"You find nothing out of the ordinary."
Ordinary is perhaps the best word to describe the Game Gear RPG, Defenders of Oasis. Despite an interesting setting that echoes classic tales such as Aladdin and Sindbad, Defenders of Oasis stays so close to conventions, which were already well worn when it was released in 1992, that it loses any uniqueness it gained from its setting.
Shortly after the journey begins, your character, the prince of Shanadar (simply called “Prince” in-game), witnesses the invasion of his kingdom and the slaughter of his father—the king—and his tutor. Just as Link and Zelda did in Link to the Past, Prince and a visiting princess from a neighboring kingdom are able to escape through a secret passage, beginning their journey. One thing that did impress me about Defenders of Oasis was how the story was presented. Not only are the graphics bright and colorful, but some important parts of the story are told via cartoonish cutscenes, not with in-game graphics.
Presentation and story aside, the rest of the game suffers from tired gameplay mechanics that make it a slog to play through. One of the biggest problems is the rate of random encounters. They’re so frequent that it’s often difficult to explore. Likewise, the combat is tedious and unpredictable. Combat is entirely turn-based and mostly consists of spamming the fight command. Some characters have different commands as well; the Genie can use several different spells, but it’s difficult to plan out attacks and strategies due to the random turn order. Worse is the fact that there are no descriptions for spells or items in-game. You have to figure it all out using trial and error.
Defenders of Oasis is hard to recommend, even to RPG fans. There are just too many better options out there, even on the 3DS.