A long time ago, there was a game called Final Fantasy Legend for the Game Boy. RPGs are pretty easy to program and don't require pretty graphics, so they're a popular genre on handheld systems. Final Fantasy Legend was actually a renaming of the first game in the SaGa series, a series that lives on to this day with the upcoming SaGa Frontier 2. But more importantly, the game we all (incorrectly) know as Final Fantasy Legend started a tradition. And the latest game in that tradition is Quest: Brian's Journey.

   As you can see from these screenshots, Brian's Journey follows in this tradition with the complex HP/MP system. Other mysterious numbers off to the right show just how deep the gameplay is--they could be something innovative like level indicators, battle readiness meters, or even a display of how much gold your character has. Enemies have sophisticated attack patterns including both physical attacks (running and clawing at you) as well as magical (tossing bolts of fire).

   As many new-school tricks as Brian's Journey brings to the table, it has its share of traditional, tried-and-true elements. Hardcore gamers will appreciate the ancient, backwards tile rendering engine as well as the avoidance of bright colors that might hurt a gamer's eyes after long periods of play. These elements should bring Brian's Journey to its place in the spotlight that it deserves over games like Legend of Zelda: Acorn of the Mysterious Tree and Metal Gear: Ghost Babel.