El Viento
From Sega Retro
- For the 2023 aftermarket re-release, see El Viento (Retro-Bit).
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| El Viento | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Mega Drive | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher: Wolf Team (Japan), Renovation Products (US) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developer: Wolf Team | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sound driver: Wolf Team sound driver | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre: Action[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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[5] but cancelled for unknown reasons. However, the Genesis version was officially distributed in France with an extra translated manual.[6]
Contents
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
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. |
Items
| Health | |
|---|---|
| Replenishes a partial amount of health. | |
| Spell | |
| Teaches Annet a new spell. |
Stages
| Stage 1 | |
|---|---|
| Stage 2 | |
| Stage 3 | |
| Stage 4 | |
| Stage 5 | |
| Stage 6 | |
| Stage 7 | |
| Stage 8 | |
Production credits
- Produced by: Masaaki Uno
- Directed by: Hiroyuki Kayano
- Executive producer: Masahiro Akishino
- Main programmer: Small Tarō
- Story written by: Chishio Otsuyama
- Main character designed by: Kazutoshi Yamane
- Music composed by: Motoi Sakuraba
- Graphic designed by: Masayuki Matsushima, Kiyoka Tajima, Yuji Ushijima, Tomonobu Kizuki
- Music supported by: Ryota Furuya
- Graphic supported by: Yama Chan
- Cooperation by: Chikaaki Tokuhiro, Jun Hoyano
- Assistant programmer: Hiroshi Izumino
- Business works: Kimito Iijima, Taba Chan
- Special thanks to: Kazuyuki Fukushima
- All players and all characters
- All produced by Wolf Team
Digital manuals
Project EGG manual
Magazine articles
- Main article: El Viento/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
also published in:
- Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-10: "October 1991" (1991-09-07)[8]
Physical scans
| Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
 |
73 |
|---|---|
| Based on 24 reviews | |
| Mega Drive, JP |
|---|
 Cover
|
  Cart  Manual |
| Mega Drive, US |
|---|
 Cover
|
 Cart  Manual |
| Mega Drive, FR |
|---|
Cover
|
Cart |
Technical information
- Main article: El Viento/Technical information.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "October 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 100
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 GamePro, "February 1992" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 58
- ↑ https://www.amusement-center.com/project/egg/game/?product_id=1370
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sega Pro, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-xx-xx), page 56
- ↑ http://www.guardiana.net/MDG-Database/Mega%20Drive/El%20Viento/
- ↑ File:El Viento MD credits.pdf
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "October 1991" (JP; 1991-09-07), page 4
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 71
- ↑ ACE, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-10-08), page 93
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "October 1991" (JP; 1991-09-07), page 34
- ↑ Consoles +, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-11-07), page 46
- ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 129
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "November 1991" (US; 1991-1x-xx), page 24
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 311
- ↑ Famitsu, "1991-09-27" (JP; 1991-09-13), page 39
- ↑ Games-X, "26th September-2nd October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-26), page 35
- ↑ Hippon Super, "October 1991" (JP; 1991-09-04), page 90
- ↑ Joypad, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-10-1x), page 40
- ↑ Joystick, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-1x-xx), page 144
- ↑ Mega Drive Fan, "December 1991" (JP; 1991-11-08), page 91
- ↑ MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 77
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 138
- ↑ Play Time, "2/92" (DE; 1992-01-08), page 95
- ↑ Power Play, "1/92" (DE; 1991-12-11), page 178
- ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-21), page 55
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 65
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 14
- ↑ Video Games, "4/91" (DE; 1991-12-06), page 29
| El Viento | |
|---|---|
|
Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Hidden content | Magazine articles | Reception | Region coding | Technical information | Bootlegs | |
| Annet Myer & Earnest Evans games for Sega systems | |
|---|---|
| El Viento (1991) | Earnest Evans (1991) | Anetto Futatabi (1993) |