Game Profile

Dark Sol has vowed to reign over the enchanted Kingdom of Thornwood, and only you can stop him. Find the powerful Arms of Light and battle the deadly beasts that keep your people desperate and starving in this epic journey for peace. Roaming the dark Labyrinth, you'll seek out enemies and collect weapons, all of which will help you pass the test of the Ancients and become a shining knight.

Get into the adventure with a stunning 3-D perspective, amazing cinematic views and fast-paced scrolling. You'll move from battle to battle, solving puzzles and discovering secret items in this engrossing struggle between good and evil.

Game Review

damo

Review

USA Sun, 12 Aug 2007 by Damien McFerran

Dark Sol has vowed to reign over the enchanted Kingdom of Thornwood, and only you can stop him.

Anyone who has played the Atari ST classic Dungeon Master (or one of the many clones that appeared in its wake) will know full well that first person RPGs can be a hell of a lot of fun. Back when Sega first announced Shining in the Darkness (often called..

Read Review

Game Videos

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Game Screenshots

User Comments

demon212

1. DEMON212 United Kingdom 18 Apr 2007, 00:05 BST

Is that the Dwarf from Golden Axe in that shot?

demon212

2. DEMON212 United Kingdom 18 Apr 2007, 05:31 BST

Point and click eh? I wonder if this will be one of the first games to use the Wiimote as a Wiimote. Because an analogue or a d-pad interface on these games suck!

david

3. David Sweden 20 Apr 2007, 02:12 BST

this was a nice game, remember when i played it way back :)

dahak

4. Dahak United States 20 Apr 2007, 03:25 BST

I doubt that you'll be able to use the Wii Remote as a pointing device for this game, as the Genesis didn't use a mouse or light gun for this title. If the SNES version of Eye of the Beholder ever sees VC release, I would think that would make use of it (the original used the SNES mouse).

kelvin_green

5. Kelvin United Kingdom 20 Apr 2007, 12:58 BST

I think that is the dwarf from Golden Axe, actually. Gilius Thunderhead (for that is his name) became something of a minor Sega mascot, making cameo appearances in a few games, including this and Alien Storm.

I'm not a huge fan of this game, as this type of dungeon crawler has been done better on Sega systems with the original Phantasy Star (and it's a crime that we haven't seen that on VC yet), and on multiple platforms with the Eye of the Beholder series. It's good, but there are better games of this type.

demon212

6. DEMON212 United Kingdom 20 Apr 2007, 17:23 BST

I forgot he was in Alien Storm as well. That's a shame about the lack of Wii pointing. But you never know, they may edit it.

They never do though. Lylat is screaming for a new control set up. Holding fire and boosting is a nightmare to do. I'd rather have "B" as fire.

alex

7. TheNintendoBoy United Kingdom 23 Apr 2007, 18:57 BST

It would be cool to see an update with wii-mote support, as controlling this game with a joypad is very tedious.

kelvin_green

8. Kelvin United Kingdom 24 Apr 2007, 10:42 BST

If they add Wiimote-pointing to VC, that opens the hypothetical door for stuff like Monkey Island and Cannon Fodder, so I'm up for that. ;)

ukmf_diablo

9. UKMF Diablo United Kingdom 24 Apr 2007, 19:58 BST

Even if they dont have wiimote support i'd love to see those games anyway..!

GUYS listen:- If the vc games that were intended for the light gun, mouse, analouge etc supported the wiimote that would be a bonus - but not essential!

*especially* when playing the game how it was intended to be played. i.e

I played cannon fodder on amiga (with a mouse) but it never stopped me playing (and loving) the megadrive release. used with a D-pad..

demon212

10. DEMON212 United Kingdom 24 Apr 2007, 21:07 BST

CANNON FODDER!!!!!! I LOVE THAT GAME!

Sorry, sorry.

I reckon they will, because Duck Hunt will have to use the Wiimote.

kelvin_green

11. Kelvin United Kingdom 26 Apr 2007, 14:18 BST

I never played the console versions of Cannon Fodder, so I don't know how well they controlled, but it's hard to imagine without a mouse. Of course, I'd love to see Amiga support on VC, but I doubt we'll see it. :)

marcel_van_duyn

12. Drake Netherlands 06 May 2007, 22:17 BST

The SNES version of Cannon Fodder played fine without a mouse.

sckkktttrrrr

13. SKTTR Germany 13 Aug 2007, 15:26 BST

The SNES version of Cannon Fodder can be played fine with a mouse :D
Specifically with the SNES mouse that comes with Mario Paint.

And now that Shining in the Darkness is out, let the discussion begin.
This seems more like an advanced dungeon crawler. And I like those games.

michinmuri

14. michinmuri United States 13 Aug 2007, 16:40 BST

This was a decent game. Typical RPG stuff. And I had Cannor Fodder on the Jaguar. I was way better than the SNES one, but both are still good.

dk_xcalibur1

15. dk_xcalibur United States 13 Aug 2007, 17:07 BST

This is not that great unless you like dungeon crawlers. Do not download.

stephen_m

16. Stephen M United Kingdom 13 Aug 2007, 18:18 BST

This remains a classic RPG. Its tuff and will last you ages. Dont pass it by !

alex

17. TheNintendoBoy United Kingdom 13 Aug 2007, 22:21 BST

Cannon Fodder on console played OK, but it was impossible to beat the game:P

flappo

18. flappo United Kingdom 24 Aug 2007, 08:34 BST

this is the main reason i bought a wii

if it doesn't come out in the uk , i'm selling the thing

bell

19. Bell Netherlands 25 Aug 2007, 00:27 BST

Yay Flappo! I'm with you! One of the reasons I bought the Wii was the VC... and hoping SitD would come out on it.

wolf

20. Wolf United States 03 Sep 2007, 17:53 BST

who HASN'T been weened on J-RPGs lol? i remember owning this game but I don't remember much of it. It's definitely not for everybody though.

I just played it a little bit and it's a really enjoyable game. Having the enemies pop up "randomly" isn't really a problem in this game since it's a dark dungeon you can sort of see how they just appear. It's fun and the cartoony drawings really work well. Just look for a map online somewhere cuz there's no in-game map. That's a problem for me.

patrick3

21. Patrick United States 06 Sep 2007, 10:40 BST

Actually, you get a "vision" spell that allows you to access the in-game map, but having a map from Gamefaqs or someplace helps a bunch.

Excellent game, definitely holds up well on the Wii.

jimbo

22. Jimbo United Kingdom 07 Sep 2007, 16:43 BST

Oh please.......Arcana better than SitD. Not a chance!?!?!?!

damo

23. Damo United Kingdom 07 Sep 2007, 16:46 BST

Jimbo - does the truth hurt, my friend?

gfrag

24. GFrag Netherlands 07 Sep 2007, 16:53 BST

I once bought this game on the cheap as an ex-rental, and back then, I... didn't really like it that much. I got lost BADLY in the "first trial" part of the dungeon (where you have to find some altar), and overall wrote it off as a terrible game.
It wasn't until recently that I found that dusty old cartridge again in an old moving box, plugged it in my Megadrive, and went on where I left off. With my additional built up skill over the years (particularly in mapmaking), it wasn't long until I finished the dungeon I was stuck at for so long, in a cinch. I continued playing, and right now I'm at the third "trial". I sorta stopped playing it again nowadays, but I do intend to finish it eventually. =P
I wouldn't reccomend this game to RPG newbies, and if you DO download it, it's VITAL to keep a few sheets of graph paper handy for mapping purposes (or look for 'em on the Internet, ya cheater. ;D )

virtybunny

25. virtybunny Netherlands 11 Sep 2007, 01:13 BST

Real nice dungeon crawler with nice graphics. I remember really enjoying it but I don't think I finished it. A bit too hard I guess.

billytech

26. Billytech United States 16 Oct 2007, 20:34 BST

I played this on the original Sega Genesis, For the time I played it...I really enjoyed it. If you like the early days of RPG's, you'll like this alot.

sharecrow

27. Sharecrow United States 04 Dec 2007, 16:39 GMT

I really enjoyed this game back in the day. I don't think I'll be downloading it now, though, if only because I've already beat it many times. I never did play Arcana though...should probably check it out.

trev1

28. Outrunner United Kingdom 19 Oct 2008, 21:33 BST

Is this as good as Shining the Holy Ark?

corbie_dillard

29. Corbie United States 24 Oct 2008, 05:55 BST

I don't think it's nearly as good as Shining the Holy Ark. That's just my opinion though. :)

Leave A Comment

Please login to post a comment.