Magician Lord [Model NGM-005]

Platform Games Wizards 

Type of the game: [Coin-Op] Arcade Video Game
Magician Lord © 1990 Alpha Denshi Co., Ltd.

Magician Lord is a side-scrolling platform shoot-em-up in which players take on the roll of a wizard called Elta - the last Magician Lord - on his quest to save his homeland from the evil Gul-Agieze, who plans to resurrect the God of Destruction using 8 tomes of mystical power.

Elta has to jump, shoot and climb his way to the end of each of the game's 8 levels where he must beat a servant of Gal, along with one of Gal's sinister boss creations. To complete the game Elta must reach the final stage and defeat Az Atorse himself. If the player takes too long to complete a stage, Elta will be harassed by an invincible monster.

Elta's primary form of attack is a weak but fast-moving energy projectile that can fired in one of four directions, but by collecting the special coloured orbs that ocassionally appear, he can transform into a different form, making him more powerful and giving him new attacks.

These are the six different forms that Elta can assume by picking up the colored orbs:

* Dragon Warrior: In this form Elta attacks by breathing fire; a continuous short-range attack that, unlike the standad attack, can also be aimed diagonally.

* Waterman: The Waterman-form attacks with water grenades – blue bubbles of water that burst upon touching the ground and form into water pillars. The attack can hit several times for additional damage but only covers a small area.

* Poseidon: A more powerful version of the Waterman, Poseidon shoots wide waves of water that travel along the ground for several hits. It does severe damage and causes enemies to freeze and shatter on impact. While very powerful, this form moves very slowly.

* Shinobi: The Shinobi-form gains increased agility and attacks with powerful magical arcs of fire which are wide but slow-moving.

* Samurai: While limited in range, the Samurai-form is the only form that can attack through walls, shields or even multiple enemies, using a boomerang-like energy attack that does heavy damage.

* Raijin: The Raijin-form gives Elta's jumping ability a big boost as well as a unique attack that creates a continuous electrical field around his body.

SNK Neo-Geo MVS Hardware
Game ID : [Model NGM-005]

Main CPU : 68000 (@ 12 Mhz)
Sound CPU : Z80 (@ 4 Mhz)
Sound Chips : YM2610 (@ 8 Mhz)

Players : 2
Control : 8-Way Joystick
Buttons : 2
=> [A] Shot, [B] Jump

Magician Lord was released on April 26, 1990. This is the first Alpha Denshi game for the SNK Neo-Geo MVS hardware and it was the first game which used the capabilities of the hardware (zooming, stretching).

At this time, this game was the Killer application for Neo-Geo, all reviews from magazines were very positive, many people wanted it and bought it.

Default highscore table :
1 50000
2 40000 RYU
3 30000
4 20000
5 10000

Consoles:

SNK Neo-Geo (July 01, 1991; "Magician Lord [Model NGH-005]")
SNK Neo-Geo CD (1994, "Magician Lord [Model ADCD-100]")
Nintendo Wii (2007, "Virtual Console")
Sony PlayStation 2 May 05, 2008 "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model SLUS-21724]"
Sony PSP May 05, 2008 "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model ULUS-10338]"
Sony PlayStation 2 May 29, 2008 "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model SLKA-25424]"
Nintendo Wii July 29, 2008 "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model RVL-P-RNCE]"
Sony PSP Oct. 17, 2008 "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model ULES-01105]"
Nintendo Wii Oct. 31, 2008 "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model RVL-P-RJZP]"
Sony PlayStation 2 Nov. 21, 2008 "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model SLES-55232]"
Sony PSP May. 21, 2009 "SNK Arcade Classics Vol.1 [Model ULJS-193]"
Sony PlayStation Store (Dec.2010)

Game's rom.
Game's picture.