10 Awesome Sega Mega Drive Games You've Never Played
7. Landstalker: The Treasures Of King Nole
This isometric adventure combined elements familiar in an RPG with some hack and slash dynamics, in turn forging the console's brightest adventure title. Donning the shoes of a pointy-eared treasure hunter by the name of, erm, Nigel, gamers took control of this hero as he was sent on a mission to find a fabled treasure trove. Knowing the genre well, Climax Entertainment presented a decent balance of village roaming, character upgrading and dungeon crawling. Nigel could rely on his trusty default sword attack, as well as hurling the occasional object when required, and his character was brought to life in a variety of story-progressing cut scenes. By adopting the above point of view, a new gameplay dimension was also added where ledge-hopping puzzles were introduced and some well-timed leaps of faith required. The console has seen a slew of Nintendo-aping RPGs in its lifetime - Sword Of Vermilion, Soleil and the revered Beggar Prince to name a few - but it's this fun and focused adventure that deserves all the plaudits that it continues to receive.
Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing.
He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.
