and are isometric

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...

beat-'em-up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) levels, ...

video games released for

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

Data East , also abbreviated as DECO, was a Japanese video game, pinball and electronic engineering company. The company was in operation from 1976 to 2003, and released 150 video game titles. Its main headquarters were located in Suginami, Tokyo. The Am ...

in 1990 and 1992 respectively. The first game was localized in English under the title ''Gate of Doom'' and the second one as ''Wizard Fire''.

Gameplay

The players control characters from an isometric perspective and must traverse levels while fighting enemies, avoiding traps, and collecting items as well as spells. The game features two-player cooperative play.

Ports

Like multiple other

games, the games were ported to the

Zeebo The Zeebo is a 3G-enabled entertainment and education system from Zeebo Inc. It enabled users to play video games, and also connect to the Internet, communicate online and run educational applications. The Zeebo was targeted at developing ma ...

by Onan Games and published by

G-Mode is a Japanese company that specializes in games for Java-compatible mobile phones. The company also licenses content for mobile telecommunications operators, as well as being involved in the original equipment manufacturing of mobile phone games. ...

in Brazil in 2010. ''Wizard Fire'' was also included in the 2010 Wii compilation ''

Data East Arcade Classics ''Data East Arcade Classics'' is a compilation of video games created by Japanese video game company Data East. The collection disc is developed by American studio G1M2 and published and released by Majesco Entertainment for the Wii on February ...

'' by

Majesco Entertainment Majesco Entertainment Company (formerly Majesco Sales Inc.) is an American video game publisher and distributor based in Hazlet, New Jersey. The company was founded as Majesco Sales in Edison, New Jersey in 1986, and was a privately held company ...

. Then in 2018, FTEGames ported both ''Gate of Doom'' and ''Wizard Fire'' to the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was ena ...

as well as ''Gate of the Doom'' to the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

as part of their '' Johnny Turbo's Arcade'' series of Data East arcade game ports branded with the character of

Johnny Turbo Johnny Turbo is a superhero character created to advertise the Turbo Duo, a hybrid of the Turbografx-16 console and its add-on, the TurboGrafx CD, in North America. The character was conceived by Turbo Technologies Inc. (a venture of NEC and ...

, the

Turbo Duo The TurboDuo is a fourth-generation video game console developed by NEC Home Electronics and Hudson Soft for the North American market. The TurboDuo was test-marketed in Los Angeles in October 1992, before a nationwide rollout in May 1993. It is ...

mascot and alter-ego of FTEGames founder Johnny Brandstetter. Ports of both games for Steam, GOG, and ''Wizard Fire'' for PS4 were later released in 2021, developed and published by 612 Entertainment and Ziggurat Interactive respectively. FTEGames also lists ports for the

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...

as under development.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Dark Seal'' on their July 15, 1990 issue as being the most-successful table arcade unit of the month. ''Game Machine'' also listed ''Dark Seal II'' on their June 15, 1992 issue as being the ninth most-successful table arcade unit of the month. Both games received positive reviews. ''Leisure Line'' magazine reviewed the original game and rated it 10+ out of 10. The sequel was considered a noteworthy improvement overall. Retrospectively, the original arcade games have been unfavorably compared to the side-scrolling RPG beat-'em-up '' Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom'', which was published by

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...

in 1993.

References

External links

* Official websites of the FTEGames ports of and {{Data East 1990 video games Video game franchises Data East video games Arcade video games Role-playing video games Beat 'em ups Marvelous Entertainment franchises Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games Zeebo games Windows games Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games developed in Japan Data East arcade games Flying Tiger Entertainment games