

Developed by BrezzaSoft.
The Crystal of Kings is an extremely rare arcade scrolling fighter developed by BrezzaSoft. It boasts very high-quality pre-rendered graphics, and a morality system that determines whether you get a good, neutral, or bad ending. Unfortunately, the gameplay is far behind the curve, resembling Golden Axe more than advanced brawlers such as Guardian Heroes or Gaia Crusaders.
Once long ago, the land was governed by kings who wielded crystals, orbs of magic that rival the power of the gods. Amongst them was an ambitious man named Nightspirit, who grew corrupt with his crystal's power. Dubbing himself the Crystal of Kings, he unleashed a hellish army of monsters in an attempt to pillage the land's remaining crystals for himself. The just and elderly king of Estorea entrusted his country's crystal to his loyal knight, Cocco. He begs him to band together with the other kingdoms' warriors to destroy the evil tyrant.

Role-playing (RPG) / Hack and slash/Beat 'em up / Arcade / Action / Fantasy
Shadow over Mystara is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up with role-play elements that make it stand out from other similar games released at the time. In addition to the original four heroes found in its predecessor, Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom (Cleric, Dwarf, Elf and Fighter), Shadow of Mystara adds a Thief and a Magic-User to the selection. Furthermore, with the inclusion of two separate versions of each character's sprite set, the game allows up to two players to select the same character (in Tower of Doom each of the characters could only be selected once), effectively giving the game 12 "different" characters to choose from. The two Clerics and two Magic Users also have subtle differences within their spell books. The controls are using four buttons: Attack, Jump, Select (brings up a small inventory ring around the character allowing the player to choose what item is set in the Use slot) and Use. The Cleric, Elf and Magic-User also have two extra rings for their spells, with the Jump button used to switch from ring to ring. While the game uses the same kick harness as the previous game, the Select and Use buttons are reversed. Shadow over Mystara also introduced a selection of special moves which are executed by moving the joystick and tapping the buttons in certain combinations, in a way similar to the Street Fighter series. The characters (except for the Magic-User) have a Dashing Attack as well as a Rising Attack which can be used to combo monsters or even juggle them in the air. Most characters (again, with the exception of the Magic-User and also Cleric) also have a Megacrush, a move common to nearly all of Capcom side-scrollers, which damages all enemies standing close enough to the character but in turn also damaging the player themselves.

Hack and slash/Beat 'em up / Arcade / Action / Fantasy
Ninja Action! The stage is set for conspiracy, mystery and evil in America. Come with Ninja Ryu as he takes you on his fateful journey. Tecmo's unique cinema display system develops the story stage by stage. You piece together the puzzle, while watching the movie-like graphics. Decide what action to take. Use the secret sword and items collected during the action scenes to fight your way to the goal!

Fighting / Hack and slash/Beat 'em up / Action / Fantasy
The Lord of Darkness, Dark Guld, has arisen again. Wielding the famous Golden Axe, he has destroyed entire countries with his evil clan, forcing the world into chaos. Once again, three brave warriors stand up to face the oppressors, and won’t rest until the Golden Axe is returned to its rightful place.

Hack and slash/Beat 'em up / Action / Fantasy
Chaos is spreading across the land once again as the Prince of Darkness arises to conquer the world. To stop him and retrieve the legendary Golden Axe, four heroes step forward to accept the challenge.

Hack and slash/Beat 'em up / Arcade / Action / Fantasy
Progress is made through the game by fighting through Death Adder's henchmen, including men armed with clubs and maces, skeleton warriors, and knights. Players are able to attack using their weapon, jump and cast spells that hurt all enemies on the screen. The force of this magic depends on the number of "bars" of magic power currently available. The bars are filled by collecting blue 'magic potions' attained by kicking little sprites who then drop the potions. These sprites appear during regular levels and during bonus stages in between levels. The male warrior Ax is able to cast earth spells. The dwarf Gilius, casts lightning spells and the female warrior Tyris casts fire magic. Each character has a different number of maximum magic bars and varying ranges of attack. Various steeds known as bizarrians are found in the game. These can be ridden when the enemy rider is knocked off, or if one is found dormant. The least powerful steed is known as the Cockatrice, which can be used to knock down enemies with a swipe of its tail. The more powerful dragon, which can either shoot fireballs or breathe fire, is found later in the game.

Platform / Hack and slash/Beat 'em up / Action / Fantasy
Shadow of the Beast is a platform game developed by Reflections and published by Psygnosis in 1989. The original version was released for the Amiga and later ported to many other systems. The game was known for its graphics, with many colours on screen and up to twelve levels of parallax scrolling backdrops, and its atmospheric score composed by David Whittaker, which used high-quality instrument samples.

Role-playing (RPG) / Hack and slash/Beat 'em up / Arcade / Action / Fantasy
The game has 16 levels, though many are quite short. Much like Capcom's Knights of the Round, King of Dragons features an role-playing video game-like level advancement system. Points scored for killing monsters and picking up gold count towards experience, and the character gains levels at regular intervals. With each level, the character's health bar increases, other attributes such as range improve, and the character also becomes invulnerable for a few seconds. Along the way, different weapon and armor upgrades for each character may also be picked up. King of Dragons features a simple control system that consists of a single attack button, and a jump button. By pressing both buttons, the character unleashes a magical attack that strikes all enemies in screen (its strength varies according to the character used) at the expense of losing energy. The fighter, cleric and dwarf can also use their shield to block certain attacks by tilting the joystick back right before the impact. This is one of the many Capcom games to feature the yashichi power-up item. There are three such power-ups hidden throughout the game, each giving the player an extra continue.

Platform / Role-playing (RPG) / Hack and slash/Beat 'em up / Action / Fantasy
An open-world action-adventure game for the Nintendo Entertainment System that features a barbarian warrior with a distinctive "diskarmor" weapon. It is distinct from the original 1986 Arcade game Rygar, which saw numerous home console ports.