ARUMANA NO KISEKI
Game Cover
Game Disk
アルマナの奇跡
©Konami 1987
Release: 1987-08-11 (¥2980)
DiskCard KDS-ARM
Action/Platform game

Arumana no Kiseki is a platform game by Konami featuring an Indiana Jones wannabe named Kaito. The game opens up in a remote village in an desolate country - The Arumana, a red magic stone, has been keeping the village at peace for centuries but a callous thief stole the precious jewel and a mysterious spell turned all the villagers into stone statues. Kaito must pursue the evil demon who stole the stone and bring it back to its original owners. But our hero doesn't come empty handed and his greatest strength is his grappling hook. This particular item is at the core of the gameplay - he can throw it in the air and use it to reach high platforms, climb up or to go over obstacles. The player also has a large arsenal of weapons at is disposal, from throwing knives (short range), bombs, a gun (long range), bola-balls to a mystical orb (kills all enemies on the screen) and spiky balls (which can be used as a weapon or to reveal hidden passageways). They however all come in limited quantities and must be refilled throughout the game. Other items include meat (restores health), extra lives and pendants (increase maximum life). Arumana no Kiseki consists of six large stages, each concluded by a boss battle.
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Arumana no Kiseki Konami Cards
Japanese Konami Card Japanese Konami Card Japanese Konami Card Japanese Konami Card
Japanese Konami Card Japanese Konami Card

Konami Cards Like several other early Konami games released in the 1980s/1990s, Arumana no Kiseki included a numbered collector card also known in Japan as コナミ キャラカード (aka 'Konami Chara Cards' or 'Konami Character Cards'). Each card featured an illustration or a snapshot from the game (picture on the right), and the back of each card showed a serial number as well as the game's title. They were randomly included with the games and Konami produced several variations of each card. That's it, each game included a card from a series related to the game, it is however not known how many different card variations were made for each game. Apparently six cards (on average) were produced for each game, except for Doremikko (1 card), Exciting Boxing (1 card) and Meikyujin Dababa (which, curiously, only seem to feature five cards). The list of Konami games to include such cards are believed to be : Ai Senshi Nicol (FDS), Dracula II Noroi no Fuin (FDS), Arumana no Kiseki (FDS), Contra (FC), Doremikko (FDS), Dragon Scroll (FC), Exciting Baseball (FDS), Exciting Basketball (FDS), Exciting Billard (FDS), Exciting Boxing (FDS), Exciting Soccer (FDS), Falsion (FDS), Getsu Fūma Den (FC), Majō Densetsu II Daimashikyō Galious(FC), Meikyū Jiin Dababa (FDS), Metal Gear (FC), Salamander (FC), Tetsuwan Atom (FC), Top Gun (FC) and Wai Wai World (FC).


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Arumana no Kiseki - manual
Click on picture to enlarge

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Arumana no Kiseki is an incredibly difficult game to master, here are some tips to help you to get through it:

Enemies keep respawning from doors scattered throughout the game. However, if you stand in front of a door, enemies will stop respawning from it, giving you some breathing space.

Learn to master the jump and rope throw - if you keep the controller in an up-diagonal position (left or right) and press the jump and attack button at the same time, you will be able to jump and throw the hook. This is tricky to master but will allow you to reach many platforms in the game.
If you are low on ammo, wait at any door. Red enemies will eventually respawn from it and release items when defeated. Various places in the game are perfect locations to refill your inventory.

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Add your Pov here !

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I have mixed feelings about Arumana no Kiseki. The game certainly displays some incredible production values with detailed graphics and gorgeous and atmospheric music tracks - Konami at its best. The game also borrows most of its elements from the Indiana Jones and the temple of Doom movie, was Konami expecting to license it at some point? In any case, this was the promise of a great game in my book! But after the excitement comes the reality. Arumana no Kiseki has an insane 'old school difficulty' written all over it, and it is stuffed with frustrating moments and the rope/hook feature is an ingenious and unique idea but just ends up being awkward and incredibly clunky to control. Additionally, although Kaito can jump, it is useless in most cases and mastering the grappling hook is necessary, even to jump onto most moving platforms. I have to say, even after playing this one for hours, I never managed to get used to the controls... Especially as enemies keep respawning and attacking you, leaving you little space to breathe. I feel that Arumana No Kiseki often asks too much of the player - this is a shame because it exhibits exceptional talents. All in all, it is game that will certainly reward players who can handle its punishing difficulty and questionable control decisions, but may be a frustrating experience for the ones who can't.




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