"One day peaceful Arabia was attacked by the demons. The evil magician Sabaron summoned them from the dark world for his evil desire. One brave magician attempted to fight him. But he failed, and his sweetheart was taken and all his memories erased. He was even thrown into a different time period. Do you remember this? The young magician is you. Only you can save Arabia. Please fight Sabaron again!"
In this game you take the role of a hero stripped of his power and cast back in time by the evil Sabaron. As the game progresses you vanquish foes and gather a host of allies to your cause, with the hope of saving Princess Scheherazade and putting an end to Sabaron's rule. Filled with Arabian themes, The Magic of Scheherazade is an adventure/CRPG that emphasizes a number of game play styles rather than specializing in only one. Combat consists of both turn based and real time fighting, puzzles can require brute force, magic, or an ally to complete, and your character "class" will vary throughout the game. Regrettably the plot is nothing more than the basic "save the princess" script with a few additions. This game is enjoyable and fairly well done, but ultimately most who play it will not find it to be a truly memorable experience.
Visually this game does acceptably with it's 8 bit graphics. Problems arise in the use of the top down perspective, which contains some graphical oddities. Buildings and NPCs in particular look like they were flattened to the ground with a large bread roller. On the other had, some of the spell effects in the turn based combat system are unusually cool looking for a game of this period. One of my favorites turns the monsters into little rockets that launch into the sky and detonate into colorful explosions.
The audio effects are decent, with nothing deplorable or particularly impressive about the sounds used throughout the game. The music is nicely done, with a good variation on themes as the hero moves from world to world, and each piece does a good job of supporting the mood of the world as a whole. It should be stated that the combat music does get irritating particularly fast in this game.
Story wise this game is rather typical. "Save the princess and kill the nasty demon" sum it up pretty well. This is offset a fair amount by the variety of options available in the game. I believe this is the first game I encountered for the Nintendo that allows one try to bribe off enemies and haggle with shopkeepers for better deals. The hero can also attend Universities where he can learn how to place his allies into formations capable of wielding powerful group magic, and also gain better weapons as a reward for attending classes. One can even hire mercenaries to help with the fighting. Neat little details like these make up a fair amount for the limited plotline. This game is entirely linear, and so lacks any real replay value.
Summary:
| Graphics : 85% | Decent graphics with a few flaws. |
| Audio : 75% | Acceptable sound with good but occasionally annoying music. |
| Gameplay : 75% | Interesting features make up somewhat for shallow plot. |
| Personal Curve: 85% | I enjoyed myself. Not too bad a game. |
Overall: 80% : This is a nice game that will appeal to a fairly limited audience. Those who liked other CRPGS may well find The Magic of Scheherazade to be worth giving a try. This is a game made memorable through a number of nifty little features rather than its ability to excel in any one area of game play. I had fun with this, and can't say I regret playing it through.