MAKAI KIYÛ DEN SHAPE SHIFTER
game Cover
game CDRom
(c)1992 ICOM Simulations, Inc
(c)1992 Turbo Technologies. Inc.
(c)1992 Victor Musical Industries, Inc.
Release : 1992-09-29 (¥7400)
SuperCDRom² JCCD2011
Action / Adventure game

American Version
country
Released in America as
SHAPE SHIFTER
( TGXCD1021 )
Shapeshifter is a side scrolling action/adventure game by Icom Simulations and published in Japan by Victor Interactive. In the country of Krellion, monsters and demons have invaded the land and only a courageous warrior can restore peace and free the five members of the Ring Of Five and defeat the three demons called the "Dark Ones". Shapeshifter starts in the small city of Treyhelm and, at the beginning, our hero is only armed with his two fists - but soon, he finds the head of the city and receives a pass and some gold to purchase his first weapon. The game counts a total of three different upgradeable weapons, namely the Axe, the Mace and the bow and several suits or armor such as leather skin or chain mail. Our hero also has an unusual ability - every ten minutes of play, an eclipse occurs and refill his life. Another important feature of Shapeshifter are transformations - each time a member of the ring is rescued, our hero is given the ability to transform into a new form. Four forms are available throughout the game - the Panther, the Shark, the Golem and the Dragon. These transformations however consume gems and the player must make sure he always has enough stones at hand. The land of Krellion is vast and our hero will visit numerous places full of evil foes and large bosses. However, make sure he always return to Treyhelm as it is the only place in the game where his journey can be saved.
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Teaser text from the American version:
Far below the three moons that hang in the midnight sky lies the land of Krelion. And the people of this land live is an age of perfect peace and prosperity: The Age of Light. Now behind this prosperity lies its source: a fellowship of powerful wizards, five in all, called the Ring of Five. But on the fifth moon of the Age of Light, a dark wave of evil began to sweep across the land, leaving a wide path of destruction in its wake. And the Ring of Five, which had protected Krelion for centuries unsold, suddenly vanished from the land. Their face lies in the unholy hands of the evil beings from the shadow realm. Three beings of unthinkable power, known as the Dark Ones. Now the mid-summer equinox is almost at hand. And with this event, the Dark Ones will shatter the barrier that lies between Krelion and the shadow realm. But there is a single light in the darkness. His name is Lylas and he has the power to change its shape at will, and hopefully, save krelion before it is too late-before the land is plunged into a dark, eternal nightmare... never to awaken...

Game Staff (Copied from the game's documentation) :

[ORIGINAL STAFF]

Senior Programmer
Roman Sharnberg

Assisting Programmer
Christian Gustafsson

Senior Artist
Tom Zehner

Assisting Artist
Doug Snook

Producer
David Marsh

Executive Producer
Ken Tarolla

Design
Doug Snook
Tom Zehner
David Marsh
Roman Sharnberg
Christian Gustafsson

Additional Design
Karl Roelofs
Brian Babendererde

Additional Artwork
David Marsh
Ricardo Delgado
Hector Mertinez
Richard Martin
Roman Sharnberg
Dialogue
David Marsh

Talent
N.U.T.S
Minneapolis, MN

Audio Recording
Tri Audio-Digital
Minneapolis,MN

Soundtrack
David Tumminaro
Chick Steneck
Music Comp Inc, Roselle, IL
Recorded at
Fine Line Studios, Inc.
E. Dundee, IL

"Slipping Into Nowhere"
Lyrics by Todd Papaleo and Brad Donnelly (BMI)
Music by Todd Papaleo and Sven Herman (BMI)
Performed by Zipnick Youth
Guitars: Chrus Herman and Brad Donnelly
Synthesizers: Todd Papaleo and Sven Herman
Digitally Mastered at MidiMagic Studios, Northbrook, IL
Engineer by John Slywka
Copyright 1992 Monkmusic, Inc, All rights reserved.
In Memory of Tod Zipnick (1955-1991)
[JAPANESE STAFF]

Producer
Atsuhi Okabe

Director
Masato Mizushima

Special Thanks
Toshiyuki Nagai
Yoshitada Iwasa
Takashi Kimura
Kobku Minami
Kaku Maetani
Shunji Nishizawa
Etsuko Matsuoka

Supervisor
Satoshi Honda
Harunobu Komori
Katsumi Arai
Isamu Senda
Toshimichi Kawamura

Video Direction
P-Cube Co.Ltd

All Design
LITERATO

Actor/Actress
Syuichi Ikeda
Takeshi Kuwahara
Motomu Kiyokawa
Akira Murayama
Seiichi Hirai
Akiko Muta
Yō Inoue

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I must say, Shapeshifter was a surprise. A surprise in the sense that I wasn't initially expecting an action/adventure game but instead a traditional Role Playing game. Was it a good surprise though ? Read on. Shapeshifter has some really unique features, such as the different transformations and the relation that the character has with the moon. It somehow feels like a mix of Adventure Island (aka Dragon Curse), in the concept, and Makyo Densetsu (aka Legendary Axe) in the game's overall design. Graphics, without being groundbreaking, look good and fit the game well (bosses are literally huge). Animation is also incredible with some of the most amazing parallax scrolling I have ever seen running on the PC Engine system. My only complaint would go for the controls and the unbalanced difficulty level. Shapeshifter can be a really frustrating experience and our hero often receives damages without being able to hit back because of the awkward range of the various weapons. Then jumps sometimes need to be incredibly precise, especially with the panther form which makes the whole thing painful and irritating past a few hours of play. Shapeshifter is the sort of game you need to practice a lot in order to appreciate it in full.




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