NOTE: This is Virtual Console review. As such, there's none of the usual scoring at the end.Just text and a quick verdict.

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first RPG on the Virtual Console! Don't get too excited though, for a Mega Drive RPG this one isn't exactly fantastic. But anyway, Sword of Vermillion takes place long after a generic RPG style war, a mythical blade was called upon to save an army from defeat and of course you are asked to save the world! Yup, all the RPG conventions are in there, it's even set in medieval times!

But anyway, I'll stop being so hyper critical. Sword of Vermillion puts a strange twist on the normal RPG conventions. It has three 'modes' of play, first person for when you're out in fields or caves, third person over head view for towns and third person slightly side on for battles which are real time, not turned based. This may all sound great, but when three totally different styles of play are seemingly clumped together things can become over bearing. The game for the time was incredibly short also clocking in for a novice player at around 20 hours. That may seem a lot now but when at the time this game was released Dragon Quest and Phantasy Star games clocked in at almost a hundred hours, easily.

The game's graphics and sound also leave much to be desired. The sprites constantly move even when on the spot in some strange marching fashion and in first person you'll see row after row of the same tree pattern. The music used is completely forgettable and the sound effects are completely generic. These simplistic graphics and sound were not due to the consoles limitations. This game was rushed, Sega was trying to start development of Phantasy Star II and it really shows.

My advice? Wait for Chrono Trigger, Phantasy Star, Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy if you want your RPG fix. Those games look better, play better and have far better storylines. Give this one a miss.

Verdict: Generic and instantly forgettable.