1987 · Konami · Adventure · Platformer

Uşas

The Treasure of Usas is a platform game. Centuries ago, the War God Induras banished Usas, the supreme Mother God, and threw the four pieces of her jewel in the winds. Wit and Cles are attempting to find the broken jewel to try and achieve one of the greatest discoveries of the academic world. Their adventures, controlled by you, will lead them to many strange places to fight many unusual enemies. There are five stages in the game.

Released: 1987
Platforms: MSX
Genres: Adventure Platformer
Developers: Konami
Publishers: Konami
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Side view
Themes: Action Fantasy

About

Treasure of Uşas is 1987 a side-view platform game released by Konami for the MSX2 computer platform. The story follows archeology assistants on the hunt for a legendary gemstone for a statue of Ushas. The game received positive reviews by critics, who praised the level design and graphics.

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Long before the events of the game, the Indra threw away the Goddess of Dawn's jewel, which fell to earth and broke into four pieces. In the present day, Wit and Cles are lab assistants for Assistant Professor Atre of oriental archeology. Recently, a statue of the Goddess Ushas has been discovered with a recession in its forehead where a gemstone seems to be placed. To save their laboratory from its financial problems, the two go and hunt for the missing gemstone to complete the statue.

The game is a two dimensional platform game. Due to hardware limitations of the MSX, the screen does not scroll, and instead is a static screen that switches to a new screen as the player progresses.

Development

For music, the game does not use the SCC (sound source chip) which was a Konami sound chip for the MSX and used in their port of Gradius 2.

Reception

The game received largely positive reviews upon release, as well as in retrospective reviews. Upon release in Europe, reviewers praised the game. The Games Machine called it "Attention to detail is omnipresent and a fantastic, impelling urge to get to the final battle is instilled by the steady progress one makes with practice - and the enjoyment to be gleaned by making it." ASM likewise, praised the game, praising the graphics, and quality of the game's design.

Likewise, Benjamin Llamas and Javier Veret of MSX Extra magazine praised the game's visuals and graphics, saying it is elevated to something on par with arcade games of the time. Wim Dewijngaert of MSX Club Magazine also praised the game, only lamenting the lack of an SCC chip.