Crusader of Centy on Genesis: Did you play it?

This game was largely ignored for a very good reason when it was released in 1995 on Sega Genesis: The world had already moved on to the Sony Playstation and to a much lessor degree the Sega Saturn as well. Cartridge-based home consoles already seemed like things of the past and it was a rather strange decision to release this game at all if it was only going to be for a system that was being phased out.

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I did not own this game nor did I know anyone who did. I actually didn't even hear about it until a few years ago and then played it on an emulator. If this title had been released a few years earlier than it was it might have been one of the best selling games the Genesis ever had. It also had some striking similarities to another, reasonably popular game on the SNES.

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There is some speculation that the game was not released in the USA because of fear of a lawsuit from Nintendo over this game's very similar feel in almost every way to Zelda: A Link to the Past and I think it would be silly for anyone to deny that. But in Atlus' defense you did in fact have apples for your life bar instead of hearts, so that makes it totally different.

The story is actually very similar to Zelda as well as you play the role of "Corona", a boy who has just turned 14 and inherits a sword in order to save the world from the evil that is taking over the planet.

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The game seems like a clone and I am certain that to some degree that is exactly what it is. That doesn't mean that it isn't a great game though, because it is a fantastic game that pushed the Genesis to the limits as far as it's graphical and sound capabilities were.

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There was pseudo 3D that we rarely experienced in games at that point in time and a vast world to explore. The world was meant to appear to be "open world" but in all actuality it isn't really. Crusader of Centy is actually quite linear and going to places that you shouldn't be in yet isn't just discouraged, its impossible.

One of the best elements of the game, which was also one of the only truly unique elements that made it not simply appear to be a 100% clone of Zelda was the addition of the the pets that would follow you around and assist you.

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Certain situations called for certain pets in order to be possible at all and others would provide some sort of advantage in battle. This notion was a precursor to many other pet aspects in games that was wildly popular in Japan, where this game was called Ragunasenti.

The Genesis was pretty devoid of RPG titles and that was a real problem for Sega in Japan. It was a problem for me in USA a well because other than Sword of Vermillion and Phantasy Star 2 and 3, I dont' recall any RPG games on the Genesis at all. This one game out too late for me to care and it retailed for $70 at the time as well.

You can pick up one now on Ebay if you feel so inclined.

That's right! For the price of a Toyota you can have your very own authentic Crusader of Centy Sega Genesis game. Of course there are opened pre-owned ones that can be bought for a mere $600 or so if you are feeling frugal. For me, I chose to use a ROM emulator such as the one that can be found HERE

So if you have one of these lying around somewhere, and not many people do because it actually sold very poorly due to it's release date, you have at least $500 coming to you should you decide to sell it.

All silliness aside, this game was pretty fantastic and it is a damn shame that it wasn't released in a better time frame, because I think it would have sold very well despite the fact that it is an obvious clone of Zelda.