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ESRB: 
Platform: Nintendo DS
Category: RPG
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Graphics 8 |
Sound 8 |
Gameplay 8 |
Tilt 7 ||
Overall 7.8
Author: John E
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Developer: Media Vision
Publisher: Xseed Games
Features
DS Stylus
Players: 1
Everyone knows the story of The Wizard of Oz. If you don’t I suggest you Google it. This tale has been retold over generations and most recently is has been released on the Nintendo DS in The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road. You will embark on an adventure as Dorothy, and her trusty allies Scarecrow, Lion and Tin Man, as she tries to complete a quest for the Wizard himself by defeating the three witches that have taken over regions in the Land of Magic. Your ultimate goal is to restore full power to the Wizard of Oz. Unlike the original story, the tornado is not a natural disaster but actually a magical act of one such witch named Flora who was attempting to use the tornado to bring plant specimens from far away places for her collection, but mistakenly she brings back Dorothy and Toto instead. The Land of Magic is no longer a safe place and in order to complete the quest and earn her trip back home, Dorothy and her friends will have to battle through the three occupied regions and put their skills to the test at every turn.
Graphics
The graphics in this game have a very Japanese anime style to them. This is highly apparent when you compare Dorothy’s outfit in the game to that of the classic movie. The game is that of an above the knee lacy blue dress with a giant red bow on the front leaning towards the sexy side, which is different from the very country and proper blue and white checkered dress that was found in on Judy Garland in the movie. Even the depiction of the Wizard of Oz has a strong Japanese style as it appears to be a giant green floating Samurai head.
The backgrounds and scenery make up a good portion of the graphics you encounter in the game. As Dorothy makes her way down the various paths in each region you will encounter fauna and flora specific to each one you are in, and as one might expect the detail of these features becomes clearer as you get closer. A panoramic view of your surroundings is available by panning left or right with the controls available on the control screen. Overall the scenery is designed to be visually appealing and it is quite beautiful, especially in the Budding Highlands region as you walk along a boardwalk over visibly running water surrounded by large trees and blooming flowers. You can even see the effect of a slight breeze as it causes Dorothy’s dress to sway slightly when standing still. The designers also made excellent use of shadows in the game especially with the trees casting shadows onto the path and each character casting a shadow beneath themself. This kind of attention to detail adds an additional element to the environment.
Dorothy’s actions, whether walking or running, respond accurately to your control and Toto faithfully follows all of Dorothy’s action as well. If you happen to be running and stop suddenly on the trackball you will see Dorothy make a rapid stop and catch herself due to the forward momentum she has.
There is a good variety of enemies Dorothy will encounter, some specific to a region and others will appear in multiple regions, the latter is defined by a different identifying colours. For example, the Cat Hoods have red hoods in the Budding Highlands but blue hoods in Boom Boom Forest. Enemies are littered on the paths in each region and will chase after Dorothy if she attempts to quickly run by them. The combat graphics are pretty straight forward with the enemies appearing in a line and having some movement elements when standing still as well as when attacking. Combat is from a first person perspective and all you will see for a combat action is slash across the screen indicating that you have attacked.
Sound
The music of this game, as with the majority of DS titles, is highly instrumental apart from the opening title sequence in which the song is completely in Japanese. It would have been nice if there was an English translation subtitles at the bottom of the title screen for the lyrics. Each region has a unique song/melody throughout each level which sets the mood for the region with only the combat portion of the game having the same song/melody regardless of what region you are in.
In addition to the music, each level has some sound effects thrown in which would be typical for the region, such as frogs croaking in the watery highlands or bird cries in the jungle. Enemies will make cries/groans/grunts as they attempt to catch you on the path if you decide to try to run by them. You will even hear the squeal of Dorothy’s shoes on the ground as she attempts to stop on a dime when running. There are also combat sound effects once an enemy is engaged. These range from the sounds of impact when you land a hit to the sounds of effects specific to special abilities that both the enemies and your own characters have.
Gameplay
In order to return to her own world, Dorothy has agreed to help the Wizard of Oz overthrow the three witches, Flora, Delphi and Holly, who currently control three regions in the Land of Magic. The barriers of each region are protected by magical eggs which Dorothy must collect to weaken the barriers allowing her to ultimately reach and defeat each witch in battle so that the power of that region returns to the Wizard of Oz.
The lower screen of your DS is your control screen. Here you control the actions of Dorothy while moving throughout the levels. You can also access the Menu and the All-purpose Button. To make Dorothy run or walk a giant green virtual trackball is used. Using the stylus you rotate the trackball slowly or quickly depending on how fast you want Dorothy to go. This control system is easy to use and responded well to my instructions, but at times the whole process was a little redundant as you kept spinning the trackball all game.
There are three levels per region and three sections per individual level. At the end of each level you will locate one of the magical eggs you need to collect. Throughout the levels you will encounter some things that you can interact with, such as creatures, sign boards, or obstacles, that require the use of the power of elemental spirits to unlock. Your All-Purpose Button is used to interact with all these things providing that the button turns into an exclamation mark indicating that an interaction is possible. Otherwise, it will display a picture of a dog, which if clicked, will enable you to give a little bit of love and attention to Toto. Some creature interactions you may have are with the off-duty Cat Hoods found throughout the levels. They will give you hints and tips if spoken to. The sign boards are directional arrows with a blank circular center in which a visual symbol reminder can be entered to indicate what is down certain paths, be it a dead end, gates, exits to the next level, etc. This is a useful feature because at times you may need to return to a previous level if you did not have the elemental spirit to unlock the gate or path that was blocked in the first place, and with the sign boards you can avoid taking unnecessary paths.
The menu button opens up a list of actions you can perform including Use Item, Change Equipment, Switch, Status and Quit Game. Use Item and Change Equipment functions are pretty self explanatory, Switch allows you to change the order your party will fight in when you encounter an enemy, Status gives you a run down of your characters including level, stats and any special skills they may have learned, and quit will exit the game.
While walking/running through the levels you will encounter a variety of different enemies. Once you have come into contact with an enemy you will be brought to the combat screen. In the upper screen you will see your enemies as well as their particular affinity, and in the lower screen you will have the menu options of Input Battle Commands, Switch Fighters, and Flee. Attempting to flee is a good tactic to use if you are not strong enough to beat the enemies at hand. That being said, this will not always work and you may find yourself getting hit hard as you are penalized one turn if you get caught and you won’t be able to fight back. If you choose to fight you will need to select who will battle against the creatures in the Switch Fighters screen. It is important to keep in mind that each turn involves four possible attack slots. Each character in your party has a different ratio for how many attack slots they use per individual attack. Your stronger characters, Lion and Tin Man, will be able to hit harder but will take up more attack slots per individual attack. The ratios of the characters are as follows: Dorothy – 1 attack slot per individual attack, Scarecrow – 1 attack slot per individual attack, Lion – 2 attack slots per individual attack and Tin Man – 3 attack slots per individual attack.
Another deciding factor on the character you select to fight depends on the affinity of the enemy. Certain characters in your party will have an easier time fighting against enemies with similar affinities to their own, thus possibly inflicting greater damage. Affinities are as follows: Dorothy – Ghost, Scarecrow – Water, Lion – Shell and Tin Man – Plants. During battle you are also able to use one of your attack slots to use an item such as a potion or a special skill you may have obtained. Overall, the combat of the game is pretty straightforward, but with the multiple variables and options to consider it may require a little bit of strategy in order to get the best possible outcome.
If you are victorious in your battle you will earn experience points which will go towards levelling up your character. Your characters performance will continue to improve as your level increases, but you can also add to your characters stats by purchasing items, equipment, and armour from the Wizard of Oz. The castle belonging to the Wizard of Oz is your main destination for purchasing said items as well as getting your entire party healed upon request. The castle is only accessible from the World Map and you can only reach the world map at the very beginning of a level or by using a Witch Gate at any time. To purchase items you will need to collect coins throughout the levels.
Another way to improve your characters is by locating the Father Dragon in each region. By defeating the Father Dragon in a series of tough battles, he will teach you new special skills that you can use in other battles. His location in the regions is elusive so you may need to search him out, and even then there is a chance you may need to return at a later time after levelling up a bit in order to defeat him.
Conclusion
The Wizard of Oz has never been one my favourite stories growing up, and with this in mind I was a little sceptical of the overall enjoyability that Beyond the Yellow Brick Road would offer. Luckily, it provided a unique twist to the original story which really made the game more interesting and appealing to me. It focuses on an RPG turn based combat style forcing you to strategize your attacks in order to be victorious in battle. This being said, the title will really appeal to gamers who enjoy this style of gameplay. Personally, it would have been nice to be able to play continuously through the game in order to enjoy the storyline without having to spend enormous amounts of extra time in levels grinding up in order to avoid getting pulverized at every turn in the next level. At the end of the day though, Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road is an enjoyable game that all fans of RPG’s should take a close look at.
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