GAME CLEAR No. 38 -- The Legend of Oasis

The Legend of Oasis (1996, Saturn)

Developer: Ancient
Publisher: SEGA
Clear Date: 6/27/2021

After beating Beyond Oasis back in January, I decided I had to see the short series through and play The Legend of Oasis as well. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that the game’s value had eclipsed $150. I ultimately ended up seeing a copy at my local game store, and I decided to buy it, making the most expensive single game I’ve ever bought. But was it worth it?

Well the game is definitely good! Like Beyond Oasis, it’s fundamentally a Zelda-like adventure. The major twist is that instead of getting new items to solve new puzzles and access new areas, protagonist Leon is instead able to command six Spirits of Oasis. These Spirits control various natural phenomena (water, fire, sound, etc), and they can be summoned from instances of those very phenomena in the world. The Fire Spirit can help Leon burn things, the Sound Spirit can help Leon shatter crystals, the Lightning Spirit can help him activate electronics. That’s where the puzzle-solving fun comes from. They also have offensive moves that can help Leon fight the various enemies and bosses. I enjoy this spin on the Zelda formula, and I think it’s a compelling difference.

Legend of Oasis clearly strives to be a more ambitious title than Beyond Oasis, and I think it hits and misses in this regard. The world is bigger and the plot and characters are more fleshed-out, which are both great! However, I honestly think the dungeons are a bit over the top. After the first couple, they become lengthy affairs that can get a bit labyrinthine. With no map, it really kind of feels like you have to take on entire dungeons at once to make sure you have everything in your head. The dungeons are fun, creative, and full of secrets, but for a game like this, having an in-game map is simply a must. The overworld lacks this as well, but it’s small enough to be forgivable.

Overall, though, the game has an expanded arsenal of weapons and spirits that are all fun to use. In these ways it’s strictly better. I just wish the dungeons didn’t at times feel like a chore. I’d have preferred more shorter dungeons to the few very lengthy ones the game featured.

Since it began life as a 32X title, Legend of Oasis remains 2D, but the spritework is naturally higher resolution and quite beautiful. The soundtrack is once again by Yuzo Koshiro (Ancient is his company, after all), and I think he did an even better job this time. It helps that he had some orchestral samples and a better sound card to work with. It’s a nice score befitting an adventure. It doesn’t have the catchiness I sometimes associate with classic game soundtracks, but it fits the game.

Anyway, as much as I enjoyed it, this game is not worth the $160 I paid for it. The state of Saturn collecting is really brutal price-wise, so this is one I’d recommend just burning or getting a reproduction disc of if that’s your thing. It’s well worth playing if you enjoyed Beyond Oasis, just find a cheaper way to do so than I did.