While this is a short game, it is a joy to play from beginning to end.

User Rating: 8.5 | Ys III: Wanderers from Ys SNES
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys is a side-scrolling adventure and RPG game. You play as Adol Christian, the hero for the entire Ys saga. He’s a guy who left his home in search for adventure. This time around, Adol is with his friend Dogi, and they both go to the town of Redmont, where this adventure takes place. Since this is partially an RPG, Adol has a sword at his disposal. The game I could compare it with is Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. They’re both side-scrollers, where the hero must hack and slash his way through enemies to find the boss of the current area. Adol defeats enemies in order to gather gold and experience. At each level up, Adol’s HP, strength and defense go up, as with any other RPG. One of the differences between Ys III and the Ys IV (I’m not sure about the next two after) is the experience stays the same after beating an enemy (in Ys IV, if you fight an enemy long enough, the experience it gives goes to 1.) So, if you wanted to, you could keep the attack button down and find a place where an enemy regenerates, and leave the game running while Adol racks up experience and gold (which is what I did with my current go at this game.) As I said before, this game is rather short for an RPG. There are only four main areas to explore, one expanding cave after a certain event occurs, and the final island where the game ultimately comes to. While the game is short, the bosses are some of the toughest I’ve faced. You could have your HP maxed out, and some of these bosses will take you down with only a few shots. They’re that tough, and all the more reason to give that sense of relief when you defeat them. Adol doesn’t have any ranged attacks, simply his sword, which adds a little to the challenge. He can’t use magic. However, at his disposal are rings, which perform various effects to Adol, but cannot be used infinitely; by using them, his ring meter will start to drop to zero. It can be charged either by a person in Redmont or by defeating enemies. Despite that drawback, the rings are invaluable, as they can boost Adol’s strength, defense, even heal him for a time. It may not be worth your while to go out of your way to buy this game, but if you happen to ever see it, pick this game up. It’s an old adventure andRPG game for the SNES, but it’s definitely one of those games where if you played it before and liked it, you’ll enjoy the nostalgic feeling. And if you’re a gamer who likes a quality game and aren’t too big a fan of lengthy RPGs, this also fits the bill.