Defenders of Oasis

PRESS START

An Introduction To Today’s Game

The Game Gear wasn't exactly known for its RPG library. While Nintendo's Game Boy dominated the portable market, Sega's color handheld struggled to find its identity beyond being "Sonic's home away from home."

So when Defenders of Oasis arrived in December 1992, it was something of a minor miracle. Here was an original RPG, not a port, built specifically for the Game Gear.

Even better, it ditched the standard European fantasy trappings for something actually different. Palaces instead of castles. Genies instead of wizards. A prince who can't seem to wake up on time for his own betrothal.

If you owned a Game Gear and craved turn-based adventuring, this was basically your only option that didn't involve importing or settling for dungeon crawlers.

Loved by those rare few that have played it, let’s take a look at this hidden gem.

BEHIND THE PIXELS

Let’s Dive Into The Game

Defenders of Oasis is a turn-based RPG set in a mythical Arabian world inspired by One Thousand and One Nights.

You play as the Prince of Shanadar, who oversleeps on the day he's supposed to meet his future bride, Princess Mariam. That awkward start becomes the least of his problems when the evil empire of Eflaat invades his kingdom overnight.

The Prince escapes and gets tasked with finding three powerful rings before the dark god Ahriman can be fully resurrected. Standard save-the-world stuff, just with a Middle Eastern coat of paint.

The gameplay follows traditional JRPG structure. You explore towns and dungeons from an overhead perspective, talk to NPCs, buy equipment, and engage in random turn-based encounters.

Combat takes place on a black screen with only your enemies visible, no character sprites or battle animations. Think early Dragon Quest/Warrior games.

Each of your four party members has unique abilities. The Prince is your strongest fighter but also the slowest, and he's the only one who can run from battles. Saleem the sailor is quick and has a dance attack that hits all enemies. Agmar the thief can hide and backstab.

The real standout is your Genie companion, who doesn't level up through combat. Instead, you collect magic points scattered throughout the world to make him stronger, which was an interesting twist for 1992.

The game features an autosave system, rare for handheld titles of that era. Dungeons include healing wells to keep you going without burning through items, though some force you to prepare ahead or risk getting overwhelmed by random encounters and status effects.

The difficulty curve is reasonable if you're willing to grind a bit. Some dungeons are straightforward and take minutes to clear, others require lever puzzles and more thoughtful navigation.

Graphically, Defenders of Oasis pushes the Game Gear hardware well. The environments are colorful and detailed, enemy designs are varied and creative, fitting the Arabian theme.

There's one odd visual quirk where the Prince's head is noticeably larger than every other character, but you get used to it. The soundtrack features catchy Middle Eastern-inspired tunes, and the game even includes a few spoken words, impressive for the hardware even if they're hard to decipher.

The whole package runs only a few hours long, making it one of the shorter RPGs of the era.

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GAME INFORMATION

WHERE TO PLAY

• The original copy or emulation will be your best bet in playing the original version.

• Original Copies of the Game (All prices in USD)

  • Loose: $48

  • Complete: $187

  • New/Sealed: $338

COVER ART

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GAME OVER

Why You Should Play This

Should you track down Defenders of Oasis today? If you're hunting for Game Gear curiosities or enjoy old-school handheld RPGs, absolutely. The Arabian setting alone makes it worth experiencing, a genuine breath of fresh air in a genre that was drowning in medieval Europe.

The genie leveling system shows creativity, the game respects your time with its short length, and the autosave feature means you won't lose progress to dead batteries.

That said, manage expectations. The random encounter rate can be brutal, combat lacks visual flair, and grinding is mandatory.

It's not going to convert anyone who doesn't already have fondness for early 90s portable gaming. But for what it is, a handheld JRPG from 1992 that tried something different, it succeeds.

It delivered a complete, competent adventure on hardware that rarely got this type of attention. Finding a copy today requires either hunting down original cartridges or hoping for a future re-release, but for Game Gear enthusiasts, it remains the system's crown jewel in the RPG department.

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