The games are simply known as Dark Seal (1990) and Dark Seal II (1992) in Japan, clearly noting they're in the same series, but the international release renamed them into Gate of Doom and Wizard Fire. In these games, as one of the members of fellowship, you're on epic journey to thwart the plan of evil lord Volov and his army.
Wizard Fire was later included in the Wii compilation Data East Arcade Classics, while Gate of Doom was the first confirmed game to be part of the Johnny Turbo's Arcade series of arcade ports for modern platforms; Wizard Fire later came to the same series. Both games are also available on Steam.
Dark Seal provides examples of:
- Art Evolution: The series went from a dark fantasy aesthetic in Gate of Doom to a more anime inspired one in Wizard Fire, complete with animated cutscenes.
- Badass Cape: The Knight player character has an awesome reddish cape billowing behind his full suit of armor.
- Character Class System: The game offers several classes to choose for your adventure (4 in the first game, 5 in the second game). They're:
- Carl F. Graystone, the Knight. He's Mighty Glacier, and wields a mighty morning star.
- Freya Edrine, the Wizard. Weak on defense, but can use strong fire magic.
- Riger Hawk, the Bard. Has a special trident called "Elastic Spetum". He's also immune to poison in both games.
- Kirikaze, the Ninja. Throws shurikens as weapon. He's dropped out in the sequel and replaced by other two below.
- Eminna Jozestore, the Elf. She generally falls into Fragile Speedster tropes.
- Jade Greataxe, the Dwarf. Immune to confusion.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Kirikaze is completely absent from the sequel, with no official explanation on what had happened to him.
- Co-Op Multiplayer: You can bring another partner into your party. It's not quite as impressive as 4-player set-up of Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara, but it's still plenty of fun.
- Dem Bones: As befits a fantasy game, skeleton warriors are some of the earliest and most common adversaries.
- The End... Or Is It?: The last shot of the credits in the second game shows an image of the villains, who had survived the Final Battle laughing out loud, which is then followed by "To Be Continued...?". There were no more sequels after it, though, so we can only assume what would've happened next.
- Epic Flail: Carl F. Graystone, the Knight, wields a morningstar on a chain, and can throw it to attack enemies from a good distance.
- Everything Fades: The defeated enemies vanish without a trace before they even hit the ground.
- The Fellowship Has Ended: After Volov's evil scheme has been stopped for the second time, the party is disbanded, with Eminna and Riger going on Walking the Earth.
- Flash of Pain: Damaged enemies flash bright red.
- I'm Standing Right Here: In the opening of the second game, the party discusses where-about of the villain.Jade: While scouting the area, I heard the rumors that Volov may still be nearby.Volov: *sting* I'm closer than that, fools! I'm here!
- Sexy Slit Dress: Freya's outfit is cut on a side to show off one of her legs.
- Spikes of Doom: Spike pits are present on the floor of the very first level, and will be encountered long after.
- Status Effects: Both have a standard set of them, such as paralysis, confusion, and petrification.
- Two Girls to a Team: The second game adds Eminna to the party, which makes it qualified as this.
