Lost among the shining jewels of Sega's gloried past, hidden behind the incredible Phantasy Star and Golden Axe Warrior, was a fun little action RPG that was just plain long. The game had colorful graphics and a feel to it that you instantly got into.

Ys' graphics were a little on the squashed side but still vibrant and colorful especially for an 8-bit game. Today's young gamers would write them off as horrible and never play 10 minutes of it, but to an old school RPG nut like me they're a sight for sore eyes. Graphics 85%

Control in Ys was tight, and it had to be. You had to be exactly on target to win fights. Battles were easy: just walk at the enemy with your sword facing them. Though, if your timings wrong you were dead. Control 89%

Ys' music was nice. Happy little tunes played when walking through town, and adventurous little tunes flowed during adventure. Sound effects were terrible, however, resulting in annoying chirping sounds during combat. Sound 75%

The story was pretty basic. Collect the Ys books and save your little world from a mysterious enemy who for some reason keeps stealing everyone's silver items. During the game you must collect all the silver weapons an armor, and trust me, they'll help. Story 79%

Gameplay was where this game shines. As mentioned earlier you have to be quick and stay on your toes or you're dead. The only annoying thing is how long leveling up takes (but show me an RPG not plagued by that). Gameplay 89%

Overall I gave Ys an 82%. It's a great game for its time, but shows its age today. Overall it's still a fun little romp through nostalgia land and at times you'll forget all about the polygon filled crap that is floating around today.