Might & Magic: Gates to Another World

[Melf]

When most people think of RPGs, they don't think of the Genesis. That's unfortunate, as the console boasts a great library of quality titles (almost as many as it has shmups!). When you're done with the Phantasy Stars and Shining titles, there's another game awaiting your attention. Nowhere near as pretty or manageable as those games but boasting a quest almost three times the size, Might & Magic: Gates to Another World is the one Genesis RPG that will make you humble. Trust us, any game with a 169-page instruction manual is one that doesn't pull its punches. Interested? Then grab your sword, read our full review, and see if you're man enough for this monster.

[XMARLTONX]

WOW!

I had NO CLUE that this was on Genesis! Thats quite a hefty instruction manual I must say. But this is a great game, and if I ever get the time, I would love to dive into it.

[Joe Redifer]

I rented this and I didn't have time to figure out its intricacies. This is one of those games that you need to force yourself to play and understand. I think that once you get it that it may be somewhat involving. Graphics suck ass, though. And they are tosh! Stop playing this game for a few days and you won't remember how to play when you come back.

[megabomberman]

Wow that looks like a very nice game, looking at some games like twinkle tale get decent reviews makes you wonder because when I tried it on the emulator when considering purchasing it I thought it was awful... but this seems like a very nice and very different rpg, thanks for bringing it to my attention melf!

[Genesis Knight]

I'm the first to agree that the graphics were bad and the menus were clunky, but I remember one amazing week when I was new to Genesis. The world captivated me completely, and I couldn't believe how much there was to see and do.

I would suggest that M&M was the supreme title of its kind back in the day, and it still holds a certain appeal to certain people.

[Mr Smith]

That does look like an interesting one. I might have to add it to my collection at some point, assuming it is available in Europe.

[108 Stars]

That does look like an interesting one. I might have to add it to my collection at some point, assuming it is available in Europe.

It is. And it is not even rare (if you can live without the instructions).

[Jules Walter]

I would suggest that M&M was the supreme title of its kind back in the day, and it still holds a certain appeal to certain people.

If by its kind you western computer RPGs. Else, that's blasphemy.

As for me, I tried and tried, but man, I hate those games. Altough I'd still take this any day over Faery Tales Adventure. Jesus.

[SEGA-Jorge]

I saw this recently at a store. Think I'll be going back for it. It got me thinking, there was a decent amount of western rpgs on the Genesis.

Buck Rogers
Rings of Power
Dungeons & Dragons
Might & Magic
Power Monger
Immortal
Shadowrun

I'm sure there's more... This is an article in the making... Couple this with stuff like Scooby Doo (point and click adventure) you start building a pretty solid library of western-style pc/rpg/adventure games... I find that interesting.

[Nightwolf]

I LOVE this game. This, among with Bloodych were my first RPGs. Love the manual. Huge. And the game too. Also love the bugs... After MM2, Starflight (more or less an rpg) and Buck Rogers...

SOLID game

I kill for someone to be able to make an editor for the game, adding zones, items, etc, etc...

EDIT: I think you can also count Pirates! Gold, and dont forget Eye of the Beholder and Dungeon Master II for Mega CD

[goldenband]

I'm sure there's more...

Faery Tale Adventure is another one, and there's also the Mega CD port of Might & Magic III.

[midnightrider]

Beavis and Butthead has some point 'n click attributes as well. You also get a number on the Sega CD to boot.

[SEGA-Jorge]

I'd love to expand this to pc ports in general. It's a good study in early pc-to-console port practices. When you think of it, the stuff on the Genesis was generally console specific titles, straight ports of arcade games, consolized/ heavily modified versions of arcade games, sequels to older games from older/other consoles, and pc ports. It would be interesting to look at pc ports in general as a subset of games on the system for the sake of research/ further genre identification/cataloging.

Stuff like Gods, the Killing Game Show, Shadow of the Beast, the Immortal, Star Flight, Populus, Slaughter Sport, Budokan etc.

[Chimaera]

It's winter break and I wanted to sink my teeth into a long, involved game. This has been sitting on my shelf for a few years, and I've always wanted to get into it! I rolled up a new party and set out to get mercilessly beaten.

My Initial Party:

Rex - Half Orc Barbarian
Darrow - Half Orc Knight
Gronk - Half Orc Barbarian
Zio - Human Ninja
Claris - Elven Cleric
Avalon - Elven Cleric

The difficulty curve at the start is like scaling a wall, but once you beat a few monsters, earn enough money to level up (yeah, you have to pay to train), the game opens up a lot. Training to a new level only costs 100-250 gold at the beginning and new levels net you anywhere from 4-12 HP points, which is a necessity! Just don't forget to purchase food, bc when you run out, resting no longer works. Also, you have to search the ground for treasure after fights (wtf). I was 4 or 5 fights in and wondering why they weren't dropping treasure.

I always suspected there was good stuff under the surface if I could just find a way to get past the first couple of fights without having my party slaughtered. I'm looking forward to immersing myself more in this game.

[Phexar]

The Genesis version of this game is also superior to the SNES version because in the SNES version you can't train hirelings - they're locked to whatever level you hire them at which more or less ruins them and effectively restricts you to a party of 6 instead of 8. Those extra party members come in handy with the sheer hordes of enemies in this game.