Hydlide

Hydlide for the NES is FCI's 1989 English release of T&E Soft's fantasy action role-playing game. It is based on Hydlide Special, the 1986 Famicom adaptation of T&E Soft's 1984 Japanese computer game, and arrived in North America under the shorter title Hydlide. The NES version places the player in control of the armored knight Jim, who ventures across the kingdom of Fairyland after a demon's return has thrown the realm into danger and Princess Ann has been divided into three fairies. Its objective is to recover what is needed to restore the kingdom, find the princess's scattered forms, and confront the force behind the crisis.

Exploration takes place from an overhead view across connected fields, forests, water, caverns, and hostile territory. Jim walks in four directions with the Control Pad, meeting roaming monsters and searching for routes into the underground maze. The game makes the terrain part of the challenge: danger is not limited to enemies, and progress depends on noticing locations, finding entrances, and returning to places once Jim is better equipped. The adventure's kingdom is presented as a continuous space rather than as a linear run of isolated stages, giving item discovery and navigation an important role alongside combat.

Hydlide's fighting system is built around a deliberate choice between attack and defense. Holding the A Button puts Jim in attack mode, while releasing it returns him to defense, so encounters reward attention to position and timing rather than constant forward movement. The B Button cycles through spells, and holding A while pressing B casts the selected magic when Jim has enough magic power. The available spell set includes Turn, Fire, Ice, Wave, and Flash, providing different tactical options as the adventure develops.

Character growth is visible at all times through meters for life, strength, experience, and magic. Defeating monsters adds experience; when the experience gauge reaches its limit, Jim's life, strength, and magic values each rise. Strength affects the damage he can inflict, while magic is spent on spells and can be replenished. The status display also identifies Jim's current attack or defense state and reports enemy damage information, helping the player judge the risks of an encounter. That mix of real-time movement, visible statistics, and gradual advancement is central to the NES Hydlide experience.

Treasures expand Jim's abilities and open up the kingdom. The FCI manual identifies equipment and artifacts including the Sword of the Brave, Shield of Justice, Eternal Lamp, Magic Vase, Secret Key, Cross, Immortal Medicine, and the three jewels tied to Fairyland's fate. Some chests are concealed or difficult to reach, and certain objects have uses that must be discovered in play. Enemy variety also changes the rhythm of exploration, with creatures such as slimes, kobolds, goblins, bats, worms, undead, armored guards, and a water dragon occupying different areas and demanding more preparation than early foes.

The NES release offers both temporary in-session saving and a fourteen-character password system for continuing after the console is switched off. Its mode window also lets players change between a normal scrolling speed and a faster scene-switching speed, alongside inventory and save options. Hydlide therefore preserves the design of an earlier Japanese action RPG for the late-1980s NES library: a single-player quest where mapping Fairyland, managing Jim's growing capabilities, collecting key items, and deciding when to attack or defend all lead toward Princess Ann's rescue.