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(c)1993 IREM CORP
Release : 1994-1-7 (¥7700)
SuperCDRom² ICCD3004
Role Playing Game
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Irem is certainly most famous for its glorious series of shooters such as
R*Type or puzzle games such as the cute Gussun Oyoyo. But Irem
didn't only shine in those fields and Sol Moonarge is a perfect example of this.
The game tells the story of Soleil, and later his son Sonia, two young
tree people. Suspicious looking demons starts appearing all over the country and the King
decides to send all his most valorous swordsmen seek for the Sword of the Sun
and protect two Moon goddesses and the gears of fate. Soleil's
journey starts in the small town of Itchy, and we will soon meet other friends who
will accompany him in his long quest. They include the cute red-haired Mappy
and the strong Nosu. Like any traditional role playing game, most of
the action happen in towns and villages and the view zooms out when our heroes travel
the world. However, Sol Moonarge also offers some neat side-scrolling and
action based stages such as the Demon Tower, where Soleil will have
to climb and jump from huge rotating gears. Combats are round based and an auto-fight
option is available. It also offers an interesting experience system where the main
character's magic and swordship skills can grow separately, depending on how often
they get used in fights. This greatly influence our hero's abilities throughout
the game. The gameplay is also influenced by a cycle of day and night, and some
events only occur during this two sided time line. Shops are only open during
daylight hours for instance and Soleil can only peep at some lovely next door
neighbourhood's bath time at night...
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Game Cast (Copied from the game's documentation) :
Soleil
Ryouchi Tanaka
Mappy
Chiyoko Kawashima
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North
Hidekatsu Shibata
Sonia
Hikaru Midorikawa
Pasta
Yuka Koyama
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Punch
Arihoro Masuda
Paff
Chiyoko Kawashima
Luna
Keiko Han
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Lune
Keiko Han
Vongole
Hidero Ishikawa
Black
Akira Kamiya
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Silver
Kaneto Shiozawa
Na
Iemasa Kayumi
EnglishNa
Taka Egawa
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Game Staff (Copied from the game's documentation) :
Planner
Syu Sato
Chief Designer
Kazakami Shun
Designer
Great Choukei
Zurio
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Chief Programmer
Shinichi Yamamoto
Visual Programmer
Kouji Kuri
Music Composer
Rikei Hirashima
Technical Coordinator
Kiyoshi Kitabayashi
Fukuchan
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Sound Tools
Jitta
Ricording Engineer
FM-Sounds
Off Road
Sound Efects
Sound Freak
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Price winners in the contest to name
this game held in monthly PC ENGINE
Manabu Sato
Yousuke Hatae
Cooperation of
DRAGONFLY members
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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Soleil starts his journey in the small town of Itchy. He is busy
hiting a dummy enemy in his back garden with a stick. As a side note, this little house
is interesting in the future and can be used as a Inn without paying any fees, very handy.
Leave the house and enter the town's castle (North). Talk to the king and answer A.
Soleil needs now to get some equipment, so get him to the town's shop. Because all
the text is in japanese, just look at the Defense and Attack attributes to figure out if
you are dealing with a weapon, or an armour. Healing herbs are called 'yakuso'. You can
now leave the town and go to the port of Knee (North/West). There enter the Inn and go to
the first floor. A group of people should be there, fighting against a red-haired girl.
Then leave the Inn and enter the house on the right. There talk to the guy with boxing
gloves who will go to the Inn and leave with the red-haired girl. You learn that some
evil thief has stolen the Map of Guidance and is now hidding in the old lighthouse
tower west of the port. And you also learn, as you leave the port, that the girl and the
other caravan people have now been kidnapped by those thieves and kept prisoner in the
tower. Go west and enter the Tower of Thieves. Fight the boss at the top and free
the caravan people. Now you need to go North/East through a bridge located on one of the
small islands to the East. However a big rock blocks the way. Go back to Itchy and enter
the Castle. There enter the little room at the back where some of the caravan people are
resting. Get in the bed and look under the pillow. At that point, the big guy with the
red gloves will follow you and move the rock. They also say you have to climb the fog
mountain located at the North/West of the bridge. In the mountain, you will meet a priest.
But things turn quickly bad, and an evil masked characters appear called Silver
appears and kills the priest. At that point, he casts a powerful spell on the team and you
all get warped to different parts of the world. Soleil lands in the town of Month.
There he meets the two goddesses of Month and also get the water of goddess.
The two girls who rescued Soleil get kidnapped by Silver and at this point,
go North/West and enter the Monster Tower to rescue them. Use the water on the plant
to make it grow so you can climb on it. Monsters here are tough, but you should now have a
special weapon in your equipment (I'm not sure at what point we receive it though).
Make sure you equip it, things should become much easier with it. At the top of the tower,
Soleil will affront the evil Silver again. He will fly away on his dragon's back.
Time passes and you now take control of Sonia, his son. Go to the North/East
(in a little house) and get the boat so you can go to the East and visit Knee Port
again. Enter the house next to the Inn, right above the shop. You will meet the strong
guy again. Exit the port and go to Ithy. Enter the castle where Sora will
meet an evil necromancer. Sona will get captured and jailed with a young girl.
There, they realise they have shrunk and are now really tiny. They get helped and escape.
After a while they encounter a mean magic mirror who may help them regain their original
size... I leave the rest to you to find out !
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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Sol Moonarge is a gorgeous, and sadly hard to find, Role Playing Game and
definitively ranks high in my top RPG list for the PC Engine system. The game's
animated cut scenes are a pleasure to watch, with elaborate and impressive graphics
and gorgeous designs. The story, without being outstanding, is well put together
and very interesting. The game often bounces around and certainly surprises the
player in more than one occasions. However, a good knowledge of Japanese is
necessary to enjoy this title fully. More that understanding what is going on
(which, in itself, won't prevent you to play the game), some actions just can't
be guessed without the numerous clues provided by the game. All in all this
game is a pure gem from its superb graphics, cut-scenes and gameplay to its
outstanding, and unusual art style giving it a unique appearance that I found
fascinating.
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