Slayers (SFC)

Slayers (SFC) was the second Slayers videogame ever released. Its platform was the Super Famicom (SFC), internationally known as Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was simply called Slayers, but because there is another game with the same name, for the purposes of this article it is called Slayers (SFC).

Gameplay
This Roleplaying Game's battle system somewhat resembles Phantasy Star on the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis. The player and her party navigates different areas much like in other NES games. When in an area, the player can call up a start menu to access items, perform healing spells, or search the immediate area for hidden items, etc. The player can travel between different areas (e.g.: towns, cities, forests, etc.) via a world map.

The player can have up to three characters (other than Lina) in their party. These are almost all characters from either the main novel series (e.g.: Gourry, Amelia, Zelgadiss, Sylphiel), or from the Slayers Special series (Naga, Lemmy, etc.) For most of the game, the player has no control over who is or is not in their party- characters will join and leave as the game's plot determines. However, after defeating Zelas Metallium, all characters who have been in the player's party will congregate at an inn in Tells City. There, the player can talk to an old man who will let you pick three characters to join your party.

The game's battle system is like that of some other games, where each player takes turns making single actions. The player can tell each character in their party to do one of six things:


 * Attack: uses the player's weapon to attack.
 * Magic: The player selects a spell from a list of the spells the character knows. This option does nothing if the character is not a magic user (like Gourry).
 * Technique: uses a special technique that varies from character to character. Often, but not always, the technique involves using a weapon or spell on multiple foes at once.
 * Defend: gives up the characters turn for higher defense
 * Run: attempts to flee the battle. This won't work outside of random encounter battles.
 * Item: can use one of the items in the players bag.

Plot
The game begins with a villager finding an unconscious Lina Inverse and dragging her back to his village. Realizing who she is, the villager consults with some other villagers. They decide to lure Lina into a nearby goblin pit, in the hopes that she will deal with the goblins (without the village having to pay her for it).

It quickly becomes clear that Lina has has lost all her memories: she does not know who she is, or how to cast any but the most basic spells. Most of the game follows her adventures across different locations in the Slayers world. Gradually, Lina regains her spellcasting abilities and reunites with old friends and acquaintances from the novels.

Eventually, Lina and co. learn that someone has been creating copies of her. This someone is Zelas Metallium. When Lina, Gourry, Amelia and Zelgadiss confront Zelas, they learn that the reason Lina has lost her memories is that she is, in fact, one of the copies Zelas created; the real Lina is being held prisoner by Zelas.

After defeating Zelas, the original Lina is freed. At this point, the main story is over and the game enters into a sort of "bonus quest" stage. The player picks a new name for Copy Lina, and can go on a quest for the Seven Rainbow Colored Keys. Once the keys have been gathered, the player can enter the Kataart Mountains. After navigating a large maze, the player confronts Lei Magnus-Shabranigdu. Once Ruby Eye is defeated, the game is officially over.

Continuity and timing
This game follows the novels' continuity, as it was released about a year before the first season of the anime, and many of the characters from the Slayers Special novels are present. When introducing the Slayers: Knight of Aqua Lord manga, Hajime Kanzaka described several of the alternative continuities across mediums, mentioning this game as one of them taking place after the first arc of the novel series, namely after the 8th novel. This, however, seems to be in contradiction with the fact that Lina and Gourry appear to have been separated for a while, and Flagoon is still standing in Sairaag during the game, even though it was destroyed by Hellmaster Fibrizo in the aforementioned novel.

Translation
The game has not been officially translated released internationally, and is unlikely to be given how long ago it was first released. However, a fan-made translation was released in March, 2010 by Matt's Messy Room.