Hey brave man! Let's play Wonder Boy in Monster Land!

You know, I hate to nitpick, but the seabed store the bartender was talking about isn’t actually on the seabed. And I don’t know that I’d call the CATFISH a riddle. No wonder I had to find out where he was from a friend when I was a kid.



I’m playing as well as ever. That GAUNTLET will come in handy, though. For some reason it takes two hits to kill these undersea OCTOPI. The guys at the start of the level only take one.



Yep, top form.



Eventually I get the first one, for another GAUNTLET. For some reason you usually can’t get into the gaps here. I think you have to be falling.



I wasn’t able to get to that MANTLE, for example. I had to get my temporary invincibility by getting hit again instead.



OK, phew. No more OCTOPI.



Argh!



Alrighty! Time to move on.



Great, a TARMAN. Maybe the only thing worse than OCTOPI.



I seem to have gotten a higher than usual proportion of screenshots where you can’t see Wonder Boy in this update. The TARMAN hit me, and then I hit it. And I got another GAUNTLET. Why won’t anyone drop me some money?



There is at least some hidden money here. 3G!



Yet another GAUNTLET, and a MINI-COIN COLLECTOR to go with it.



I’ve had enough! I’m taking this guy out! Unfortunately he got the first hit.



I got the second...



He gets the third. I’m down 10G so far.

And he drops fireballs.



I’m not bothering with this guy.



I manage to take this one out without getting hit. He drops 8G. Apparently he’s not very good at collecting coins.



I get hit by this BAT, but in the process I find a hidden LIFE HEART. So I come out ahead.



Another dead end. I take the plunge. There’s actually another hidden heart I’ve found before on this screen. If you have wing boots and you jump right across the top of the screen with them, a heart comes out at the right edge of the lowest part of the ceiling. Thing is, hidden hearts drift upwards, so you can’t get it.



I’m not sticking around for this!



Not interested.



These things always seem to show up when your hourglass is already full.



Aww crud.



Luckily I’m in the jumping animation rather than the falling animation. The latter moves more slowly, and I’d almost certainly have been swooped.



No thanks! I think there’s hidden money on this screen, but I’m not that desperate.



I know there’s money on this screen.



There it is!



OK, let’s move on!

Well, I guess I’ve been warned.



Sadly, it turns out that this isn’t the dragon. It’s a statue.



The castle is guarded by MINI-BLUE KNIGHTs. They don’t seem to carry any cash, either.



This is one brave bartender.



The RED STONE sounds like something we want. His second bit of advice is kind of a rip-off. That’s gonna be pretty clear, pretty soon.



There’s actually quite a few brave souls keeping up the spirit of commerce here in the Monster Castle.



This was kind of a tough choice. I don’t have enough money to buy both the POTION and the LEGENDARY SHIELD yet, and all the shops around here close up after the first time you enter. I’ve gotten POTIONS as random drops from the MINI-BLUE KNIGHTs before, too. I decide I’d feel more comfortable having one, though.



I decide I’m going to only go through the doors which are visible, thinking that the merchants are all behind hidden doors. This one takes me to:



My old friend, the nurse! I’d really like to have full health going into the last stage, but I’m not sure how much money I’m going to get from the boss, and I don’t want to come up short for the SHIELD, so I decline. The nurse is not impressed.



Wing boots! Completely useless right now!



Here’s the boss, the GREY SILVER KNIGHT. In keeping with what’s sadly become my tradition, he hits me right away.



I get in a quick follow-up.



He jumps away and I give pursuit. Suddenly:



He comes right at me!



Luckily, my hit-invincibility lasts longer than his, and his attack is harmless. Mine, on the other hand, is effective.

He tries to retaliate, but today is not the SILVER KNIGHT’s day.



He has the good sense to back off.



Awright, this is it!



Crumbs!



I recover, and take another swing. You watch now, I’m gonna turn my back and he’ll fall apart, cut head to toe.



Or he’ll explode. I guess the graphics weren’t up to it back in the SMS days.



I cash up and get out. I’ve now got 412G. The SHIELD is 350G, so I’d’ve had 62G left for the nurse’s 40G fee. I should’ve gotten treatment. Darn.



I head back to find the shield store. Unfortunately, the KNIGHTs are respawning.



As you no doubt predicted, I get hit.



It’s hard to make out, but I think he dropped a GOLDEN SCALE. Those’re only good for points, and I’ve already got all the benefit I can from those. This isn’t really a high-score kind of game.



I find the shoe shop.



Turns out the shield store is in the other direction, just past the SILVER KNIGHT’s door.



OK! Now I’ve got the full set of pastel blue gear, it’s time to enter the castle!



Oh, alright. I suppose I can get hit again first.



Wing boots. Rockin’. Let’s see what’s behind this door.

Hey, I know you! You’re the mayor of the City of Wonder Land, from back in Round 1! I sort of wonder why she didn’t give me this stuff back then. I guess she’s been setting up everyone who comes past with a sword and potion and telling them to kill the dragon, and I’m the first to get this far. And she’ll still only give me one item! Cheap! Anyway, the BELL helps you navigate in Round 12. If you go the wrong way, it rings. It’s pretty good for beginners trying to find their way. Since I’m a total pro, I’m gonna take the RUBY. Like the bartender said, it has the mysterious power to weaken the dragon. If you come here without the EMBLEM, then “THERE’S NOTHING TO TELL YOU ABOUT”.



And there it is! As you can see, I’m in pretty good shape. I’ve got all the best stuff, I’ve got a revival potion, I’ve got some fireballs (the tornados are pretty much useless at this point, though). It’s a shame I don’t have full health, but if I play it right that hopefully won’t matter. Let’s wrap this up!



Phew! That was a pretty long round. Just look at this map:



Here's the fight with the SILVER KNIGHT:



TL,DR:

Here’s Round 12: The Labyrinth of No End. If you’ll forgive my use of such language, I’ll say that it’s a bit of a bastard of a thing. Let’s proceed!



What are these wusses doing in the last stage?



Their main purpose is in fact distraction, I think. There are no shops in this stage (that I know of, anyway), so there’s no point collecting money any more. You might remember back in the first round I said that the hourglass was the second-worst thing in the game? This stage is why: It’s long and confusing, and losing a life heart every time the hourglass runs out is the main source of damage, and the most likely reason a player will die here. So, rather than wasting time killing these SNAKEs, I’m jumping past them.



Same goes for these MINI-DEATH MASTERs.



This ANACONDA is a slightly different story. It’s moving, so it’s hard to jump over. It’s better to kill it rather than risk losing time getting hit and thrown back.



I go for the worst of both options and get hit trying to kill it.



This one goes a little better.



This one does not.



Here’s the first choice of the labyrinth. The high road, or the low? I take the top.



Look familiar? The upper road leads back to the start of the labyrinth. This is a screen we’ll be seeing a lot of, actually.



Once again, no time to waste.



I manage to jump two of the three ANACONDAs without getting hit this time. Let’s see what’s below.



Looks like we’re onto a winner. This isn’t the start, at least.



These guys are also usually worth killing. The way they hop up and down makes them hard to jump over, and even if you do get past them safely, they’ll start firing arrows at your back.



The way the MINI-RED KNIGHTs move makes them hard to just bypass as well. Note that I’ve lost my first heart to the clock between the second and third shots here.

I skip these PYTHONs and am again faced with a choice: Go right, or go down? Unlike when I reached the first juncture, I’m not going to pretend I don’t know where I’m going this time. It’s down.



Time for another decision! Let’s go left.



Hmm. The left passage in this room just leads back to the top of the previous screen. When I was a kid I thought you had to go down the left path first, then the right, but I’ve since found out you can go the right path the first time.



God, more choice! This time you have to go left. I have no idea where you wind up if you go right, but I assume it’s the start again. I can reliably get about halfway through the labyrinth, so I haven’t taken most of the wrong turns in the first section since I was a kid.



This corridor is full of EEL WHIPS. They can drop LIFE HEARTS, so sometimes it’s worth killing them.



Not this time, unfortunately. I usually kill that first one because its movement through the air puts it in a spot where you can jump and kill it without stopping.



The next one hits me, and doesn’t drop any life either. I would’ve been better off just running past it.



I smarten up for a second there, but then I waste time on a fourth WHIPS. Really, the drop rate of the LIFE HEARTS makes this pretty inefficient.



I waste yet more time killing another one before I reach these GHOSTs. They have like a zillion HP, so I’m not gonna even try. Instead, I’ll make my escape. But should I go left, or down?



The answer is down. And then right.



And then down, and then right. I have no idea how I wound up outside the passageway in the last shot there. I guess I was pushing into the wall during the screen transition and got lucky. Fortunately I was able to carry on as normal by walking to the right edge of the screen.



Here’s me, ignoring a prime chance to bypass this KNIGHT.



There goes some life.



These pillars keep screwing up my screenshots. Anyway, there’s a few more GOBLINs along this way. I don’t bother with the second guy’s money bag.



We come to another juncture. I can go up, or right.

Sadly, the correct path is up. Remember where I said that the hourglass is the second worst thing in the game? You’re about to see number one:



It doesn’t look like much, but this abomination is responsible for the premature endings of countless games of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, and the accompanying frustration of players everywhere. What happens here is the platforms start to move upwards after you jump off them. Doesn’t look too bad, right? I’m about to land on that one on the right side, so I can just keep jumping and I’ll make it?



Wrong. If you try to stand on the platforms while they’re moving, you’ll fall through them. You have to jump back and forwards between the two platforms to make any progress. When you land on either platform, it starts falling. If you take too long, you’ll be too far below the other one to make the jump. If you hit jump before you’ve changed direction, you sometimes can’t turn back in time. The SMS controller’s D-pad is not a great help in this area.



Once you reach the bottom, you’ll find that the platform you used to jump up isn’t there anymore. I think if you try to go left you’ll just bump up against the side of the screen. Going right leads to:



The start of the stage! The makers of the game didn’t even have the decency to refill the hourglass.



I set off through the labyrinth again, but I lose a heart to the clock and some more life to enemies, and before you know it, there goes my REVIVAL POTION. I’m basically stuffed now. Great.



Still, I carry on, and soon I’m back here.



A much better start.



I carry on, and at last I’ve reached the top of the screen and can put this horror behind me.



Or not.



In fact there are five screens of this, and I am in a state of white-knuckled tension the entire time. The greatest danger is the first platform of each screen: if it sinks below the bottom of the screen before you jump, you fall.



I’ve reached the top, and can now breathe easy. In a small act of mercy, the game starts you on this platform instead of making you jump up to it.

Alright, I'm stopping there for today. This is about halfway through the stage (the short half) and this is the third post already. If I hold off until I've put the whole thing together, it'll be a long time coming. Here's some extra stuff:



My rather sad first attempt at the climb.



My much improved second shot.

And here's an old Japanese ad for the game (apparently called "Super Wonder Boy Monster World" over there) featuring a brief clip of that same climb. Why they'd want to advertise that, I don't know.

So that no one can say they weren't warned.

Yeah, this right here? This is pretty much the exact moment where after having won once, I always just said %@#$ it, turned off the SMS, and swapped in Wonder Boy 3. It did the whole Symphony of the Night thing you see, where it starts with an easy-mode version of the end of the previous game... except here there's more of an actual reason to do it.

Speaking of, planning to LP 3 next?

Oh GOD that climb was hell. Trying to figure out the labyrinth in the time before FAQs was bad enough, but climbing up those dang blocks was torture. Don't even get me started on Mecha Dragon...

And then they decided to use the platforms again in Monster World. I can't remember if that booted you back a ways, but it was still cruel.

So, part two of Round 12. When we left off, I'd lost my REVIVAL POTION and was pretty much stuffed. But at least I'd gotten past the climb. Let's see what happens next:



MADMAN. I hate these guys.



!



!



! Ahem. Excuse me. I was just a bit surprised there. The MADMAN dropped a REVIVAL POTION. You know I just said I was stuffed? I take it back. Anyway, if I continue to stand here gawping at it, it’ll disappear.



I take a step forward, and the POTION is mine! I have to check my status screen to confirm, because I can’t believe my luck. You gotta wonder, if the MADMAN was carrying a revival potion, why didn’t he use it when I killed him? Anyway, let’s carry on!



Yet another choice. I happen to know that the upper path is the correct one, so that’s what I take. I think if you take the lower path it only puts you back a couple of screen though, which is nice.



Goin’ left this time.



This RAT is kind enough to drop a LIFE HEART.



As is this one. I’m taking damage from the MADMAN in getting to it, but since I only lose a quarter heart while gaining a whole one, I come out ahead.



I carry on and find my two favourite enemies sharing a room. There’s only one thing to do!



I keep moving and find another juncture. This time the correct path is downwards, but I’m gonna go left so I can show you guys something.



No, not that! I think we’ve all seen me get hit before.



I hide behind a pillar and lay into this ROHPAH, and eventually it drops a LIFE HEART.



As does the next one.



I’m pretty close to full health now. Moving on I find some SNAPPER CRABs.

CRABs tend to drop items. This LARGE HEART would be a tiny miracle if I weren’t already close to full health. I of course lose some life immediately afterwards to that RAT, but at least I got him back.



And, although I don't have a shot of it, it dropped a SMALL HEART so I got my health back! Things are lookin’ good.



The other good drop from CRABs is magic. BOMBs aren’t all that useful to me right now, though. What I really want is LIGHTNING FLASH! and FIREBALL MAGIC. I get hit again by the RAT, but he drops some life and I’m back to full.



I move on to the next area. This looks familiar: it’s actually the same place I was a few minutes ago, a few screens past the chimney climb.



Nothing for it but to carry on.



Here I am back at the ROHPAH intersection. You remember that last time we were here I wanted to show you something? That was just that these few areas loop around in an easy pattern, and are filled with enemies that drop life and items. Basically, it’s the best grinding spot in the game. In fact it’s pretty much the only grinding spot: unlike in the other stages, you can reenter these areas as often as you like, and the enemies will still have their first drops on them. Unlike the rest of the castle, pretty much all of the enemies in this loop have a good chance of dropping life. If you can make it this far, even if you’re almost dead when you do, you can just run through over and over until you’ve got full health again. Most often you’re waiting for a crab to drop a LARGE HEART, but if that doesn’t happen it’s still possible to get to full health with SMALL HEARTs from the PYTHONs and ROHPAHs. Anyway, I’m close enough to full health to move on.



I go right on this screen.



Then down.



Then down again.



I take a left...



And I’m back here again. Darn. I’ll be honest: I don’t know my way around past this area very well. Still, at least I haven’t been put back too far.



I make my way back to the intersection. Let’s try this again:



This time, from the ROHPAHs, I go down, then right, then right. This must be the way!



Argh! You might remember this as the start of the level.



Lucky me! A SMALL HEART from an ANACONDA.

Almost immediately it’s lost to the hourglass. Let’s review the path I took to get to where I was before I got lost:



I go low, then down, then right, then left...



Then down, then right, then down, then right...



Then up, then up, then up (I don’t have shots of the second two ups because I didn’t want to screw up and fall during the climbing bit), then left, then high, then left...



And we’re back! Really, it’s quite simple.



I’ve lost a bit of health getting back, so I decide to do some killing to get it back. Sadly, enemies don’t always drop what you want. I’m not interested in GOLDEN SCALEs at this point.



These inconsiderate CRABs are wasting my time, and with it my HP.



I pick up a couple of SMALL HEARTs at least from these RATs.



This goes on for a while. The thing is, while I am getting some life back, I’m also losing it due to the ticking clock and my clumsy playstyle. At least I’m picking up some magic.



After another loop around, things are starting to look bad.



Come on! I’m getting way less health back than usual here.



A small reprieve.



After a while, the small hearts build up. Notice the jump in my score between the third and fourth shots: This took quite a few loops.



Right, back to business. I’ve been through here twice already, so there aren’t all that many ways I haven’t tried yet.



So we go down from the ROHPAHs, then right, then I think last time I went down here? I’ll go right, I guess.

Aww crumbs. Turns out this was the same way I went last time, but it took me so long to get back I got muddled.



Right, I’m back. Once again I’ve lost quite a bit of health getting this far, but screw it, I’m carrying on. I’ve still got my REVIVAL POTION, after all.



I take a right, then I go down. I’ve learned from last time!



OK, the first time through I went down on this screen. This time I’m taking a right!



!
Not happy!



OK, I’m nearly back, but unfortunately I’m nearly dead, too.



A RAT! One of my many weaknesses. OK, Yim, you can do this! He’ll probably drop a SMALL HEART, and you’ll be on your way to recovery!



Nope.



Well, at least my LIFE bar is full again. Almost immediately after this:



An enemy drops a LARGE HEART, refilling my already pretty much full LIFE meter. Where was that twenty seconds ago?



The game is quite clearly taking the piss now.



On the bright side, I kill this MADMAN with some TORNADO magic and he drops a REVIVAL POTION. I’m back in top form!



OK, one more time!



So: Right on the first screen, down on the second, down on the third, and then right again leads to:



A new area! Thank goodness.

Right! So business as usual from here. The CRAB dropped some TORNADO magic, which at this point I want to get rid of. You don’t get any control over which magic you use out of what you have, so if you want access to a particular thing, you need to get rid of whatever’s ahead of it in the (FILO) queue.



It’s also an easy way to get rid of ground based enemies. You can only have two tornadoes out at at time, so you have to wait for them to disappear before you can get rid of any more.



Another choice! I’m going down.



All the way down.



I can’t help myself, I just have to get hit again.



I take out one last SNAKE before moving on. You might remember that one of these was the first enemy in the game. Well, final boss aside, this one is the last. I continue to the left and find:



Suddenly it’s a sci-fi game! That bartender back in Round 8 mentioned the Dragon arriving on an airship. This must be it.



It’s a pretty straightforward area. Before we knock on the boss door, let’s check our status:



So: I’ve got all the best gear, a HELMET and GAUNTLET (meaning I’ll do double damage and the Dragon half, at least until they wear off), a REVIVAL POTION, the RUBY, lots for FIRE BALLs, and quite a bit of other magic (I wouldn’t normally have this much magic at this point, since I don't usually spend quite so long as I have this time going through the labyrinth over and over picking it up). I’d say I’m all set! Let’s do this thing!

...sometime soon.

Extras:



Here's a map, to spare you the horror I endured getting this far. I've taken a slightly different approach to it than the other ones, but I think it's clear enough. I might have some of the wrong turns mixed up, but if you follow the correct path from it you should make it to the end.

TL,DR (had to split it into two to fit imgur's .gif size limit):





Next time: We do this thing!


It is very kind of you to ask! Unfortunately, I don't think I will. I was planning to when I started, but now I'm not sure I can manage it. For one thing, it's a lot of work: I'd estimate I spent about 5% of my time on this LP playing the game, 20% writing about it, and the other 75% compiling .gifs, tiling screenshots so I could have more than 15 per update, and just sifting through the literally thousands of screenshots I took. On top of that, I'm not sure what to say about it. I've probably been too thorough on this one, so I could just cut back a bit, but I think it's a game that might be better served by a video LP, which isn't really my bag. Maybe one day I could do it as an all .gif LP. Probably have to tighten up my techniques to pull that off, though.

Sorry for the delay, gang. Let’s do this thing!



There it is, the dreaded MEKA DRAGON.



I’m off to a good start.



Wonder Boy freezes in place and the DRAGON sparkles a bit. This is the RUBY taking effect and doing some damage for me.



The DRAGON’s damage indicator has darkened after all that sparkling. It’s a good thing. I move to get some distance as it jumps.



Here’s the DRAGON’s main attack: It throws fire at you. It’s usually not too hard to dodge as long as you’re far enough away to have some time to move.



I throw a fireball of my own. I don’t think these do a lot of damage, but it’s much safer than trying to close in for a hit.



I take another shot, but the DRAGON takes to the air and it sails past harmlessly.



After a narrow dodge I make another hit with my third FIREBALL.



A THUNDER FLASH! appears in my magic queue, and I take advantage of it for an easy hit.



Well, that’s that. The DRAGON’s kind of a wussy final boss when you have the RUBY. But then!



The screen goes black, and it is revealed that the dreaded MEKA DRAGON was... a MECHA DRAGON!



It still has basically the same attack, though. I’m not 100% on this, but I think that the first form only throws fire when it’s in the air, not on the ground like it’s doing here.



I fire off another FIRE BALL, but find myself in a sticky situation. How’m I gonna get out of this one?



Ah. The usual way. At least I got in a hit.



And another. Note that the DRAGON’s damage indicator is still in the green. I’m not doing a lot of damage here.

I fart out another fireball, but this one for some reason doesn’t do any damage. Maybe he’s invincible when he’s attacking? It is a mystery. Anyway, I’ve come up on LIGHTNING FLASH! now. Can’t miss with that.



What? H4X!



I pull a pretty sweet dodge here, jumping over that fireball.



I get some distance, throw a bomb, and take its next shot on my shield. Yeah, I’m pretty badass.



Uh... I send off another FIRE BALL, anyway.



The FIRE BALL connects while my BOMB bounces harmlessly past the DRAGON’s feet. That sort of thing is why I tried to waste my TORNADO and BOMB shots during the stage. They’re no use here.



This fireball manages to connect, even though the DRAGON is attacking.



As does this one. Sadly, I’ve got a TORNADO up next.



I throw it out, and fire off a LIGHTNING FLASH! while I’m at it. This is enough to knock the boss’s health down to yellow.



It soon recovers, and I have a near escape.



Another flash of lightning gives no apparent effect.



The TORNADO remains completely useless, but I get in another FIRE BALL hit.



This is a pretty sweet move on my part, if you’ll allow me to say so. The main difficulty of the DRAGON is jumping at it at the right time to avoid its fireballs. My usual way around this problem is having enough health to just get all my hits in during the invincibility window after getting hit. If you don’t have enough health, the other way is to pull of shots like this repeatedly, which for me usually means not beating the boss. This fight I’m mostly bypassing the difficulty by having so many fireballs, allowing me to damage the DRAGON without taking the risk of getting close to it.



I don’t know why the DRAGON’s fireball is so small this time, but it’s still just as efficacious. Luckily, I get a hit in too.



This time the fireball doesn’t hit ‘cause I’m still flashing from the previous hit. I don’t know why the DRAGON is unharmed by my fireball, though.

This is pretty poor performance on my part.



Apparently in the arcade version of the game, if you stand right up under the DRAGON, the fireballs will miss you. Not so on the SMS, where it can fire right through itself. Luckily, I’m again invincible, so I get in another fireball hit.



We both miss this time.



Another hit.



I’m not sure if I was still invincible here or if I got extremely lucky with my shield, but I didn’t take a hit either way.



Unlike this time. That’s not even a fireball hit, that’s me jumping on the DRAGON’s head.



I get in a couple quick FIRE BALL shots, so it’s not all bad.



Now this is just unlucky. The tail of the DRAGON’s attack is just too long to make it over this time. And to make it worse, my own attack misses!



So this is the tactic I was describing earlier: jump at it while it can’t hit you.



This one’s a lucky shot.



Again my attack is ineffective.



And again!



Alright! I get it down to red health. Only one more hit, and I can finish this overly pedantic account of the fight! Just in time, too, as I’m down to my last FIRE BALL.



And I miss. Great. The good news is, that’s put a shot of LIGHTNING FLASH! into the queue. Can’t miss with that!



You know what, though? That’s a lame way to fight. Even if I have managed the fight so far with wussy ranged attacks, I’m gonna finish it properly.

Boo-yah. Even though this was probably the easiest shot at this boss I’ve ever had in this game, thanks to all the magic I had, at this point I leaned back in my chair and raised both fists to the ceiling. I’m glad no-one else was in the house at the time.



A screen appears!



The ending speculates on the origins of the DRAGON and tells us that the people will live happily. Not happily ever after, mind you. Maybe even worse is yet to come. What a cheery note to end on!



The game congratulates me, then converts my remaining money to points, then my remaining life, then restores me to full health.



Night falls.



So long!




Extra Material:

Here's the .gif of the fight:



And the ending in motion:



And that's it! I hope you've enjoyed my LP of Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Now that you've seen what you need to know to get through this game, maybe you'd like to play it? It's on the Virtual Console, and I know it was worth every penny for me. Or, if you'd like to see how the story continues, check out Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, also for the Sega Master System and also available on VC.

Anyway, thanks for reading, thanks for your comments, and thanks especially for your patience. This took a lot longer than I expected.

Good night, Talking Time.

Good night, Monster Land...

Great LP!

but...

WHAT A HORRIBLE NIGHT TO HAVE A DRAGON'S CURSE

A robot dragon. Really? Kind of breaks the setting doesn't it? Anyway, great LP, I enjoyed reading it thoroughly.

Wow! That was your best performance on a boss by FAR! You dodged those fireballs like a champ!

The hourglass still ticks during the final boss? That's... I guess not unexpected, but sadistic all the same.

Nice job on the LP, Yimothy!

This was a Master System game. To ask for a Master System game not to get sci-fi in their fantasy is like asking a Master System game not to try and force RPG elements into straight-up action games. That's just how Sega used to roll.

Also, man, the number of fireballs you tossed around at the end there really would make such a nice segue into someone doing an LP of 3.

I concur - that was some good stuff.

I'd like to join in on the praise, particularly for the animated gifs and the hand-drawn maps, which I thought were pretty awesome touches.

Yes.

That said, if it's the gifs that are keeping you back from your next LP, I'd rather see it gifless than not at all.