Surging Aura: Sega's Late Mega Drive RPG, Finally in French
Surging Aura is not a fan-made game: it is a real Sega release, put out in March 1995, late in the Mega Drive's life, and only in Japan. It came from Sega's RPG production team at Japan Media Programming. This cartridge is a French-language edition of that Japanese original, so French-speaking players can follow its story.
At a glance
- Based on: the 1995 Sega release Surging Aura (Japan only)
- Created by: Japan Media Programming (Sega RPG Production), published by Sega
- Released: March 1995, in Japan
- Genre: role-playing game
- What sets it apart: art and character design by Mutsumi Inomata, and a chanting-based magic system
The craft behind it
The scenario is credited to Ossale Khota and the music to Kamo. The visuals come from the same graphics engine as Phantasy Star IV, which explains the family resemblance, while Mutsumi Inomata, an illustrator and animator, handled the art direction and character designs.
How battles work
- Every character is assigned an action, and a gauge fills over time before it executes, much like an active-time system.
- Spells must be chanted. A hit on a caster interrupts the chant for a few seconds; a second hit during that pause cancels the spell. This applies to enemies as well.
- Magic is divided into six elements, with six spells each, so 36 in all.
- Enemies line up in two rows. Only the front row can be hit, and the back row steps up as the front falls.
The tale
You play Mhu, a young conjurer of light who must save the kingdom of Pasfalda from the sorcerer Lufede, an ancient evil who has returned. The story spans three continents and, according to the product description, involves time travel.