I just got done playing Zeliard for the 3rd time in my life. I played it around 1992 for the first time, 2000 for the second time, and just recently in 2006 for the last time. Man this is a sweet game. Even though it is simple and straight forward, it is still good for hours of fun.
The name “Zeliard” seems like a cheap rip-off of the game “Zelda” and the main characters do look alike. This game follows the same mold as many other early computer games and RPG’s.
Something bad has happened to a princess and now a hero must step forward and defeat the evil foe who has wronged the princess and stolen prosperity from the land.
The game pretty much consists of traveling from town to town through labyrinths that can be extremely confusing at times. It helped a lot this last time around to use maps that were posted on the internet. It made it much simpler to see where you wanted to go and how to get there. Plus, the original version of the game came with the map to all levels so it is almost a disadvantage if the player is without them. Each level ends with a boss type character
that is usually somewhat difficult. There are certain tricks to beating each boss and ways to make it easier (like pressing F9 and slowing down the game speed). I also read that if you drink a blue potion right before entering the encounter room, you will be invincible while the health is filling up.
Duke Garland is the main character and he starts out as a pretty weak guy with crappy equipment. When you kill beings in the labyrinths, you collect diamonds which can be turned into the bank in town for gold. The player then uses gold to buy weapons and magic that will help them through the worlds. This makes Duke tougher, along with sages that teach him magic spells and give him a higher life gauge. There are also many things that must be found in the caverns such as shoes and keys that are essential to move through the game. The internet also comes in handy here when you can’t find something.
For some reason, I could not get the soundblaster music to work and I had to use the internal PC speakers. The music got kind of annoying after a while and I had to shut it off sometimes. I do remember the soundblaster music from when I played it earlier, and it is not bad. The game play is pretty good and fun but can sometimes be frustrating, especially when you can’t find something in the labyrinth. Overall this is a sweet game and I recommend it to anyone who wants to revisit the roots of gaming and have a good time.
