The Krion Conquest

Overview

The Krion Conquest (JP: Magical Kids Doropie) is an action game for the NES which was developed and published by Vic Tokai.

The player, as the witch Francesca (Doropie in the Famicom version), must pass through a series of stages to stop the Krion Empire (Akudama Empire in the Famicom version) from taking over planet Earth.

It has more than a resemblance to Capcom's Mega Man series, which was its chief inspiration. One major difference is that Francesca begins with a full range of spells, each of which has a different attack pattern (and occasionally practical applications, like a flying broom) similar to the abilities Mega Man earns from defeating the Robot Masters.

Story

The games takes place in the year 1999, when an empire known as the Krion Empire attacks Earth with a battalion full of robots. The Empire demands the submission of the citizens, and although they refuse, the citizens find that they cannot defeat the robots. To save the day, a witch named Francesca appears, and fights the empire to save Earth using magic.

Magical Kids Doropie

The main difference between the Krion Conquest and Doropie is the removal of the majority of the cutscenes and storyline; in addition, as mentioned above, continues have been stripped from the game. Most of the character's names have been changed as well. In the intro, the ninja Kagemaru inadvertently frees Doropie from a magic staff, and she proceeds to help save the world from the evil Akudama Teikoku (悪玉帝国/"The Empire of Bad Character").

Gameplay

The gameplay takes a lot from the Mega Man franchise, including graphic styling and control. The controls are the same as in the Mega Man games with few changes: Shoot, jump, run, and switch weapons. However, unlike Mega Man, Francesca/Doropie begins with all the weapons right away, and she can fire in several directions. Francesca/Doropie can also crouch. However, despite the large number of similarities, there are a number of control differences that separate this game from Mega Man. Jumping while standing on a broom is best avoided, as the broom will vanish. Also different from Mega Man is the lack of selectable stages. The game features the ability to charge Doropie's basic shot from the get-go; while Mega Man 2 had the ability to charge some weapons (notably Heat Man's) the Mega Man series would not incorporate this as a primary game mechanic until Mega Man 4.

The Krion Conquest has no continues, but its equivalent Magical Kids Doropie does.

Spells

Doropie begins the game with all spells at her disposal.

• Normal: A basic magical bolt. It can be charged to make it stronger.
• Fire: Doropie summons a phoenix to destroy all enemies on the screen. This drains four points of Doropie's life; if she doesn't have enough life remaining, she cannot cast it.
• Freeze: An ice magic. It can be charged to freeze enemies and some obstacles.
• Ball: Magic spheres that ricochet around the room. Good usage of this is vital to pass some obstacles without taking damage.
• By charging, Doropie can create and place a temporary barrier than can absorb enemy shots. It isn't very useful.
• Broom: Vital for the completion of the game. Doropie places a broom and can then control it by shooting in different directions to maneuver through tricky spots. Be careful not to jump while riding it, or it will disappear!

Items

There are several items for Doropie to pick up and utilize.

• Small pumpkin: Restores a little of Doropie's life.
• Big pumpkin: Restores a lot of Doropie's life.
• Doropie doll: A 1up.

Characters

Francesca/Doropie: The heroine. She has been asleep in a magic wand for a long time, but thanks to Kagemaru she smells the evil of the Akudama Empire and awakens!

Kagemaru: A generic ninja character who inadvertently frees Doropie from her long sleep and then befriends her.

The Machine Paradise God Empress: With a mouthful of a name (Gokuraku Kishintei/極楽機神帝) She's the primary antagonist. She's actually the spirit of an evil witch Doropie defeated a long time ago, sealed in a mechanical body.

Stages

Each stage is separated into multiple acts.

• Stage 1: A city and the city underground. An Akudama Empire base is hidden here. The stage boss is the Thunder Knight; his speciality is the "thunder attack", where he transforms in to a beam of energy and moves about the room.
• Stage 2: An icy area with slippery floors. The boss is a robotic snowman named Yukimaru.
• Stage 3: Watery tunnels. Doropie isn't a robot and still needs to breathe, and her life bar changes to an indicator bar and ticks down until the player gets back to a safe spot. The Aqua Knight is the area's boss. He transforms and fires torpedoes.
• Stage 4: A floating Akudama Empire base. The boss is called Sky Hawk.
• Stage 5: The Akudama Empire HQ. The first boss is a large female robot who fires homing missiles; there is also a fake Doropie made out of liquid metal, an obvious homage to the T-1000. At the end awaits the Empress herself. She fires powerful energy bolts and Doropie, and worse, she has a weak point that changes positions on her body.