AQUTALLION
( Tecmo Secret Of The Stars )
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アクタリオン
©Tecmo Soft Products Ltd. 1993
Release: 1993-11-05 (¥8900)
Cartridge SHVC-AQ
Role Playing Game
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Released in America as
TECMO SECRET OF THE STARS
( SNS-AQ-USA )
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Aqutallion (aka Secret of the Stars in America) is a
little known Role Playing Game by Tecmo.
The game tells the story of Ray, a young and adventurous teenager who
lives with his mother on a tiny island. Years ago, Ray's father was mysteriously killed and
her mother raised the poor boy after the tragedy. One day, our hero discovers
that something terrible is about to happen. An evil demon called Homncruse
is poised to take over the World and only Ray and his friends
can do something about it. He sets out on a journey to find five companions
and the guardians who will eventually help him in his quest. The most interesting feature
of the game is how the player controls two teams of heroes - the Aqutallions
and the Kustera. Each party has special abilities and needs to be used
in conjunction with one another for the most benefit. Aqutallion also
cleverly mixes fantasy and technology and villains often rely on machines
to fulfill their evil intentions. Beyond that, Aqutallion is a
traditional Role Playing Game - our heroes travel the world, visit towns,
villages, dungeons and gather clues. Combats are turned-based and
are randomly triggered throughout the game,
and their sole purpose is to gain experience points and
to level up. Magic has also its place in the game and the player can
combine spells to trigger more powerful combo-attacks.
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There are various differences between the Japanese and American
versions of the game. The most
obvious are the expected censorship upon anything related to alcohol. For instance,
the sign outside bars shows a glass and a bottle of liquor in the Japanese version
whereas it was turned into a cup of coffee in the American version (picture on the left).
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Game Staff (Copied from the American version's end credits) :
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Translator
Keisuke Kuboki
Message Help
H. Nakajima
H. Tabata
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ORIGINAL STAFF
Planning
T. Kurakata
K. Ueda
K. Takamiya
M. Tsuboko
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Programming
H. Sato
S. Sekiguchi
K. Kojima
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C.G
H. Kon
A. Yajima
M. Takamatsu
K. Sato
T. Hamai
H. Miyajima
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Sound Effect
C. Okayasu
Manual Staff
M. Karibe
K. Niwayama
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G
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Japanese Phonecard
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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Aqutallion is not at the pinnacle of what the Super Famicom can do.
There are some nicely drawn enemies but the game doesn't get anywhere near other Role
Playing Games for the system and graphics look horribly dated. Sprites are tiny, not really
detailed and some seem to be reused for different characters in the game! On another
hand the game offers some really original moments - such as the two teams of heroes
that can be played in conjunction with one another. However, Aqutallion gets really challenging,
experience points are hard to collect and a lot of training is needed to progress further
into the game. Combats are frustratingly frequent and repetitive which quickly
becomes annoying, but, thankfully, the game's designers cleverly added an
auto-battle option (which, sadly, tends to often kill your heroes...).
Overall, Aqutallion is average but not as bad as some players picture it.
I would only recommended it to anyone who has already been through all the best
RPGs for the system (such as the Final Fantasy or Breath Of Fire series)
and who is looking for something different to quench his thirst.
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