Gods

From Sega Retro

n/a
  • NTSC-U
  • NTSC-J
  • PAL

Gods MDTitleScreen.png

Gods MD JP TitleScreen.png

Gods MD EU TitleScreen.png

Gods
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Mindscape (US), PCM Complete (Japan), Accolade (Europe)
Developer:
Supporting companies:
Distributor: Ecofilmes (PT), Hent Gruppen (SE rental), Datart International (CZ), Metro Games (AU)
Licensor: Renegade Software[1], The Bitmap Brothers[1]
Original system(s): Atari ST
Developer(s) of original games: The Bitmap Brothers
Sound driver: Graftgold custom
Genre: Action[1][2]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP 		¥8800 T-85013
Sega Mega Drive
US 		$49.95[4][5] T-87016
Sega Mega Drive
US ▼
(Sega Channel) 		SUB
Videogame Rating Council: GA
Sega Mega Drive
EU 		T-119036-50
Sega Mega Drive
DE 		DM 110[8] T-119036-50
Sega Mega Drive
PT 		MD119036
Sega Mega Drive
UK 		£39.99[10] T-119036-50
Sega Mega Drive
SE
(Rental)
Sega Mega Drive
CZ
Sega Mega Drive
AU
Non-Sega versions

Gods (ゴッズ) is a 1991 platformer by The Bitmap Brothers, originally released for the Atari ST and later ported to a variety of home consoles and computers, including a 1992 port to the Sega Mega Drive. This version was the first game published by Accolade after acquiring an official license after winning Sega v. Accolade (though they still presumably continued to press unlicensed games).

Story

"Four guardians" have broken the citadel used to protect the city of the Gods, and have asked any warrior to retake the citadel in return for a favor. The greatest gift of all: immortality. The player controls one such warrior, who asks to become a God himself, equal to the others.

Gameplay

A shoots the player's weapon (which they carry one of and find throughout each level), and B jumps. Ladders can be jumped off by pressing HOLD BLeft or Right. By pressing Up, the player will face the wall, and can then use A to do actions like flipping switches on the wall. The player can carry up to four extra items with them, such as keys (used to open doors). To take an item, the player should hold Down to crouch and press C to pick the item up and put it in one of four slots (shown in the HUD), and then hit C again to move the cursor to the next slot. To drop an item, move the cursor onto an item and leave item grabbing mode. The player does not need to drop items to use keys; they activate automatically they you approach a door.

Passwords are given out at the end of each world after defeating the respective boss. Should the player continue using a password, they will be given a pre-defined amount of money to power up with.

Enemies' appearance changes from world to world and sometimes also from stage to stage, but their behavior can be categorized:

  • Walking a predefined path.
  • Walking straight towards the player's position.
  • Flying towards the player's position.
  • Turret-like behavior.
  • So-called "thieves" take a special position. Starting with world 2, these characters will grab items and carry them around. They can be attracted by dropping a golden key, the item they desire the most. They can be utilized to transport items out of areas they player can't reach by themselves.

Points are accumulated by defeating enemies and collecting treasure, often hidden away in secret areas that can only be accessed by solving puzzle sections. A lot of the bonus sections are very hard to find without the use of external resources. The game has a self adaptive difficulty level, sometimes giving out health and extra lives to players instead of score related items. Extra lives and bonus points are rewarded for certain scores. As all score is lost when powering off the console, a play session focusing on score needs to be done in one sitting.

While the score system was carefully crafted, a design oversight exists: The beehives in the labyrinth stage release an unlimited amount of bees, and thus infinite score can be accumulated.

Weapons

Main weapons

Each weapon has three power levels. Level 1 is a straight shot, level 2 is straight and upward, level 3 is straight, upward and downward. The angle the weapons are fired can be altered by pickups.
Knife

Standard equipment.

Throwing Star

Stronger than the knife.

Spear

Stronger than the throwing star, goes through walls.

Mace

Weaker than the knife, can break certain blocks.

Axe

Strongest weapon, no special properties.

Sub weapons

Aside from the main weapons, the game also features sub weapons, which are fired simultaneously with the main weapons.

Energy Star

Arching shot, can be used together with the hammer.

Hammer

Jumps along the floor until it finds a target.

Spiked Ball

Homing shot,

Worlds

Each world is split into three sections. Between these individual sections, new weapons, power ups and other items may be purchased at a traveling merchant's shop.

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The City

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The Temple

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The Labyrinth

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The Underworld

History

Sega Channel broadcast history


North America

  •  – 1996-02-01
  •  – 1996-03-01
  •  – 1997-02-28

History

Release

The PAL version of Gods was delayed until late 1993, apparently due to a veto imposed by Sega Europe[11].

Versions

Gods on the Mega Drive runs significantly faster than its home computer counterparts, but likely too fast on NTSC systems. As the game was developed in the United Kingdom, it is suspected that the PAL version runs at the intended speed, and (outside of audio) was not correctly optimised for export markets. Each of the NTSC-J, NTSC-U and PAL versions of Gods are region locked.

Compared to the Atari ST and Amiga releases, the home console ports feature:

  • A new, animated intro screen (but without the image song) compared to the still image of the original.
  • In-game music was added, while the ST and Amiga releases were silent.
  • New HUD that displays all items. This works without compromising the visible area as the Sega Mega Drive version runs at a slightly higher resolution.
  • Some palette changes in all stages, likely due to the higher amount of simultaneously displayed foreground colors - Amiga:32 MD:64 (e.g. the hero's armor is slightly blue colored compared to the grey ST version armor, enemies now have their own palettes).
  • The Amiga's "copper mode" background gradients, which can't be reproduced on the Sega Mega Drive without heavy dithering, have been replaced with parallax scrolling buildings and scenery.
  • The final ascension to Olympus scene was made exclusively for console versions.
  • The ability to perform a straight vertical jump was added & walking speed is much faster, making it possible to clear the game in ~1 hour (compared to the Amiga version, which took ~2 hours).
  • In the Atari ST version, the player is given "immortality" by receiving a screen full of 1UP items after the final boss, which is missing in the Sega Mega Drive version. The extended ending scene is a replacement for this.
  • The game doesn't loop infinitely with an increased difficulty level after clearing it. Instead it brings the player to the highscore screen.

Production credits

  • Design: Eric Matthews, Steve Tall
  • Original Coding: Steve Tall
  • Graphics: Mark Coleman
  • Original Music: John Foxx
  • Sega Conversion: Gary J. Foreman at Graftgold Ltd.
  • Sega Sound: Jason Page
  • Additional Graphics: Mark Coleman, Eric Matthews, Philip Williams
Source:
In-game credits
Gods MD credits.pdf
[12]


Magazine articles

Main article: Gods/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

SegaVisions US 11.pdf
PDF
Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #11: "February/March 1993" (199x-xx-xx)
SegaVisions US 11.pdf
MeanMachinesSega15UK.pdf
PDF
Print advert in Mean Machines Sega (UK) #15: "January 1994" (1993-11-30)
MeanMachinesSega15UK.pdf
CVG UK 146.pdf
PDF
Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #146: "January 1994" (1993-12-15)
CVG UK 146.pdf
VideoGames DE 1994-03.pdf
PDF
Print advert in Video Games (DE) #1994-03: "3/94" (1994-02-23)
VideoGames DE 1994-03.pdf
TodoSega ES 09.pdf
PDF
Print advert in Todo Sega (ES) #9: "Diciembre 1993" (1993-1x-xx)
TodoSega ES 09.pdf
BeepMD JP 1993-01.pdf
PDF
Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1993-01: "January 1993" (1992-12-08)
BeepMD JP 1993-01.pdf

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
(BR)
81
[13]
(SA)
85
[14]
(DE)
92
[15]
(JP) NTSC-J
53
[16]
(FR)
88
[17]
(UK)
83
[10]
(UK)
87
[18]
digitiser
60
[19]
(RU)
70
[20]
(UK)
78
[21]
(JP) NTSC-J
55
[22]
(US) NTSC-U
87
[23]
(US) NTSC-U
95
[24]
gamesworldtt
85
[25]
(JP) NTSC-J
40
[26]
(DE)
59
[8]
(UK)
91
[27]
(UK) NTSC-U
91
[28]
(UK) NTSC
76
[29]
(UK) NTSC-U
76
[30]
(UK) NTSC
83
[31]
(UK) PAL
88
[32]
(FR)
82
[33]
(DE) NTSC-U
68
[34]
(UK) PAL
68
[35]
(UK) NTSC
89
[36]
(JP) NTSC-J
65
[37]
(UK) NTSC-U
89
[38]
(FR)
75
[39]
(DE)
81
[40]
(NL)
82
[41]
(UK) PAL
87
[42]
(UK) NTSC
92
[43]
(UK) NTSC-U
92
[44]
(UK) PAL
81
[45]
(UK) NTSC-U
92
[46]
(UK) PAL
74
[47]
(SE)
60
[48]
(RU)
68
[49]
(JP) NTSC-J
52
[50]
(UK) PAL
86
[51]
(ES) PAL
77
[52]
(RU)
79
[53]
(DE)
72
[54]
Sega Mega Drive
 78
Based on
44 reviews

Gods

Mega Drive, JP
Gods MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
Gods MD JP CartTop.jpg
Gods MD JP Cart.jpg
Cart
Gods MD jp manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, US
Gods MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Gods md us cart.jpg
Cart
Gods md us manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
Gods MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
Gods MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
GODS MD FR Manual.pdf
Manual
Notavailable.svg
Reg card
Mega Drive, EU (Triple Pack)
Gods MD EU Box Triple Pack.jpg
Cover
Gods MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
GODS MD FR Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, PT (colour manual)
Gods MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
GODS MD PT Colour Manual.jpg
Manual
Mega Drive, PT
Gods MD PT Box Back.jpgNospine.pngGods MD PT Box.jpg
Box
Gods MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
GODS MD PT Manual.jpg
Manual
Mega Drive, SE (rental; Hent; orange)
Gods MD SE rental cover.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, CZ/SK (Datart)
Gods MD CZ Box Front.png
Cover
Gods MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Notavailable.svg
Manual
Mega Drive, AU

Technical information

Main article: Gods/Technical information.

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Gods
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 File:Gods MD JP Box.jpg
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
  3. ↑ Sega Visions, "November/December 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 93
  4. ↑ GamePro, "January 1993" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 61
  5. ↑ Game Informer, "November/December 1992" (US; 1992-1x-xx), page 41
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mean Machines Sega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-11-30), page 67
  7. ↑ MAN!AC, "11/93" (DE; 1993-xx-xx), page 12
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 MAN!AC, "12/93" (DE; 1993-11-10), page 47
  9. ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-11), page 95
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Computer & Video Games, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-15), page 99
  11. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 104
  12. ↑ File:Gods MD credits.pdf
  13. ↑ Ação Games, "Dezembro 1992" (BR; 1992-12-16), page 22
  14. ↑ Alaab Alcomputtar, "2" (SA; 1995-08-xx), page 73
  15. ↑ Aktueller Software Markt, "Juli 1994" (DE; 1994-06-06), page 118
  16. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "May 1993" (JP; 1993-04-08), page 23
  17. ↑ Consoles +, "Décembre 1993" (FR; 1993-1x-xx), page 172
  18. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-15), page 71
  19. ↑ DIGITISER, "1993-04-09"
  20. ↑ ELIS1, "1", page 319
  21. ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "1" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 52
  22. ↑ Weekly Famitsu, "1993-04-16" (JP; 1993-04-02), page 37
  23. ↑ GameFan, "Volume 1, Issue 1: October 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 6
  24. ↑ GamePro, "January 1993" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 60
  25. ↑ GAMESWORLDTT, "1993-11-13"
  26. ↑ Hippon Super, "January 1993" (JP; 1992-12-04), page 83
  27. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-xx-xx), page 38
  28. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 92
  29. ↑ Mega, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-16), page 87
  30. ↑ Mega, "April 1994" (UK; 1994-03-17), page 63
  31. ↑ Mega Action, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 65
  32. ↑ Mega Action, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-04), page 42
  33. ↑ Mega Force, "Décembre 1993" (FR; 1993-12-10), page 90
  34. ↑ Mega Fun, "11/92" (DE; 1992-10-xx), page 39
  35. ↑ Mega Machines, "January 1994" (UK; 1993-12-09), page 40
  36. ↑ MegaTech, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-20), page 50
  37. ↑ Marukatsu Mega Drive, "January 1993" (JP; 1992-12-xx), page 107
  38. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-xx), page 90
  39. ↑ Player One, "Décembre 1993" (FR; 1993-1x-xx), page 157
  40. ↑ Play Time, "5/93" (DE; 1993-04-07), page 106
  41. ↑ Power Unlimited, "Nummer 5, December 1993" (NL; 1993-12-01), page 42
  42. ↑ Sega Power, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-xx), page 98
  43. ↑ Sega Pro, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-08), page 34
  44. ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 65
  45. ↑ Sega Pro, "November 1993" (UK; 1993-10-14), page 62
  46. ↑ Sega Zone, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-28), page 60
  47. ↑ Sega Zone, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-25), page 54
  48. ↑ Sega Force, "2/94" (SE; 1994-02-23), page 12
  49. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Review, "1" (RU; 1995-04-03), page 57
  50. ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
  51. ↑ Sonic the Comic, "February 4th 1994" (UK; 1994-01-22), page 12
  52. ↑ Todo Sega, "Diciembre 1993" (ES; 1993-1x-xx), page 76
  53. ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 16
  54. ↑ Video Games, "12/92" (DE; 1992-11-23), page 64
Gods

Gods MDTitleScreen.png

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