Tracking down a 16-bit era game

The Core Video Games Forum
#1

another board suggested i should post here
(could be double-post as the first post I made here I can’t seem to find)
hunting down a game i played briefly from my childhood

it was during the 16-bit era (read: it was either gensis or snes)
played it at a video store when i was on holiday
they had consoles setup pre-pay $5 for 15 minutes play
picked up controllers for one of them.clerk hadn’t disabled it yet
i played for more than an hour apparently before the clerk disabled it
i left the store a bit embarassed i had been a leeching store rat
figured i’d just find the game what i got back home.
i scanned hundred of genesis/snes game boxes. couldn’t find it
fast-forward to now and i realised i still haven’t found it
my google-fu sucks and i can’t track it down

the game was an isometric 45 degree, adventure / rpg type game
(45 degree = movement in 4 directions to the ‘corners’ of the screen)
basically it was a lot like Landstalker, except much better
graphics less pixelly, larger array of items, closer to what jrpgs are
armor, sword, boots, etc upgrades would change the character model
movement was grid based (in isometric view) and jumping was allowed
attack system was like landstalker as well
game was also in english (could have been regionalised?)

again it was very much like landstalker
i have played through landstalker fully
i did not encounter what played on that holiday
i can confirm that it is definitely not Landstalker
i can confirm it is definitely not: Equinox, Light Crusader, Tactics Orge, Mario RPG (not even close)

so can anyone help me on this one?

pic related. it’s landstalker. i played it through. it wasn’t it.

#2

I’m willing to bet that it’s the Genesis version of Arcus Odyssey. Either that or Rings of Power; another Genesis game.

#3

thanks killmore
i’ve had a look at some playthrough videos on youtube
(what an age we live in. i used to have to buy the darn things)

with Arcus Odyssey the viewing angle looks a little high
might be due to the smaller spriting or something
so while isometric is doesn’t “pop” out like this game did
(or for comparison, like how landstalker does)

with Rings of Power the graphics seem a lot “plainer”
it also seems confined to the diamond area for that view
this game had a wider view like landstalker does

i should note it was like landstalker in movement, comabt, and visual look
the main bit i remember was a ‘hill’ section which was like a 3d platformer
except more grid based since you could only ‘jump’ up / down / left / right
each bit you jump to only had one to three blocks of movement
at the same time there were enemies / monsters so you had to jump and attack
they took a couple of swings to get through but it was easy enough
i also remember going through my items and switching to better armor
doing so changed the look of the character model making it ‘bulkier’

i keep bringing up landstalker because i really mean it was like landstalker
when i got back from holidays i scourned my local video library for it
based on the cover caps i though landstalker was the game
rented it out and played the crap out of that game (my late charges were huge)
having got through it all though i never encountered what did on my holiday
very glad i played landstalker, but it wasn’t my holiday game

i should also say i don’t expect this game to be found
i mean we’re talking about something that’s around 20 years old here
not to mention that i only played the game once while on a holiday
but for me, that hour+ session was extremely engrossing
which basically became my gateway ‘drug’ for rpgs in general

#4

okay i’m pretty sure i’ve replied twice but it’s just not getting approved for viewing

so instead, in short, it wasn’t Arcus Odyssey nor Rings of power
the angle on Arcus Odyssey look too high
the view on Rings of power is too narrow
the game had the same exceedingly similar isometric angle as Landstalker

#5

Was it maybe Dark Savior or perhaps Shadowrun?

Really tough to say with so little details to go on.