Mystic Defender

n/a

NTSC-U/PAL NTSC-J (KR)
Mystic Defender
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Sega (US, Europe), Samsung (South Korea)
Developer: Sega R&D 2
Sound driver: SMPS 68000
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages: English 한국어
Release Date RRP Code US 1989-12 1011 EU 1990 1011 FR 1990 369F369 1011 PT 1990 MGJ1011 UK 1990 £34.9934.99 1011 GR 199x AU 199x BR 1991-09+ KR 1990-12 GM4022KS UK 19xx £? ?

Mystic Defender, known in Brazil as Mystic Defense and in South Korea as On Dal Jang Goon (온달장군), is a reskinned version of Kujaku Ou 2: Geneijou. Based on the titular 1985 manga series Peacock King, it was first published in the United States in December 1989 by Sega, and was later brought to Europe, Brazil, and South Korea the following year.

Story

Mystic Defender takes place in an alternate Japan fantasy setting in which the anarchistic sorcerer Zareth kidnaps a young woman named Alexandra. Zareth plans to use Alexandra as a sacrifice for the resurrecting of an ancient and evil god known as Zao. Not long after the kidnapping, Zareth's plan becomes apparent as Azuchi castle, the dwelling of Zao, rises from the waters.

Joe Yamato, an experienced sorcerer, is called into action to save Alexandra and stop Zareth's plan to resurrect Zao by battling his way through the dark and bizarre disciples and demons of Zao.

Gameplay

The game is an action platformer. Yamato is moved with and , crouches with , and jumps with . His means of offense is casting spells with , which damage enemies and their projectiles. He has a charge meter that is charged by holding , which increases the power of his magic; the charged spell is cast by releasing . Spells can be charged while crouching and jumping but not while walking. He can find items that let him increase his charge meter faster. He starts with the ability to quickly throw energy balls, but he obtains other spells throughout the course of the game. He can switch between each spell in order with .

He has three hit points and loses one whenever he takes damage from an enemy. Some enemies only do half a point of damage, though the damage is not indicated until a full point is lost. He can find items that replenish his health. His health is also replenished at the start of each round. If he loses all of his health, he loses a life. He is revived in the same place that he died (or nearby if he died in a pit or similar) rather than at the beginning of the level. If he loses all of his lives, the game ends, but it can be continued as long as the player has continues remaining. There are three difficulty levels (Easy 1, Easy 2, and Normal), which change the number of lives and continues that the player starts the game with.

Magic

	Psycho Magic
	The starting magic and the only one that can be fired without charging. Fires an energy ball across the screen horizontally. Shoots a small but fast energy ball when uncharged, a larger energy ball with a higher level of charge, and three stacked energy balls at full charge. It can penetrate multiple enemies in a line when charged. This magic can be used while crouching and jumping but not while walking. This spell is useful because it is the fastest to cast and can destroy most common enemies when fully charged.
	Flame Magic
	Found before the boss of the first round. A stream of flame that can be directed using the D-pad. The length of the flame depends on how much it is charged. After releasing the charge button, the flame is expelled until the charge meter is expended or the charge button is pressed again. This magic can be used while moving and jumping. This spell can attack multiple enemies simultaneously and can inflict continuous damage on larger enemies that stay within its area of effect.
	Sonic Magic
	Found before the boss of the second round. Releases six energy balls that move outward toward the edges of the screen. At higher charge levels, four of the energy balls bounce off the edges of the screen before dissipating. This magic cannot be aimed. While not as powerful as the other spells at full charge, it allows the player to attack enemies without directly engaging them and can often be the only way to attack enemies that are out of reach.
	Thunder Dragon Magic
	Summons a three-headed dragon that destroys all enemies and projectiles on the screen (but only damaging bosses). This magic does not use the charge meter. It can be used once per Thunder Dragon item found, which are dropped by some enemies starting on the third round.

Items

	Red Sphere
	Increases the spell charging speed, up to two times. Yamato loses a charge level if he loses a life.
	Blue Sphere
	Restores one point of Yamato's health.
	1-Up
	Awards the player an extra life.
	Thunder Dragon
	Gives the player the ability to use the Thunder Dragon Magic one time. The player can collect multiple instances of this item to have the ability to use this magic multiple times in succession.

Rounds

	Round 1
	Round 2
	Round 3
	Round 4
	Round 5
	Round 6
	According to the US manual, this round is meant to be infested with ghosts. However, these were seemingly scrapped in the final game.
	Round 7
	Round 8

Versions

Changes from Kujaku Ou 2 include turning some pink flesh-coloured enemies green and giving the Supreme Deity's daughter some clothes to wear in the final scenes of the game.

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Mystic Defender	Mystic Defender
English (US)	Mystic Defender	Mystic Defender
Portuguese (Brazil)	Mystic Defense

Production credits

Mystic Defender

• Planned by: J.T
• Graphics Designed by: Phenix Rie, UD 1, Choko
• Programmed by: Koichi, Nobu
• All Songs Written by: Tarnya
• Presented by: Sega

Source:

In-game credits

Magazine articles

Main article: Mystic Defender/Magazine articles.

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

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) 40 Ação Games (BR) 58 Aktueller Software Markt (DE) 80 Computer Entertainer (US) 83 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 63 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) 63 Console XS (UK) PAL 72 Computer & Video Games (UK) 84 Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U 70 Joystick (FR) 95 Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL 52 Mega (UK) PAL 61 MegaTech (UK) 63 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 63 Player One (FR) 89 Power Play (DE) 79 Raze (UK) PAL 61 Score (CZ) 45 Sega Power (UK) PAL 50 Sega Pro (UK) 78 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 69 Tricks 16 bit (RU) 65 User (GR) PAL 78

	68
Based on 23 reviews

Mystic Defender

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart PCB

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, PT
Cover

Mega Drive, GR

Mega Drive, AU
Cover

Mega Drive, BR
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, KR
Cover
Cart

Mega-Tech version

Mega-Tech,

Technical information

Main article: Mystic Defender/Technical information.

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
✔	CRC32 f9ce1ab8 MD5 2a3742ce7a8e5d86bdc52b9d47a82788 SHA-1 fd82ea9badc892bfabacaad426f57ba04c6183b1	512kB	1989-08	Cartridge	Revision 00 (the woman that the main character will rescue is naked)
✔	CRC32 50fd5d93 MD5 780baa7dd2f030f0b1c64897b5d4cc10 SHA-1 aec8aefa11233699eacefdf2cf17d62f68cbdd98	512kB	1989-08	Cartridge	Revision 01 (the woman that the main character will rescue is dressed)
✔	CRC32 67ccb1ca MD5 c64b982b20075dce0bf6c804dffe983d SHA-1 821bcb001cb37b22454979973ed68cee36286abc	512kB	1989-08	Cartridge (KR)	Features elements from both Kujaku Ou 2 and Mystic Defender (opening cutscene, enemies, censorship)
✔	CRC32 5ac0d238 MD5 47fb52e6716557cab025fa2456c0c01b SHA-1 1f8eacb1269c22909feb4da187fde67918440b50	512kB	1989-09-14	CD-R disc				Page