PrinceWatercress plays Tougi Ou: King Colossus - Part 1 of 22

This game is a rare RPG for the Genesis/Mega Drive that never left Japan. That's a shame, because this game is a good one.

When you start the game, you'll be asked to input your name. There is an eight-character limit.

The story begins by talking about a strange crest that has been drawn on a boy's hand, and that the boy has no idea who he is or what the crest even means.

Muuk's Cabin

Map (by Vorpal86)

You'll then be in the room of a simple house. Leave the room and talk to the old man. To do that (and talk with everyone else in the game), simply walk into him. He will tell you that he brought you up in this cabin, and will ask you if you are thankful. Select "Yes" with the C button; otherwise, you will be in a "But thou must!" situation. He will then give you a task to perform: in a cave to the southwest, there is a thief named Zakkar, who stole a valuable sword he had been storing. He tells you that if you had been keeping watching, this would not have happened, and pins this all on you before telling you to go get it back. A girl leaves another nearby room and tells you that she will refill your HP and MP if you come back here while hurt.

From here, leave the house and go south.

You'll then be on the overworld map. Unlike other RPG's, you cannot move very freely; you are more or less on rails for the majority of the game and there are only a few places you can go at any given time. There are some places you can choose between with the D-Pad, but the one you want to go is the South-West Cave. Select it with C. You'll get a picture of the area afterwards. Press B to cancel, or press C to confirm.

South-West Cave

Map (by Vorpal86)

The heads-up display at the bottom is pretty simple. You have your health, and below that, your current experience as well as how much you need for the next level. To the right of all that is your MP and your current experience level. You'll get stronger, get more health and get more HP as you get more experience and raise your level.

When you go into the cave, you'll definitely be fighting monsters. A lets you cast magic, B lets you attack and C lets you jump. The D-Pad obviously lets you move around. The jump doesn't go very high, but you can jump over small gaps when necessary and you can also change direction in mid-air to fine-tune where you land.

The blue slimes just move around and take one hit to kill. The green ones are like the blue slimes, but take two hits to kill...for now. The purple bugs with the blue eyes jump around every so often.

If your path is blocked, you'll have to kill all the enemies in the room before you can proceed. When you do that, you'll get a bomb, and if you walk up to the rubble with a bomb, you'll be able to blow it up. Thankfully, the bomb does not hurt you. 

The plant that spits projectiles takes a few hits to kill, and it is pretty easy to see where the projectiles it shoots out are going to land. The seeds are fired in the cardinal directions first (north, south, east and west) before firing diagonally, then alternate between the two. If a monster leaves a heart, grab it. It will restore some of your health. If one leaves a glowing red ball, it will restore all of it.

In this game, you can save at any time just by pausing the game with the Start button and selecting Save.

The spiders will be the toughest enemy you will meet thus far. They spit web strands that stun you if they hit, cause a lot of contact damage, and take three hits to kill.

Chests will contain items. Just walk into them to open them. The Medical Herb will completely refill your life upon use, and you can only carry one at a time. If you find another Medical Herb while carrying one, you'll automatically use it to refill all your health.

The purple bugs are much like the pink ones, but they jump around a little more.

The blue ball with the swirls around it is a shield. When you grab it, a purple flame will surround you for a short time and you will be invincible that whole time.

There is a spring in the cave. When you reach it, jump into it. You'll be carried down a waterfall to a gray metal chest. While the wooden ones usually carry things like Medical Herbs, the gray metal ones carry useful items, including weapons and armor. This one contains the Hand Axe, which you'll want to equip as it is much better than the Short Sword you start with. To equip weapons, press Start, then use the D-Pad and the C button to select "Equip." Use the D-Pad to find the Hand Axe, then press C to select it. You'll then be able to select your armor, followed by your shield. Press C on both of them for now. You don't have a shield, and the Leather Armor is all you have for now. You'll then be able to choose your magic.

You have five magical spells, and they all do different things and use a little bit of your MP. The V Spark clears out all enemies in front of you as well as behind you and costs 15 MP; the Crack Bomb clears out all enemies in a room regardless of where you're facing and costs 20 MP; the Aura Shield makes you invincible for a slightly longer time than the shield pick-up - especially against bosses - and costs 20 MP; Time Stop stops time for a few seconds and costs 15 MP; and Exodus lets you warp back to the beginning of the dungeon and costs 10 MP.

You'll find the Guard Ring, which is considered an "Other" item. Press Start to pause, press C on Item, then go to "Other Items" and press C. You'll find the Guard Ring. Press C on it, then select "Use." Your defense will increase by five.

Shortly after you cross the river - which will take you back to where you found the Hand Axe if you fall in - you'll encounter Zakkar. He'll give back the old man's sword, saying it was his loss for stealing it because it rusts easily, but you'l have to do something for him. You'll be asked to kill the fishman living in the spring we leapt in earlier to get the Hand Axe, as it has killed many of his underlings, but not before Zakkar discounts your abilities.

Return to the spring. The fishman will show up. Equip the Aura Shield spell, then get up to the fishman and strike him. His attack will hit you no matter what, and you won't be able to avoid it, so hit him before he hits you. If you use the Aura Shield, the attack - which always homes in on where you are and is very quick - won't hurt you. This is an easy battle, especially when you know what to do.

Once you beat the fishman, go back to Zakkar. He will acknowledge that you have killed the fishman and will actually be impressed. As promised, he gives you the Iron Sword, then notices the strange mark on your hand before saying it's nothing (even though he knows what it means). Also, you can't open his chests. Ever. So don't bother.

You're done here, so leave the South-West Cave.

Head back to Muuk's Cabin, and talk to the old man (whose name is Muuk). You'll show him the sword, and when he finds out it is rusted, he chews you out and tells you to repair it. He tells you see a skilled blacksmith named Ganant to the south. Before you go, talk to the girl in green to refill your HP and MP.