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Jewel Master

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This article is about the 1991 action game. For match-three puzzle game, see Cradle of Rome.
Jewel Master
North American and European cover art
Developer(s)Sega
Publisher(s)Sega
Composer(s)Motoaki Takenouchi
Platform(s)Sega Genesis
Release
  • JP: August 30, 1991
  • NA/EU: 1991
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Jewel Master[a] is a 1991 action-adventure game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. The player controls a mage named the Jewel Master in the realm of Mythgard on a journey to stop the evil king Jardine by using the powers of elemental rings to cast spells. By traversing the enemies, minor platforming challenges, bosses and mini-bosses found in five side scrolling stages, the player can obtain new elemental rings which give the player new means of attacking enemies and traversing the levels.

Jewel Master originally began development by Amusement on the Japanese X68000 computer under the title Blade of the Great Elements, but due to complicated circumstances the game shifted it's focus to the Sega Genesis and as a result certain things were changed about the game. The game was composed by Motoaki Takenouchi.

Jewel Master received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the unique elemental ring mechanics, visuals and sound but criticized the gameplay as it was deemed repetitive and uninteresting.

Plot

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The kingdom of Mythgard is prosperous and at peace, until the Demon King Jardine the Mad arrives with his army of monsters and takes over A large part of the realm. He's stopped from taking the entire kingdom by the Twelve Masters of the Elements who wield magic elemental rings that halt Jardine's conquest. In a great battle that ensues between Jardine's forces and the Masters of the Elements eight of the Masters perish. After the battle, the remaining four Masters pool their collective strength to make a magic sword called the Holy Blade.[1] The Masters are intent on ending Jardine's evil once and for all with the Holy Blade in a final battle but due to them barely surviving their last encounter with the Demon King the task is passed on to a man known as the Jewel Master, an up and coming mage.[b]

The Jewel Master manages to make his way through Jardine's forces and makes it to the castle of Mythgard which has now been taken over by the Demon King. After a fierce final battle, Jardine is destroyed using the Holy Blade and the kingdom of Mythgard is once again at peace.[2]

Gameplay

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Gameplay Examples
The ring selection screen allows the player to change their rings used and what button they are assigned to. Over the course of the game, more rings are added to the players arsenal.
Rings are all assigned either the fire, water, wind or earth elemental trait, which can be used against certain enemies to gain the upperhand. For example, in this screenshot, the Jewel Master attacks a plant-like enemy with fire magic in Stage 1

Jewel Master is a fantasy action-adventure game in which the player traverses various side-scrolling stages with the help of elemental rings. There are four types of elemental rings which each correspond to either fire, water, wind or earth magic. The rings are equipables that offer special effects and can be switched around at any point in the game. The effects can be assigned to one of two buttons, represented by two hands in-game. Depending on the rings equipped and where they are assigned, the effect that happens when the buttons are pushed changes. Most effects initiate different kinds of attacks but others can change how the Jewel Master traverses the stage. For example, a wind magic ring can be equipped to allow the Jewel Master to double jump. Some attacks can be more or less effective at defeating enemies.[3]

There are a total of five stages that must be traversed. In stages, there are a variety of enemies that must be avoided or defeated in order to progress. Alongside regular enemies, bosses and mini-bosses are encountered throughout the stages and once defeated give the Jewel Master a new ring to use. Occasionally, minor platforming challenges present themselves which requires the player to either jump or use one of the traversable ring effects to continue.

Development

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Jewel Master originally began development by Amusement for the Japanese exclusive Sharp X68000 home computer under the title Blade of the Great Elements.[4][5] Blade of the Great Elements had a different story and some gameplay differences compared to Jewel Master.[6] The player character being able to use elemental magic rings however was implimented in the early stages of development as seen in early prototype versions of the game.[7] Through a complex series of events, Blade of the Great Elements ceased development for the X68000 and was released on the Sega Genesis as Jewel Master.[8]

Motoaki Takenouchi composed the music for Jewel Master with a strong influence from progressive rock.[9] Some of the track names (as seen in the sound test), such as "The Gate of Delirium", "Burning Bridges" and "Talk to the Wind", seem to pay homage to various progressive rock bands from the late 1960's and early 1970's such as Pink Floyd.

Reception

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Sega Pro magazine gave Jewel Master an overall score of 88/100 praising the detailed graphics, sound, gameplay and stating “Despite the repetitive gameplay, it does manage to continually impressive with graphics and sound making you play and play”.[10]

Megatech gave an overall score of 55 out of 100 noting the game being a fairly standard platform game citing a few original features concluding "Has neither the challenge or addiction to keep you entertained for more than a few sessions."[11]

References

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  1. ^ Japanese: ジュエル・マスター, Hepburn: Jueru Masutā
  2. ^ It is never clearly explained in-game or in the game's manual what happens to the Masters of the Elements or why the Jewel Master now has the responsibility of defeating Jardine.
[edit]
  1. ^ Jewel Master Instruction Manual (PDF). p. 4.
  2. ^ Sega (1991) Jewel Master (Sega Genesis) Sega
  3. ^ Jewel Master, inlay notes
  4. ^ "X680x0 COMPLETE CD VER.3 CD-1". tsuru.tri6.net (in Japanese). Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  5. ^ murakun (18 December 2011). "[X68][未発売]ブレード・オブ・ザ・グレート・エレメンツ". れとろゲーム懐古録 (in Japanese). BIGLOBE. Archived from the original on 29 December 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  6. ^ "Blade of the Great Elements". Technopolis (in Japanese). Vol. 9, no. 93. Tokuma Shoten. May 1990. pp. 12–13.
  7. ^ "The Softouch - Software Information: ブレード•オブ•ザ•グレート•エレメンシ". Oh!X (in Japanese). No. 97. SoftBank Creative. May 1990. p. 31.
  8. ^ Greening, Chris (April 30, 2017). "Motoaki Takenouchi Interview: A Brief But Illustrious Game Music Career". vgmonline.net. Video Game Music Online. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  9. ^ a b Buchanan, Levi (February 4, 2008). "Jewel Master Review". IGN.
  10. ^ Ellis, Les (November 1991). Jewel Master Review. Sega Pro. p. 50.
  11. ^ Jewel Master Review. United Kingdom: EMAP. December 1991. p. 78. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
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