Neutopia

Neutopia (ニュートピア) is an overhead action RPG developed by Hudson Soft. It was released by Hudson for the PC Engine in Japan in 1989. It was then released by NEC for the TurboGrafx-16 in North America in 1990. It was re-released for the Virtual Console service worldwide for the Wii in 2007 and in Japan for the Wii U on April 16, 2014; it was re-released for the PlayStation Network in Japan in 2010 and in North America in 2011.

The game takes place in the land of Neutopia, where the evil demon Dirth has captured Princess Aurora and has stolen the eight ancient medallions which contain the wisdom and power necessary to maintain peace and prosperity throughout the land. It is up to the protagonist Jazeta to retrieve the eight medallions, defeat Dirth, rescue Princess Aurora, and save the land and its people.

Neutopia is widely regarded as a clone of the popular Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda in nearly every aspect. Many reviewers have praised the game for making noticeable improvements over Zelda, but various shortcomings – which include long passwords unless the system is used in conjunction with an add-on providing battery-backed RAM, repetitive gameplay, and poor collision detection – prevent the game from being superior to the 1986 Nintendo title. But overall, reviewers have called Neutopia one of the better video games of its type and one of the better titles in the TurboGrafx-16 library. There would eventually be a sequel to the game, Neutopia II, in which Jazeta disappears and his son sets out to find him.

Plot
Neutopia takes place in the distant past in the land of Neutopia – a prosperous and peaceful land in which the people worshipped at a Sacred Shrine and were watched over by Princess Aurora. The land was divided into four contiguous areas called spheres: land, subterrain, sea, and sky. The people lived in prosperity and happiness with the help of eight spiritual medallions which were controlled by the Princess and were used for good; a "Climactic Castle" was built as a symbolization of their prosperity. Each of the medallions represented powers of an ancestor whom Neutopia's nemesis, the evil demon Dirth, turned to stone but whose spirit remains.

Then, one night, Dirth appears and invades the land. He sends his army of demons to ravage the land, and he captures Princess Aurora and holds her captive in the Climactic Castle, where he would rule over the invading demons. He also steals the eight medallions, which he now controls for evil purposes; he scatters the eight medallions across the four spheres and places them in crypts. A young warrior named Jazeta arrives at the Sacred Shine, where he is given a "charmed compass" which "has the force of the medallions" and can guide him to them. He is also told that he would inherit the wisdom of his ancestors and win the Princess' love if victorious. Jazeta then ventures out to defeat Dirth and rescue Princess Aurora, so that she can free Dirth's spell over the ancient ancestors' spirits and use the medallions to restore peace to Neutopia.