Crusader of Centy is an action-adventure role-playing game (RPG) developed by Japanese video game developer Nextech for the Sega Genesis. It was released in 1994 in Japan. The USA and Europe got this in 1995.
I always taught that the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive was lacking a good action RPG like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo (SNES). But this truly hidden gem proved me wrong. It, unfortunately, came out when the Super Nintendo was already filled with many good RPGs.
The Story
It is your fourteenth birthday, by the order of the King, you must go out and fight the foul creatures! But using strength will not be enough. As you search the land for the truth, your heroic destiny begins to unfold. Animal allies will aid you with new powers and strength. Battle sorcerers, travel through time and gain wisdom to change the Earth's fate.
The Graphics and Sound
Nice, bright, and cheerful kids graphics. They look good and the backgrounds look great. The animals have their own cute style in this one. This was done near the end of the game console's life, so the graphics are much better than earlier Sega games with RPG elements.
The sound is decent. Most of the tunes suit most of the areas and places in the game. And the sound effects are good too.
The Gameplay
You start out the game (in top-down view) as a teen boy on his birthday getting a sword. Basically, from there you begin your training. The NPCs in the game are not very helpful. A few times, they give you mystery hints on what to do, but more or less, you are on your own.
The gameplay is pretty simple - you swing a sword, you throw a sword, you jump, and you have animal companions with you. Using these methods, you solve various puzzles and of course, fight off evil bosses. What makes the game more interesting though, are the animal companions that aid you. As you progress through the game, you meet animals that join you for one reason or another. Each animal gives an ability. A few of the abilities are common stuff like various weapon abilities. You can have two animals "equipped" at once and, depending on which combination you use, you get the extra ability.
The replay value is great. Finding all the secrets and figuring out the puzzles makes this game fun and long.
My Verdict
If you're looking for a medium-difficulty action RPG or Zelda clone, you could go for Crusader of Centy. However, there are better ones out there. But this is one of the few reasons the Sega Genesis is not lacking in the RPG department.
Play it on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console or play it on a nice emulator.