So...what do we have here?

Japanese Game Box Front

Come On Magical Dice Fairy!
Give Me A Six!

A game which is out of character for them, Sugoro Quest ++ is a board game RPG, slightly similar to Tadaima (Made by Human, 1994). Made by Technos Japan, the fun-loving maniacs responsible for games like Crash 'N The Boys and Double Dragon. The mascot of Technos Japan games was Kunio, who has become popular even amongst many U.S. gamers. Kunio was also in sports and puzzle games (not just beat-em-ups) and probably other genres as well. Such games include Kunio Dogdeball and Kunio No Oden. Besides Crash N' The Boys, other games that have Kunio characters (or characters that look like Kunio characters) in the U.S. include River City Ransom and Super Dodgeball for the NES. The story behind the game seems pretty simple: Six people are summoned by the King to perform various deeds throughout the kingdom. You will end helping townsfolk and doing various sidequests all over the place. It's not a real plot, but that is the focus of the game.

The game has some excellent graphics which is rather uncharacteristic for this genre. It looks great not only for a board game, but for an SNES game. The characters are bold and bright and make good use of the SNES color palette. Spells animate well and monsters stand out due to the vibrant backdrops present. The board that your characters travel on is big and the scrolling cloud effect is excellent and nicely compliments the 3/4 overhead view. Very well done Technos! The music is more heavy metal and punky feeling like River City Ransom, which is odd but cool. With that being said, the music is strangely very appropriate and I never thought that it was out of place. It's not the greatest music of all time, but it's solid.

The game also has pretty impressive gameplay (much like Tadaima) and I would probably consider this an unknown gem as well. The game has a slower pace than some board games that I have played, but it has many distinct innovations from the others to keep things fresh. The game is also 4-players. You gain experience points and can level up and become stronger by fighting monsters or other players. You can get many items and there are many spells you can use to level the competition and each of the six characters have unique special abilities. The game has more board game elements than Tadaima, but it's still cool. Be careful in looking for this game. It may need the "++" as the game before it is simply called Sugoro Quest (For Famicom). Overall, I like Tadaima a little more, but Sugoro Quest ++ is one excellent addition to the SNES library.

- Written by Vyse the determined -