Lord of the Sword

Short description: 1988 video game

Lord of the Sword

North American and European box art

Developer(s)| Sega
Publisher(s)| Sega
Director(s)| Mutsuhiro Fuji[1]
Platform(s)| Master System
Release|

* JP: June 2, 1988[2]
* EU: 1988
* NA: March 1989[3]

Genre(s)| Action-adventure
Mode(s)| Single-player

Lord of the Sword[lower-alpha 1] is a 1988 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the Master System. The player controls Landau, A wannabe hero attempting to save the land of Baljinya from the demonic forces of Ra Goan. The game sees the player traversing the side-scrolling open world, fighting monsters and bosses they come across, and talking to NPC's in towns in order to progress to new areas of the world.

The game received mixed reviews from critics

## Contents

* 1 Gameplay
* 2 Plot
* 3 Reception
* 4 References
* 5 External links
* 6 Features
* 7 History
* 8 See also
* 9 References
* 10 External links

## Gameplay

Landau is armed with a sword for close combat, and a bow for ranged combat. The Kingdom of Baljinya has towns and villages where Landau can stop to rest (restoring his health) and gather information from the people. There are also castles which can only be entered after completing certain tasks. Each time the player has the opportunity to speak with a character, he should do so several times in succession in order to get all possible messages. If the player fails to do this, bosses and secret paths will not appear. There are different types of terrain between the villages, towns and castles. Flat lands, dark forests, mountains and swamps make up the rest of the landscape.

The terrains are plagued by different kinds of monsters, some specific to each terrain. The player will have up to ten continues to complete the quests. The game features no password based save feature. When faced with a boss monster, the player will need to hit its weak point or attack at its weak moment. When a boss monster is destroyed, Landau is rewarded with a better sword or better bow which deals more damage.

## Plot

Followers of the Demon Lord Ra Goan kill the king and royal family of Baljinya in an attempt at resurrecting Ra from his one thousand year imprisonment. The Elder Council of Baljinya meets to discuss these recent events and come to the conclusion that a new king must be crowned, otherwise the kingdom will fall under the rule of Ra Goan when he is resurrected. The council decide that the rightful ruler will be A strong, brave man that manages to complete three tasks. Landau, a wannabe hero seeking the crown, accepts the tasks and sets out to save his homeland.

At the end of the game, Landau manages to become the new king. Five years later it is shown that Landau is ushering in a new era of peace and prosperity for Baljinya

## Reception

Reception

| Review scores

Publication| Score
AllGame| [4]
CVG| 64%[5]
Console XS| 85%[7]

Lord of the Sword received mixed reviews from critics. Computer and Video Games gave it a 64% score.[5]

The Games Machine gave the game a 58% score, remarking how the game's difficulty would have been nearly impossible if it weren't for the continue feature and that the gameplay itself was uninteresting. They also noted that the graphics, while somewhat appealing, didn't stand out compared to other games from the time.

AllGame gave it an overall rating of 2 stars out of a possible 5.[4]

## References

1. ↑ Known in Japan as Lord of Sword (Japanese: ロード オブ ソード, Hepburn: Rōdo obu Sōdo)

1. ↑ https://sega.jp/fb/album/05_fz/interview1.html
2. ↑ "Software List" (in ja). Sega Corporation. https://sega.jp/history/hard/segamark3/software.html.
3. ↑ "Availability Update". Computer Entertainer 8 (1): 6. April 1989. https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/606ccc35-4412-4615-a8db-1def8c98762a.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Brett Alan Weiss. "Lord of the Sword \- Review - allgame". Allgame. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=12057. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Lord of the Sword \- CVG". Computer and Video Games (86): 160–161. December 1988. https://retrocdn.net/images/c/cc/TGM_UK_14.pdf.
6. ↑ "Lord of the Sword \- The Games Machine". The Games Machine (14): 75–76. January 1989. https://retrocdn.net/images/c/cc/TGM_UK_14.pdf.
7. ↑ "Software A-Z: Master System". Console XS (United Kingdom: Paragon Publishing) (1 (June/July 1992)): 137–47. 23 April 1992. https://archive.org/details/console-xs-01/page/137.

## External links

* MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

## Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

## History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

## See also

* IGDB - game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/.
2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/.
3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1.
4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521.
8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media.
9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned.
10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner.
11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames.
12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games.
13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/.
14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/.
15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/.
16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/.
17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames.
18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628.

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