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 The
Magic of Scheherazade is
a very unique but somewhat unknown RPG/Adventure game released by Culture
Brain in 1989. This little company
may not be very famous but they pumped out two other high quality NES
titles in Little Ninja Brothers and
Baseball Simulator 1.000. Scheherazade earns its unique status by
starting out looking like yet another The
Legend of Zelda clone but adding in random turn-based battles (Final Fantasy style) throughout
the game. This is the only NES
title that I’m aware of that completely mixes Zelda’s hack & slash
style with true RPG turn based fighting.
The plot of the game is that you
have awoken with amnesia and must save the lovely Princess Scheherazade
from the evil dragon. The catch is
that you must continually travel back and forth through time to meet
certain characters, find weapons and finally kill the dragon before he
turn into the vicious monster that he is in the present day. Along the way you will pick up over ten
characters that will aid you in battle (you can only choose up to two
teammates for each turn-based fight).
The game is divided into five chapters, in each chapter you must
visit a couple towns, recruit some characters to your team, travel
through time, learn some new spells, find upgrades to your sword and
magic rod and finally make your way through a dungeon and defeat a
boss. In each chapter you may only
gain five levels through experience points after which you stop accruing
them for defeating enemies.
The game is incredibly unique and
full of interesting ideas, unfortunately each chapter feels extremely
similar to the previous one and by the end of the game your excitement
has turned into more of a desire to just get done with the darn
game. There are so many characters
and their roles are so minor that it is hard to keep track of everyone’s
reason for joining your army. You
will also soon discover that you don’t really need to participate in the
turn-based battles and that you can move through the game quicker by just
running from them (the advantage to participating in them is defeated enemies
drop items and you gain serious experience points).
Each chapter not only plays
eerily similar to the one before it but the overworld maps also feel like
déjà vu with some of them actually being exactly the same. Despite these problems the game is fun
and provides a worthy challenge. A
sequel had been announced for this game in Nintendo Power but
unfortunately nothing ever came of this and it seems highly unlikely that
it was ever begun.
Positives:
 The biggest draw for Scheherazade is the
mixing of Zelda and RPG elements into one game. When I first started playing, the game
seemed like another Zelda knock-off but I was quickly quieted when my
first turn-based battle began. The
time travel element is also unique and used well within the story
unfortunately it was not so well-utilized
graphics-wise as the different time periods look virtually identical to
each other. There are also three
different classes within the game: Magician, Fighter and Saint – you can
switch between the three throughout the game and you will need to be all
three by the time you have saved your gal. You can also go to different
Universities throughout the game to learn battle formations that will
make the RPG fights incredibly easy.
Another interesting aspect is that you can hire mercenary soldiers
to help you out in your RPG battles.
These guys deal some serious damage and protect you as well. Since The Magic of Scheherazade takes place in Arabia you can also
haggle with the merchants to get them to lower their price and you can
even take out loans in order to buy something you desperately need – just
make sure you pay them back (with interest)!
Glaring
Negatives:
Unfortunately there are some
problems with this game. Due to it
being divided up into chapters, the exploration element of the game has
been greatly reduced. Also each
chapter plays out in the exact same format, with very little in the way
of surprises being thrown at you.
The graphics are also a bit weak considering the game was released
in 1989 but that makes sense since it was an ’87 Famicom title. I also feel like the RPG aspect of the
game could have been made better by having more of the important battles
be turn-based instead of just random encounters throughout the game. Every boss is defeated Zelda style but
you usually need the help of a friend and if you’ve used their magic
during the RPG battles then you will find it impossible to defeat certain
bosses.
Graphics
and Sound: Decent
The graphics are a little dull
and weak. For instance when you
carry around your hammer it actually just sits on top of your head
instead of getting held by you. There
isn’t very much variety on the landscapes throughout the game
either. On the other hand, most characters
have large sprites and some of the bosses look pretty darn cool. The music is also pretty catchy and
doesn’t get nearly as annoying as some game do that you have to play for
hours.
Gameplay
and Controls: Fine
The controls are good. You walk around and slash enemies and
they die. It feels very much like The Legend of Zelda. You can’t
walk diagonally and one strange thing is that you have to switch from
sword to speak in the options menu when you are in towns or you will hit
the townspeople with your sword.
This seems strange since there is no use for the sword inside towns.
 Features: Password
You get an extremely long
password to write down upon death along with unlimited continues. You also start out with three guys,
when you have used up your final life you must begin back at the
beginning of the chapter although you retain all items that you’ve picked
up.
Fun?: Yes
I loved this game for the first
half but once the novelty wore off I found myself not nearly as excited to
pick it back up. By the end I just
wanted it over but once I beat it, I felt like it was a fun game
overall. I just wish that there
had been a little more variety towards the end.
Challenge:
Pretty Tough
The first two chapters are easy
and then the game gets progressively tougher. All hidden items are easily found as
the townspeople and your teammates give you all the clues necessary for
victory. The fourth boss is very
tough and the final boss is no cakewalk either.
Replay: Not
really
Like most games of this type, I
can’t imagine myself re-investing the time needed to beat this game
anytime soon.
2
Player: No
That never seems to be an option
in these kinds of games.
Online
Manual?: Yes at Nintendo Age
Yes
check Nintendo Age, they have a scan of every manual on the NES.
Bottom
Line: A second tier Adventure title
While it certainly isn’t as good
as The Legend of Zelda, The Magic
of Scheherazade is unique enough to have a rabid following. While I don’t think it’s an amazing
game there are a number of people who appreciate the RPG aspect of the
game enough to call it one of the best games on the NES. For me it is just a great idea mixed
into a decent game. If you love
RPG/Adventure games then it’s a must-own otherwise you can probably pass
on it.
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