FAMILY MATTERS
THE INSANE COMPLEXITY OF THE WONDER BOY/ADVENTURE ISLAND FAMILY TREE IS WELL-KNOWN – BUT WHAT OTHER DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES ARE THERE IN GAMING?
Assault Suit Leynos
■ At Masaya, Toshirou Tsuchida produced Kai-serd as a crossover with Assault Suit Leynos. Tsuchida went to Square, helming the popular Front Mission franchise. Some Leynos staff made the sequel Valken (Cybernator here), others went to Omiya Soft creating Gun Hazard, which is the second Front Mission game. Kai-serd had a sequel, Vixen 357 and there was also Leynos 2 and Valken 2.
Aleste
■ Well this is complicated! Zanac, led to Zanac EX, then Aleste, AKA Power Strike, then an upgraded Aleste and Aleste Gaiden. Aleste 2 sadly wasn’t localised; Power Strike II (no relation) was released in Europe. GG Aleste II became Power Strike II. Dennin became Robo; Super became Space Megaforce. Don’t forget Gun-nac or Musha or Zanac X Zanac. We’re going to have a rest now.
Dragon Slayer
■ Yoshio Kiya created Panorama-toh, prototype JRPG leading to Dragon Slayer across computers. Xanadu was subtitled DS II, Romancia subtitled DS Jr. Don’t forget Faxanadu. Legacy Of The Wizard was officially DS IV, while Sorcerian is regarded as DS V. Dragon Slayer on PC Engine is actually The Legend Of Heroes. And on the subject of PC Engine, there is also The Legend Of Xanadu series.
a Alex Kidd
■ We’ve covered this, so let’s leave it there [Don’t be so flipping lazy! – Ed]. OK, there was Alex Kidd In Miracle World and Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars, was developed concurrently with the same planned mascot, but different concepts. The Lost Stars was followed by BMX Trial, Hightech World (actually an Anmitsu Hime
reskin), proper sequel Enchanted Castle,
and the fun crossover Shinobi World.
Roland
■ Named after Amstrad’s Roland Perry, this was the company’s attempt to create a mascot. All start with the name ‘Roland’, followed by Ahoy!, On The Ropes, In The Caves, Goes Digging, Goes Square Bashing, On The Run, In Time and In Space. If you want to know more about this popular Amstrad series, you can read our in-depth coverage on page 38 of this very issue. The stars have aligned…
Sabreman
■ The Sabreman series by Ultimate Play The Game (now Rare) is weird because it’s a collection of seemingly disparate games which are all different. You have Sabre Wulf, Underwurlde and Knight Lore on computers – all distinct. The Japanese Knight Lore on FDS is entirely different. Pentagram resembles Knight Lore; Mire Mare was unreleased. Sabre Wulf on
GBA is again unique.
Renegade
■ Where to begin… can we skip this? [Come on, finish the boxout! – Ed]. We’ve seen reports there are 30 titles in the series, we lost count after 40. It started with Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-kun which became Renegade. European sequels Target: Renegade and Renegade III are weird cousins. Russians thought Target: Renegade on NES was officially Double Dragon IV. The American River City Ransom became Street Gangs.
Bubble Bobble
■ The sequel to Bubble Bobble was Rainbow Islands. Then there was Parasol Stars which was subtitled The Story Of Bubble Bobble III. Except in Europe where it was subtitled Rainbow Islands 2. There’s also Bubble Bobble Part 2, which is not Rainbow Islands. Then Bubble Memories: The Story Of Bubble Bobble III. Puzzle Bobble is a puzzler. Bubble bath is a soap that makes foam.