Game music of the day: Dark Wizard

Game: Dark Wizard

Song: Armer IX's theme

Composer: Jun Senoue


Above: Armer IX's theme from Dark Wizard

Even though you've likely never heard of Dark Wizard, there's a damn good chance you know its composer. Jun Senoue brought us Sonic 3, Sonic Adventure and is currently working on Sonic 4, but beforehe devoted himself to Sonic he whipped up a remarkably strong classical score for this long-forgotten Sega CD title.

Dark Wizard was a hex-based strategy game with four playable characters. Each had his or her own theme music that would play endlessly as you moved your units around, so by the time you finished the campaign you had that song burned into your brain. While I mostly played Krystal (the girl above), Armer IX's theme stuck out the most.It was also unique at the time to have orchestral sounds in a game instead of the usual bleeps - and while I love my bleeps, a change is always welcome. Especially here, as it made the Lord of the Rings-esque battles feel all the more important.


Above: The villains all had their own themes as well. Give 'em a listen!


Above: The cutscenes, however, are usual early-'90s fare. Watch for a good laugh and be thankful for how far we've come

Dark Wizard is still a well-made SRPG and has tons of side stuff to do in between the hours-long battles, but the hurdles before you are great. You'd have to find a Sega CD, plus a copy of the game, plus have enough space for save data, plus tons of time to really do the game justice. Oh, I HEAR there are easier ways to play old games like this but heavens me, I just don't know how you'd go about it!

Seriously though, if you love Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics, Advance Wars, anything like that, Dark Wizard is a valid (though old-school in the potentially negative sense) option.


Perhaps the most epic title screen of all time, from Tim Follin


Bouncy background tunes from Shoji, Tomita and Osumi


Professor Layton's theme by Tomohito Nishiura

Brett Elston

A fomer Executive Editor at GamesRadar, Brett also contributed content to many other Future gaming publications including Nintendo Power, PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Brett has worked at Capcom in several senior roles, is an experienced podcaster, and now works as a Senior Manager of Content Communications at PlayStation SIE. 

Latest in Strategy
Kingmakers
Kingmakers is a strategy game about taking on medieval armies with a gun, but its devs thought the giant mech was too much
Dwarf Fortress
Dwarf Fortress devs "apologize for destroying your food-based economies" after nerfing meal prices: "Didn't realize so many of you were living that way"
Screenshots of Civilization 7 for review
"Everybody's in competition with Civ": Lead Civilization 5 composer has been in the "volatile" gaming industry for over 20 years and thinks new IP is only getting harder to make
How to heal units in Civilization 7
How to heal units in Civ 7
Civilization 7 diplomacy
How Civ 7 diplomacy works using Influence
How to trade in Civilization 7
How to trade in Civ 7 and set up trade routes
Latest in Features
Monster Hunter Wilds characters share a meal
Oh no, Monster Hunter Wilds is so good that I'm already counting the days until its inevitable Master Rank expansion
Kai and Giatta battle Xaurip in Avowed
I get why Obsidian doesn't like The Elder Scrolls comparisons, but Avowed is the first RPG to have its hooks in me this deep since Skyrim took over my life 14 years ago
Photo taken by writer Rosalie Newcombe of the Tears of the Kingdom OLED Nintendo Switch handheld, with the Super Mario Nendoroid figure standing in front of it.
My PC is screaming for an update, but the Switch 2 will be taking all my money this year
GoDice in their RPG case beside Pixels dice
I put two electronic d20s head-to-head and the bad news for your wallet is the discount D&D dice failed its saving throw
Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread in play
This board game TRPG hybrid delivers something D&D hasn't quite managed to capture for me
Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil: Born Again killing off a fan-favorite character is controversial, but it might prove to be the right choice for the new Marvel show