Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen

Review by Sean Jacox (A.K.A Koji)

Ogre Battle, one of the biggest series of games there is but also one of the most neglected in the US. Ogre battle is a strategy game with RPG-like elements. It basically tells the history of the land of Zenobia. The majority of the game takes place on huge battle fields. You control several groups (up to 9 I think) of troops which can contain several different classes of characters. Usually each battle field there is a main castle that you must take over. Along the way to that castle are small villages or monasteries which you must recapture from the enemy. Each place you retake you get a magic tarot card which you use in battle which can have many powerful effects on both you and the enemy’s sides. In the actual battles you have very little control over the units. You basically give them a strategy (like attack the leader of the group) and they do there thing. The only thing you can do is to use a tarot card to even out the score. After 1 round of fighting (determined by how many attacks each group has) a winner is determined (tarot cards have no effect on who wins) and the loser’s group is moved back. The winner may also be determined by whether one kills the other’s leader. If a leader of a group is killed the group becomes demoralized and will run back to the main castle where it will stay till their leader is restored.

Graphics 8/10-
Decent mode seven graphics as well as detailed sprite movements (in battle) give it a nice and unique look.

Sound 6/10-
Sounds somewhat repeated but are more or less unique to the class and what move it does. Would have gotten a better score if the dying sound of things wasn’t so annoying…

Music 6/10-
The sounds fit what was happening for the most part but could have used more varied instruments

Control 3/10-
A lot of the times you can not get the units where you want them when you need them in battle. It may be setup that way as part of the game but it was annoying none the less.

Replay 6/10-
Very replayable if you enjoy this sort of game.

Overall 7/10-
The game is fun and unique, especially since the strategy/RPG genre was pretty rare on the SNES.