Rings of Power

Overview

Rings of Power was the second game created by the studio Naughty Dog (Keef the Thief being first) and was published by Electronic Arts. It was originally designed for home computers, but skipped those platforms to become a Sega Genesis exclusive instead.

In the game the player assumes the role of a young Sorcerer named Buc, who is tasked with gathering the eleven Rings Of Power to recreate the Rod of Creation, and defeat the evil god Void once and for all. The Rod Of Creation was broken in to two after a deadly battle between the holy god Nexus and Void. After the battle each god took a half of the Rod of Creation and created eleven rings, which were given to trusted members from each of the six guilds. Over time the Rings of Power were lost and the story became a legend. However, the story was real, and news comes that Void is attempting to command a group of followers to recover the Rings of Power.

The game begins at the Sorcerers Guild, where a traitor is revealed and attacks Buc's Sorcerer master Thalamus. To protect the students Thalamus casts them from the Guild and scatters them across the globe. Thalamus instructs Buc to gather a party of members from the other guilds, and find the Rings of Power before Void does. As Buc the player must seek out and team up with the Knight Slash from the City of Division, the Necromancer Mortimer from the City of Blood, the Archer Feather from the City of Speed, the Conjurer Alexi from the City of Perfection, and the Enchanter Obliky from the City of Kaos.

Together, Buc and his companions must gather each of the eleven Rings of Power and unite them before Void does to finally end its threat of annihilation forever.

Gameplay

Rings of Power plays in an isometric view and has many RPG like qualities to it. The world is filled with NPCs (Non-Player Character) that the player must talk to, and get clues from. Just as in The Legend Of Zelda, most of the world is accessible from the start leaving the player free to explore, and discover, the world of their own accord.

The Rings of Power

The eleven Rings of Power are as follows:

• The Ring of Advancing
• The Ring of Bile
• The Ring of Blood
• The Ring of Calling
• The Ring of Division
• The Ring of Intuition
• The Ring of Mutation
• The Ring of Perfection
• The Ring of Thought
• The Ring of Variation
• The Ring of Will

Nude Code

Rings of Power is considered to be the first game to feature a nude code. The game opens with a Naughty Dog title sequence, in which a blonde woman in a t-shirt appears on the screen. The screen then pans to the right revealing the Naughty Dog character and the company logo. By holding down the buttons A, B, C and START, while also pressing the D-Pad DOWN RIGHT on a second controller as Genesis is switched on, it will initiate the nude sequence. The same Naughty Dog title sequence appears, but the blonde woman will appear topless next to the Naughty Dog logo.