The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Gameplay
Magic Sword shares many gameplay elements with Black Tiger. The game has side-scrolling fighting, with some platforming elements. The player controls only the main character. The accompanying ally, controlled by the computer, follows the player diligently and only attacks and jumps when the player does.
Assistant characters consist of Amazon (archer), Big Man (wields an axe), Knight, Lizardman, Ninja, Priest, Thief and Wizard. The player is allowed to carry one item, which can assist the player or the current ally.
Story
Magic Sword takes place in an unnamed world, which is being threatened by the dark lord Drokmar (Dracmar in the original Japanese), who has control over an evil crystal known as the "Black Orb", which would allow him to rule over the world. In order to prevent this from happening, the hero, known as the Brave One (Alan in the original Japanese), must scale to the top of the 50-floor tower in which Drokmar resides, known as Dragon Keep. At the game's end, when Drokmar is defeated, the player has the option of two endings: destroy the Black Orb, or to take control of it, becoming the new dark lord.
Development
During development, Capcom was going to program the gameplay so the player could have up to two allies (four in total in a two-player game). The hardest part of the game was the placement of enemies in each stage. One of the last features implemented in the game was the secret doors. The game was being location-tested in Japan by April 1990.
The SNES version was announced at the 1992 Winter CES.
Reception
In Japan, Game Machine listed Magic Sword on their September 1, 1990 issue as being the second most-popular arcade game for the previous two weeks. The Japanese publication Micom BASIC Magazine ranked the game tenth in popularity in its October 1990 issue. In North America, it was ranked twelfth among arcade games in a November 1990 equipment survey by Play Meter.
The game also received generally favorable reviews. Computer and Video Games' Julian Rignall called it a well executed game and said that it will appeal to fans of slash 'em ups. Your Sinclair's David Wilson found it to be a unoriginal but highly playable coin-op game.
