Fatal Labyrinth

n/a

NTSC-U/PAL NTSC-J Game Toshokan
Fatal Labyrinth
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Steam
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega R&D 9
Sound driver: SMPS Z80
Genre: RPG
Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages: 日本語 English
Release Date RRP Code JP ▼ (Game Toshokan) 1990-11-21 SUBsub US 1991-04 $39.9539.95 1309 US ▼ (Sega Channel) 1994 SUBsub EU 1991 1309 UK 1991 £34.9934.99 1309 AU 1991? CA 199x US ▼ 2010-09-13 $2.992.99 34289 EU ▼ 2010-09-13 €2.492.49 34289 UK ▼ 2010-09-13 £1.991.99 34289 AU ▼ 2010-09-13 $3.493.49 34289 US ▼ 2019-02-01 $0.990.99 34289 EU ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 34289 UK ▼ 2019-02-01 £0.790.79 34289 AU ▼ 2019-02-01 $1.351.35 34289 US ▼ 2019-02-01 $0.990.99 34289 EU ▼ 2019-02-01 €0.990.99 34289 UK ▼ 2019-02-01 £0.790.79 34289 AU ▼ 2019-02-01 $1.351.35 34289

Fatal Labyrinth, called Shi no Meikyu: Labyrinth of Death (死の迷宮) in Japan, is a role-playing game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive. It was first released in Japan as a Sega Game Toshokan exclusive in 1990, and was later published on cartridge in all other territories in 1991.

A Virtual Console version of the game was planned but never released.

Story

Dragonia, the castle of doom, has resurrected, and the ghouls that dwell within have stolen the Holy Goblet, the source of the world's light. The player controls Trykaar, a courageous fellow, who has volunteered to enter Dragonia and traverse its thirty levels to retrieve the Holy Goblet.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot.

The game is a roguelike where most levels of the castle are chosen at random from a predefined set. The player will find monsters and items scattered at random. Monsters are fought by simply running into them. To pick up an item, the player should press while on top of it. opens up the inventory screen, where the player can equip various weapons and armor and use magic items. confirms a selection and leaves the screen. If the player ends up stuck at a boundary, the button can be pressed to see if the boundary is a secret door. Pressing also skips the turn. Defeating enough enemies will raise the player's rank as well as increase the player's stats.

The game ends when the player runs out of health. Health is regained by eating food found as items on the ground, and will also slowly regenerate each few steps/turns as long as the player has food. If they run out of food, they will rapidly lose health until they eat food or die. If the player eats too much food (the "F" counter on the HUD exceeds or equal to 80), they will slow down. Continuously eating more food (F=99) will also result in death.

Gold collected in the game is not used for any purchases. Rather, the amount of gold collected determines the quality of the gravestone the player will receive when they die, while their rank will determine how many mourners they'll have. The game can be continued as many times as the player wishes, however the player will start again from every fifth floor reached; for example, continuing after dying on the thirteenth floor will restart the player from the tenth floor. The player cannot continue if they haven't reached the fifth floor.

Magic items are randomly color-coded on each play.

Items

	Weapons
	Includes knives, swords, spears, shurikens and axes. Shurikens can be thrown consecutively, and can be equipped at the same time as other types of weapons.
	Shields, Helmets and Armor
	These raise the player's Armor stat, however some enemies can destroy the player's armor.
	Magic Scrolls
	Causes a variety of effects, such as confusing enemies and lighting up rooms.
	Canes
	Casts magic of different elements, such as fire, ice, thunder and wind.
	Potions
	Can be used to recover HP at any time. However, some potions are poisonous and will cause damage instead.
	Rings
	Some rings will raise the player's power, while others can be thrown at enemies.
	Bows
	Bows allow the player to attack from a distance and can be used consecutively.
	Food
	Fills the player's belly.

Game Over screens

The following screenshots indicate how much gold will determine the quality of the player's gravestone. One mourner will be added for each rank gained, up to a maximum of 15 in the Game Toshokan version, and 10 in the Western versions.

Game Toshokan version

• 

  0 - 99G

• 

  100 - 199G

• 

  200 - 299G

• 

  300 - 499G

• 

  500G or more

Western versions

• 

  0 - 99G

• 

  100 - 199G

• 

  200 - 299G

• 

  300 - 499G

• 

  500G or more

Versions

The version originally released for the Sega Game Toshokan service is a noticeably early version of the game with simpler presentation. For the physical Western release, the game received significant changes such as a more detailed title screen with animation, and replacing the instruction screen with a playable prologue that explains the game's story to the player.

If the Western version of the game is played on a Japanese system, the title and text will be translated to Japanese. This version would later become the basis for the Japan-exclusive re-releases as part of Game no Kanzume Vol. 2 and Game no Kanzume Otokuyou, with the former also having CD audio for the title screen.

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Fatal Labyrinth	Fatal Labyrinth
English (US)	Fatal Labyrinth	Fatal Labyrinth
Japanese	死の迷宮	Shi no Meikyu: Labyrinth of Death

Production credits

• Planner: Carol
• Programmer: Mr. Lee, Papa
• Designer: Big Island, Azarashi, Sato (Tokumei)
• Music & Sound Composer: E Fugu
• Thanks to: Large Torrent, Hou-Ou

Sega 1990

Source:

In-game credits

Digital manuals

• 

  Steam manual

Magazine articles

Main article: Fatal Labyrinth/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in (US) #0304: "Vol. 3 No. 4 April 1991" (1991-0x-xx)

Artwork

• 

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score (RU) 40 (DE) 52 (US) NTSC-U 50 (RU) 80 (US) NTSC-U 68 (UK) PAL 56 (FR) 76 (UK) PAL 65 (UK) PAL 59 (FR) PAL 50 (US) NTSC-U 45 (UK) 51 (UK) 51 (FR) 76 (UK) 55 (UK) PAL 25 (UK) 39 (UK) NTSC-U 68 (RU) 58 (DE) 60

	56
Based on 20 reviews

Fatal Labyrinth

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, AU
Cover

Mega Drive, CA
Cover

Technical information

Main article: Fatal Labyrinth/Technical information.

External links

• Fatal Labyrinth on Steam