's usually the kind of story behind these things.

[@hungrygoriya]

I don't know much about what goes into game development, but this all sounds plausible! The chicken scream was a source of constant laughter for me throughout the game, so they did something right I guess!

[@Domarius64]

@@hungrygoriya totally, many quirks in games we made fun of are some of the funniest memories. In Streets of Rage, the main dude shouts "Randappah! Randappah!" Each time he does his special, and my friend and I look in the manual to find out he's apparently saying "Grand Upper" 🤷 That one is due to a non-english speaker recording the voice 😆

[@Binighted]

It’s interesting to see how all this elements used on this game where used on its spiritual sucessor Alundra for the PS1, it was made by some of the same developers if im not mistaken, both are great games!

[@hungrygoriya]

I've yet to play Alundra, but I do have it. Hopefully I'll get around to it sooner than later!

[@Binighted]

@@hungrygoriya yes! Im sure you’ll have a better experience with it! (The story in particular is very good for its time) Alundra made me buy this game CIB just to see and try its roots. Music is phonemenal too, I hope you can play it soon 😊

[@balthazarasquith]

I loved this game, such a classic

[@hungrygoriya]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[@josephbradshaw6985]

Oh man! These isometric games, I'm glad someone can play them.

[@hungrygoriya]

There's something about them that clicks with me. I'm really glad they exist!

[@josephbradshaw6985]

@@hungrygoriya Lol, it's your gaming super power. Mine is the ability to slog through KOEI games having a blast the whole time.

[@TheIndieOcean]

That book stacking at the end of the video 😂 I missed a lot of the Landstalker streams so I didn't see much of this while you were doing it. The controls sound nightmarish. I can't imagine what they were thinking when someone sat in a design meeting and said "You know what would work really well? Requiring an extra input to change direction." Also, the thing about having no information on the performance of equipment reminded me of when you streamed Azure Dreams. There's no need for any game to be so cryptic about which equipment is better.

[@hungrygoriya]

That priest deserved it, I swear! My stacking shenanigans escalated the further I got into the game. It was too fun! The controls were a nightmare for me. It's so different from other isometric games I've played that it felt really jarring, but lots of people have said that just holding the diagonals does the trick and that you're supposed to leave the cardinal directions alone. I don't know how anyone can deprogram their brains to do that, but that probably would've helped my case quite a bit. I just resorted to turning the character and then using the four main directions instead. The diagonals on the Genesis are mushy too. The equipment stuff bugged me! Getting a new sword that isn't any better than the old one is very mysterious to me. Why even bother at that point? And it was totally like Azure Dreams! At least in that game, everything's a mystery and is meant to be.

[@mariusamber3237]

Oh, this one's neat! I've always liked the atmosphere, the fun dialogues and just the general gameplay. There's also Ladystalker (on SNES/SFC), but it came out only in Japan, unfortunately, so not many people have played it in the West.

[@hungrygoriya]

It was a great game! I'm glad so many people here seem to have enjoyed it as much as I did! I keep hoping Lady Stalker will get translated one of these days. It looks really interesting!

[@OGBuddah]

YES! This is one of those games I played years ago that has stuck with me. I was not able to beat it until I went back and played as an adult but I remember this was a fun and unique game. Tons of secrets and interesting dialog. This game also made me want to try and play LadyStalker which I heard was the sequel but never did play it. On a side note, my mind is absolutely blown regarding the HP/Attack correlation. I have not noticed that nor heard that before but it does make sense. I played the game and used mental gymnastics to swap between swords using elemental damage to exploit weakness, but that was more than likely all in my head. I am going to look deeper into this. As always awesome video and thank you for sharing!

[@hungrygoriya]

Did Lady Stalker get translated? I've been curious to see what that one's all about, but last I checked, it was still stuck in Japanese only. And I'm super curious about how the life stock stuff works. I watched a few other reviews last night after I got my video out, and a couple of people mentioned that when you get a big heart (to the left of the small heart meter), the strength goes up. As far as I know, there's no direct correlation between the type of sword and attack strength, but I'm definitely curious to see the details. If you figure anything out about it, please keep me posted! Thanks so much! I appreciate you taking the time to check this out.