The Black Onyx was developed and published in Japan in 1984 by Bullet-Proof Software. Henk Rogers, best known for Tetris, helped to sow the seeds for Japan’s entire RPG boom with a game that he wrote in 9 months. Having had some experience with Wizardry, he understood role-playing games but not the language. With the help of some native speakers, one of them his wife, Rogers released The Black Onyx for the PC-8801 personal computer and it went on to become the best-selling Japanese computer game of 1984. It racked up impressive sales and awards which paved the way for it be released on other systems. It was released for the MSX and FM-7 in 1985, the PC-6001 in 1986, and the SG-1000 in 1987. Today, RPGs dominate Japan’s sales charts.
We have had some experience with early Japanese role-playing games; the first generally regarded as The Dragon & the Princess in 1982. We also played 1983’s Bokosuka Wars and Hydlide from 1984. I was only able to play The Black Onyx because of a fan translation patch. This was my first experience hacking a rom with a fan translation patch but I was able to successfully get it accomplished with some help from the friendly folks on our Discord server.
The previous JRPGs mentioned were fun in their own right but they fall more into an arcade or action RPG classification. The Black Onyx is the closest thing to Wizardry that Japan was introduced to up to that point so it is no wonder that it sowed the seeds for an RPG boom over there. The game is not as good as Wizardry and lacks a spell system but I still found the game to be quite enjoyable.
The party consists of five characters and the only class available to choose from is that of fighter. There are no chests to open, locks to pick, or traps to disarm in the game and thus no need for a thief. There is no magic system or spells of any kind so magic using classes are out. The game rolls for strength, dexterity and health but you don’t get to see those scores unless you pay to examine your character in town; I’ll expound more on this later. The game does not have the complexities of Wizardry but it was the first multi-character, turn based, dungeon crawler in Japan and it did a great job at balancing combat and experience.
The characters begin the game in a town with no equipment and very little money. Unlike Wizardry, exploring the town and mapping out it’s locations takes some time and it is very much like its own dungeon level. There are 20 different locations and I have them all listed in a key on the map below.
There are four different shops where you can purchase equipment: Armor, Weapons, Helms, and Shields. When you first begin the game the only thing you can afford is a dagger. You gain gold and experience through combat in the dungeon which leads to the purchase of better equipment. The increased cost of the better armor and weapons is balanced well with your character progression and the deeper dungeon levels. You will need to explore lower and face fiercer opponents in order to gain greater gold to purchase better equipment. Character progression maxes out at seventh level.
The game goes out of its way to draw attention to character graphics. When you’re first creating your characters you can choose different wigs and assorted colors. When you purchase new equipment your character icons change to reflect the equipment change. It’s actually done quite well. Each character’s health is reflected by a health meter which increases in size when you gain levels.
When I finished the game, each character had progressed to full plate armor, a large shield, and brandished a broadsword. A horned helm would have greatly increased my armor class, but a bug kept removing the helmet from my characters. The toggle switch to put the helmets back on did not work for me and so I simply ignored the helms as part of my standard equipment.
There is a healing or physician’s quarter within the town that contains an examination room, a surgeon’s room, and a medical potions room. The examination room is a bit of a programming oddity. There is no way to examine your stats or character sheet unless you travel to this examination area and pay gold pieces for the privilege of doing so. The surgeon’s room is for healing and the rate is very reasonable. You pay a fee, and your health meter is completely restored. The medical potion room took a little bit of time to figure out. Each character can first purchase an empty bottle for 356 gold pieces (I didn’t realize that the bottle was EMPTY when first purchased). Once the bottle is in your possession you can then purchase healing does for 55 additional gold. The bottle can hold 5 of these doses. Each character can only carry one bottle and a max of five healing doses.
There are other areas of the town that are labeled but not accessible such as a temple, an arena, and the city gates. My understanding is that these features are meant to be explored in future sequels. There is a sequel that was made called The Fire Crystal with plans for a third game which was never made.
There is a cemetery that contains graves or holes which lead to mini-dungeons which allow you gain some much needed early experience and gold. Hidden in another quarter of the city, with a sign that reads Do Not Enter, is a secret door which contains stairs leading down into the dungeons.
The dungeon levels are pretty basic. There are no special encounters on any of the levels nor are there any messages to read. This was the one thing that really made Wizardry stand out. Those messages and special encounters on each level served to breathe life into the dungeon and give it a personality. There is nothing like that in this game other than mapping out each of the levels, encountering enemies, getting tougher, facing tougher enemies, buying better equipment, etc. This game, however, does all of that well. Each level is on a 15 x 15 grid with some of the rooms and corridors running off the edge of the map but then continuing on the opposite side. Once you’re used to this rubric mapping becomes much easier.
On the first two dungeon levels I encountered kobolds, goblins, skeletons, bats, zombies, ghouls, and orcs. Level four and five of the dungeon starts to introduce one way walls and teleports which can make mapping slow and confusing but the grid structure helps you to piece everything together properly. You need to be careful and save often because you can softlock yourself on many of these dungeon levels. If you go through a one-way wall you may find yourself trapped in an area of the maze and you are unable to progress further. It’s dastardly to be sure, so make sure you save often and with different save titles.
I was not aware of any backstory nor was I 100% sure of my reason for delving into the dungeon. From what I could gather online I was looking for the Black Onyx located somewhere in the Black Tower. It was clever how the game developer coordinated the Black Tower with the dungeon. On each dungeon level there is a large square area of blackness that I was not able to penetrate. It was only when I was on the deepest level of the dungeon, that I realized I was trying to get INTO the tower itself. The only way into the Black Tower is from the 6th level of the dungeon. Once inside the tower, you then have to climb your way back to the top of the tower.
Getting into the Black Tower is NOT easy. The sixth level of the dungeon is a dastardly and punishing puzzle in and of itself. I refer to it as the level of colors.
The Black Tower is located in the middle of this dungeon level and then it proceeds UP through the prior dungeon levels. This is the only floor that you can enter the tower from. You can only open the door and gain access to the tower if you move through the colored sections of this map in a particular order: YELLOW – RED – PURPLE – GREEN – BLUE – YELLOW – WHITE
It was a nightmare level that I spent a few afternoons on and then I read that a clue to solve the level could be found on the title screen. When you boot the game there is an animated sphere around the Black Onyx title and if you look closely the color bands correspond to the above sequence. Very dastardly. And once again I probably spent way too much time with one of these games.
Once you make your way into the tower, things become even trickier. I thought it would be a simple manner of climbing the tower to the top. However, I had a hard time finding the stairs on each level. If you venture too far outside of the black tower you are locked out again and have to go all the way down to the bottom of the dungeon and enter again. It was after a good three hours of experimenting and saving that I realized once you go into the Black Tower, do not immediately climb the stairs. Instead, situate yourself so that you are facing the stairs while looking north. The stairs are a spiral staircase up the tower. So, once you take the stairs to the next level, it is a simple matter of turning right, moving forward, turning right, and then moving forward and you will encounter the stairs to go up again. It is literally a spiral staircase. Once you follow this procedure up through six levels of the tower you will find yourself on a level that appears like you are looking at a nighttime sky or stars.
You will encounter giant cyclops on this level, but you should be 6th or 7th level with the best weapons and armor at this point so you should win through. Eventually you’ll find the Black Onyx.
Once you find the Black Onyx, you are immediately transported to the credits.
The game was tough but well balanced. I enjoyed the mapping of the complex and tower except for that COLOR level. There was a lot of grinding that had to be done on the 5th and 6th levels but I enjoyed it. I probably spent about 18 hours with the game but six of them were spent messing with that COLOR level. It was not Wizardry, but I can see why it sowed the seeds for an RPG boom in Japan. The Fire Crystal is the sequel to this game and it is on our slate to play.
Next up on the list is Tyrann. I must be a glutton for punishment this year because this game is in French. Wish me luck.
Until next time…