Equinox (1993 video game)

Equinox, known in Japan as Solstice II (ソルスティスII), is an isometric 3D action–puzzle-hybrid video game developed by Software Creations and published by Sony Imagesoft and Sony Computer Entertainment for the Super NES in 1994. It is the sequel to Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos, a 1990 Nintendo Entertainment System game.

This article is about the 1993 SNES game. For the 1986 home computer game, see Equinox (1986 video game).
Equinox
North American cover art
Developer(s)Software Creations
Publisher(s)
Designer(s)Ste and John Pickford
Composer(s)Tim Follin
Geoff Follin
Platform(s)Super NES
Release
  • NA: March 1994
  • JP: November 12, 1993
  • EU: March 25, 1994
Genre(s)Action-adventure game
Mode(s)Single-player

Gameplay
Equinox gameplay screenshot

The protagonist Glendaal moves from room to room looking for ‘tokens’ (blue orbs), twelve of which must be collected and brought to a boss area where they enable the ‘summoning’ of one of the game's boss characters. Each of these must be defeated to enable progress to the next area. To aid the player in their quest, one projectile weapon and one magic scroll is hidden on each level for Glendaal to find. Most levels contain a number of entrances which are accessed from an over-world map, home to a sparse collection of wandering monsters. There are eight levels ("worlds") in the game, each of them with its own weapon, spell and boss (called a Guardian) as well as tricky platform-jumping and block-sliding puzzles.

Plot

Shadax, the wizard hero of Solstice, has been captured and imprisoned by his treacherous apprentice, the sorceress Sonia, in her Ice Palace. Sonia's army of monsters and demons then overrun the seven kingdoms of the world. It is now up to his young son Glendaal, the only man with the magical powers strong enough to defeat the evil empress, to journey to rescue Shadax from her icy fortress in Death Island and put an end to her reign.[1] If Glendaal manages to reach and destroy Sonia, he finds his barely alive father in a tiny chamber concealed behind the witch's throne.

Reception

On release, Famicom Tsūshin scored Equinox a 29 out of 40.[2] Dragon gave the game 3 out of 5 stars[3] and Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it a 7.6 out of 10, calling it "a good action/adventure game with one major problem: The perspective is very disorienting."[4] Gamefan Magazine was far more positive, reviewing it twice and giving the import version 90% and 96%.[5] Equinox was awarded for having the Best Ad of 1994 by Electronic Gaming Monthly.[6]

References
  1. Equinox manual at celephais.net.
  2. NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: ソルスティスII. Weekly Famicom Tsūshin. No.257. Pg.38. 12–19 November 1993.
  3. Petersen, Sandy (September 1994). "Eye of the Monitor". Dragon (209): 61–62.
  4. "Review Crew: Equinox". Electronic Gaming Monthly (57). EGM Media, LLC. April 1994. p. 40.
  5. "Viewpoint". Gamefan Magazine (2). 1992.
  6. "Electronic Gaming Monthly's Buyer's Guide". 1995. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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