

Developed internally at Sega with a staff of about a half-dozen individuals, luminaries such as Hirokazu Yasuhara and Naoto Ohshima collaborated together on this title before going on to co-create Sonic the Hedgehog with Yuji Naka. About a year later, Sega published Fatal Labyrinth in the United States, on Augfor the Genesis.

Originally available in Japan beginning November 19, 1990, it was one of the few games released for the Sega Meganet, an early online service exclusive to Japan. Its narrow focus left me wanting, however.

It is the only roguelike dungeon crawler with role-playing mechanics, and clocking in at only a few hours, it was just what I needed to fill the gaps between other games. One of more than 50 games included in the Sega Genesis Classics compilation, Fatal Labyrinth is unique among its brethren.
