Alshark (1993, Mega CD)

Alshark (アルシャーク) is a JRPG which was originally developed by Right Stuff Corp. for Sharp X68000 and Fujitsu FM Towns. It was ported by to the Mega CD/Sega CD by CRC Research Institute and Office K. It was also ported to the Turbografx CD/ PC-Engine CD. The Mga CD version was only released in Japan and published by Sandstorm.

The story has got a sci-fi scenario, and it stars a young man named Sion Asmarn. He lives in the town of Cosma on the planet Hom. One day, a huge meteorite falls on the planet. Sion's father goes to investigate it together with the physicist Mamon Penrose. While Sion's father refuses Sion to come with him, Sion and his girlfriend Shoko, Mamon's daughter, sneak into the canyon after them where the meteorite has fallen. It turns out the meteor is actually an unknown ship belonging to a hostile empire. Just when Sion and Shoko arrive, the crew leaves the ship, and suddenly Mamon seems to get possessed by something. Mamons kills several people, including Sion's father and escapes. Shoko and Sion then set out to get to the bottom of this terrible affair.

The game uses the traditional top-down view and features random encounters and turn-based combat. Combat is also displayed from a top-down view. You control a party of up to five characters, and the order of your party members has influence on their position in combat. The position has influence on attack and defence. Also, enemies or allies standing in the line of fire will be hit instead of the actual target. Like with Phnatasy Star, both hands can be equipped freely with items. Thus you can give a character an additional weapon for a second attack instead of a shield. Alshark even has separate stats for each arm.