An excellent Sega Sword of Vermilion, a hybrid action-RPG with varied combat. Original, generous, one of the console's best Western-style RPGs.
Your verdict
Category
RPG1 player12+
Description
Hero Landen explores several planets of the Algo galaxy in this third Sega Phantasy Star for Mega Drive. Published by Sega, released in the United States in October 1989. Turn-based RPG with three-planet exploration, hybrid combat and heir generation system.
Sword of Vermilion review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
3/5
Music
★★★★★
"Memorable"
3/5
Story
★★★★★
"Solid"
Gameplay
"Decent"
Fun
"Mild"
Addictiveness
"Engaging"
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Long"
Technical info
💾0,36 MB📅01/10/1989
Published by Sega
Sword of Vermilion (Mega Drive) price, value & rarity
Sword of Vermilion, a Sega RPG in its North American edition. Its collector interest lies in its status as an ambitious early action RPG on the machine, blending exploration, first-person battles and arena clashes. Valued as a genre milestone on the console, it benefits from steady demand among 16-bit RPG fans, its complete copies with manual and map being the most sought.
Is Sword of Vermilion still worth playing in 2026?
An ambitious action RPG from Sega, Sword of Vermilion follows the hero Erik on a quest for vengeance and crown across a vast world, alternating top-down exploration, first-person movement in dungeons and close-up battles. This hybrid structure and the length of the adventure were impressive, even if the whole lacks balance and polish. The ambition stays its great asset. An estimable curiosity for fans of sprawling retro RPGs and game-design experiments.
