Super Hydlide

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Super Hydlide

Developer(s)	T&E Soft
Publisher(s)	Seismic Software
Release date(s)	October 5, 1989 October 6, 1989
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	Sega Mega Drive / Sega Genesis
Input	Control pad

Super Hydlide is a sequel to the NES game Hydlide, and a remake of Hydlide 3: The Space Memories (which was only released in Japan). The game was made by T&E Soft, makers of the original Hydlide, and released on the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis on October 5, 1989 in the United States and October 6, 1989 in Japan. This sequel evidences substantial upgrades to every aspect of the original Hydlide.

After the events of Hydlide, Fairyland was all and well until an explosion of flames appeared near The City of the Woods. After that, enemies were everywhere. It's up to the protagonist (Jim) to save the day again.

This game incorporates a 'good/evil character' system. The game has both good and evil monsters. The evil ones attack the player on sight, while the good ones only attack if the player gets in their way or attacks them first. If the player kills a good monster (which gives more XP and gold) points are lost from a statistic called "MF". If the player's MF stat drops to zero, frequent traps will appear across the world. If the player manages to keep it over 100, rewards appear in the form of random items found around Fairyland.

Another aspect of the game is the weight system. Every item in the game (including money) has a weight to it; the more items the player carries, the slower the character moves. The character also has to eat and sleep regularly; if the player fails to do this, health and strength are lost over time. As consequence of a loss of strength, the player will be unable to cause any damage to enemies or carry more than a certain number of items, will be slowed down marginally, and will become "sleepy" and unable to move without first dropping items.

The game is duly noted for having an exceptionally good quality soundtrack, despite the limitations of the sound technology at the time. From the epic strands of the main theme to the many atmospheric dungeon tunes of the game it is well worth tracking down for the music alone. Some other issues with the game as a whole is that it can be notoriously buggy on occasion, including one frustrating glitch that garbles up on screen text on a frequent basis.