is one of the bitter ironies of video game consoles (at least old ones) that some of the most creative games are nearing the end of their useful life. After having years and years to explore the technical limits of a system, programmers have a much greater understanding of what a system can do, only to abandon it all in a year or two. Perhaps no console-to-console transition in gaming history has gone as badly as when Sega was moving from the Genesis to the Saturn. And there is at least one great game that got lost in the shuffle.

Scared by competition and the upcoming transition to 3D gaming, Sega began selling add-ons for the Genesis that confused customers. Meanwhile, it released the Saturn on the market without a complete game library.

Several great games were lost in this confusing process, including the one from developer Ancient beyond the oasis from 1995, a beautiful RPG that is so much fun to experience, and from September 2022, it is if you subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.

starring beyond the oasis is Prince Ali (this game came out three years later Aladdin, thus possibly overlapping with one of the film’s most famous songs), who has found an ancient gold bracelet that imbues him with magical powers. Returning to his kingdom, he discovers strange invaders everywhere. Watching his father, the king, he discovers four different temples, each housing a spirit that he can use to defeat invaders.

Oasis It’s not the deepest Genesis RPG ever released; that trophy probably belongs to one of the shining force games, but it is one of the most beautiful. Few top-down RPGs of this era look as good as Oasis, where statues and waterfalls dazzle inside the sanctuaries. All the colors are bright and bold, and even today this is a game best enjoyed on a big screen. The game map, which appears in the middle of the screen, is a magnificent artifact in itself, showing a wide world, from coastlines to mountains, with a helpful flag pointing you in the right direction.

First-time players will notice some items quickly when playing beyond the oasis, such as how quickly advanced weapons are depleted in combat and the variety of challenges that await in the shrines. But perhaps even more than the combat, even more than the graphics, the music really stands out.

Unusually, the score beyond the oasis was developed by its producer, Yuzo Koshiro. He came to video games as a composer first, learning piano at the age of three and training with Joe Hisaishi, who would go on to write Hayao Miyazaki’s scores. my neighbor totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, princess mononokeand several others.

Koshiro brings Hisaishi’s sense of wonder and discovery to the game’s score. Most game soundtracks, particularly in this era, have a repetitive quality to suit prolonged gaming experience. not so with beyond the oasis. The score constantly grabs his attention, with bombast and new sounds being thrown in like a chef whipping up the perfect stew. The score will go from calm, tense sounds to loud explosive blasts on a dime, throwing the player off balance in a delightfully expressive way.

Koshiro’s score rises beyond the oasis from a beautiful role-playing game to a complete sensory experience. While you can listen to it on YouTube, there’s something really special about wandering around a medieval world, fighting zombies and ogres, while this absolutely crazy music plays. It’s a little piece of forgotten video game magic that’s definitely worth checking out via Nintendo Switch Online.