El Viento

n/a

NTSC-U NTSC-J
El Viento
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Wolf Team (Japan), Renovation Products (US)
Developer: Wolf Team
Sound driver: Wolf Team sound driver
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1991-09-20 ¥8,5008,500 T-32063 US 1991-11 $69.9969.99 49136 FR 199x 49136

El Viento (エル・ヴィエント) is a 1991 action platformer developed by Wolf Team for the Sega Mega Drive and published exclusively in the US and Japan by Renovation Products. The title is Spanish for "The Wind." It is the first game to be released in a loose trilogy completed by Earnest Evans and Anetto Futatabi.

A UK release, set to be distributed by Ubisoft for £44.99 in November 1991, was planned but cancelled for unknown reasons. However, the Genesis version was officially distributed in France with an extra translated manual.

Story

The story takes place in New York City during the late 1920s. Mad religious leader Henry intends to awaken the ancient and malevolent god Hastur. He plans to use the sorceress Restiana, who is descended from Hastur, as a sacrifice. He has led Restiana to believe that, rather than be sacrificed as part of the summoning ritual, she will come to possess the power of Hastur.

The Hastur cult is constructing a shrine to the dark god inside the (as yet incomplete) Empire State Building. They have hired the gangster Al Capone (Vincente DeMarcoto in the American localization) to kill the young Peruvian sorceress Annet Myer. Annet is also a descendant of Hastur and the only human capable of defeating him. Annet attempts to stop the cult from resurrecting Hastur.

Gameplay

Cutscene

The game is an action platformer. Annet can move around with and and jump with . She can crouch with . She can perform a crouching dash by pressing + or +, which lets her pass over gaps. She can jump on top of obstacles by holding forward against the obstacle and pressing . Her primary attack is throwing boomerangs with . She has unlimited boomerangs and have multiple out at once. She can throw boomerangs while crouching or jumping. Her boomerangs are thrown horizontally but seek out targets and travel in any direction. They damage enemies and other destructibles when returning to Annet as well.

Annet can use several offensive spells, which are charged by holding and fired by releasing it. The spell is more powerful the longer it is charged. Spells do more damage than her boomerang attacks and have different areas of effect that make them more suited to destroying certain enemies or obstacles. Casting spells expends her magic bar, which rapidly replenishes as long as she is not casting another spell. Annet starts with one spell and acquires four more over the course of the game. Each successive spell consumes more magic points to cast. The player can select a spell by holding ; the game cycles through the spells in order as long as she has enough magic points remaining.

Annet has a health bar, which is diminished as she takes damage from enemies or hazards. It can be replenished by finding items; it is also replenished at the start of each stage. Enemies also have health bars. The game uses the score as an experience gauge for Annet and extends her health and magic bars at certain thresholds. If Annet loses all of her life, the game ends, but it can be continued from the title screen as long as the player has continues remaining.

Each stage has multiple sections, culminating in a boss fight. The story is advanced through cutscenes after each stage. Earnest Evans appears briefly in cutscenes to assist Annet.

Spells

	Fireball
	Shoots a fireball horizontally. Stronger than a boomerang.
	Water Current
	Creates a water snake that moves along the ground.
	Wind Cutter
	Creates a wave with a tall area of effect that travels horizontally.
	Explosion
	Shoots a fireball that explodes and damages enemies in a large area after impact.
	Seeker Charges
	Emits charges from Annet that seek out and destroy enemies automatically.

Stages

	Stage 1
	Stage 2
	Stage 3
	Stage 4
	Stage 5
	Stage 6
	Stage 7
	Stage 8

Items

	Health
	Replenishes a partial amount of health.
	Spell
	Teaches Annet a new spell.

Production credits

• Producer: Masaaki Uno
• Director: Hiroyuki Kayano
• Sound: Motoi Sakuraba

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: El Viento/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #30: "January 1992" (199x-xx-xx)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-07: "July 1991" (1991-06-08)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-08: "August 1991" (1991-07-08)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-09: "September 1991" (1991-08-08)
also published in:

• Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-10: "October 1991" (1991-09-07)

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score 1700 igr dlya Sega (RU) 60 ACE (UK) 52 Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J 65 Consoles + (FR) 82 Console XS (UK) NTSC-J 90 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 78 Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU) 50 Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J 55 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 92 Games-X (UK) 60 Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J 60 Joypad (FR) NTSC-J 93 Joystick (FR) NTSC-J 93 Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J 67 MegaTech (UK) 80 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 80 Play Time (DE) 67 Power Play (DE) 66 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 89 Sega Pro (UK) 89 Sega Pro (UK) 88 Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J 74 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 66 Video Games (DE) 67

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Based on 24 reviews

El Viento

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, FR
Cover
Cart

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 070a1ceb MD5 6ddf640c2c5f91f12487d813b6257114 SHA-1 b53e901725fd6220d8e6d19ef8df42e89e0874db	1MB	1991-09	Cartridge (US)
✔	CRC32 6091c36e MD5 150e774ff1c31a76095a8bddf9975456 SHA-1 564ffd2a40b9bebe30587182a644050de474aa5a	1MB	1991-09	Cartridge (JP)