Bladenite IV: Sword of Kherus

Bladenite IV: Sword of Kherus is the fourth mainline game in the Bladenite series.

It is the first title in the series to be released on the Super Box.

Synopsis
Legend has it that 1000 years ago, when Idar the God of Light confronted Kherus the God of Darkness, the latter had forged for himself a divine sword of dark powers to counter Starshatterer. After Kherus was defeated and put into his thousand-year slumber, Idar placed his brother's dark sword in a hidden temple laden with deadly booby traps. The map to the temple is entrusted to a sect of Idarian priests, who kept guard over it should anybody seek to take the weapon. This duty of guarding the map was maintained throughout the ages.

However, the map was stolen one day in a raid by remnants of the Army of Zaul, which had regrouped and reformed sometime after Bladenite had slain their leader, Rogue Zaul. They also hired the infamous master thief, Mira, to infiltrate the temple and steal the Sword of Kherus. It was after she successfully stole and brought the Sword of Kherus to the Army of Zaul, that they use its dark powers to enact a forbidden resurrection ritual, bringing Rogue Zaul back from the grave. Now, with the Sword of Kherus in hand, Zaul once again leads his army to destroy those who dared oppose him, especially the Mercenary Guild, who he was once a member of.

While that was going on, the sect of Idarian priests that had guarded the stolen map hired Bladenite to take on the Army of Zaul and recover the Sword of Kherus, knowing full well of his reputation of being Starshatterer's wielder. However, he would be also joined on his mission by an Idarian warrior monk named Ronan Ward, who wields a divine spear whose power matches that of Starshatterer.

Making the situation more complicated, is the appearance of a ninja named Koja, who also seeks the Sword of Kherus and sees Bladenite as a threat to this mission.

Cast of Characters
See Bladenite IV: Sword of Kherus/Characters for details

Gameplay
It has the same gameplay mechanics as with the previous three mainline games, but with a new twist when switching weapons and spells. The X and Y buttons on the back of the controller can be used to switch weapons without having to pause the game and select it from the inventory, along with the select button for switching between spells, adding a new level of convenience.

In addition, the game also has an alternative protagonist character that the player can choose, in the form of the Idarian warrior monk, Ronan Ward.

There are now two new difficulty levels added to the previous three, totaling five.
 * Easy - A new difficulty level aimed at players who are new to action-adventure games in general.
 * Normal - A slightly harder difficulty where enemies have a bit more health and deal a bit more damage than in Easy.
 * Hard - Similar to the difficulty level of the first Bladenite game. Harder than Normal. Complete it to unlock...
 * Master - A new difficulty level that lies in between Hard and...
 * Legend - The highest difficulty level, where the enemies are at their healthiest and strongest.

The classic mini-game from the second and third games, Cutting Cage, returns yet again, this time, also with some changes, the most notable being that Bladenite can now dodge and guard against thrown objects. Along with that, Kherus returns to act as a boss in a Punch-Out!!-style battle sequence, and each time he is defeated in Endless mode, he will be able to take one more hit from Bladenite on the next encounter.
 * Arcade (New Mode, replacing Score Challenge) - Score as much as you can with a time limit set from 30 to 180 seconds. The score resets if Bladenite is hit.
 * Endless - No time limit, but if Bladenite is hit, the game ends.
 * Zen - No time limit, no scoring points. Just cutting and dodging (and/or taking a few hits from badly-timed cuts or from Kherus) until you get bored.

However, Cutting Cage is not the only mini-game in Bladenite IV. It is joined by a new platforming-based mini-game, Dasher, where you control Bladenite to run and jump across rooftops while pursuing criminals. Capturing criminals earns you points, but falling off the roofs is an instant Game Over.

Gameplay

 * D-pad - Movement
 * A button - Cast spell
 * B button - Attack
 * C button - Use tool
 * D button - Defense/Parry/Interact with NPC
 * X and Y - Switch weapons
 * Select - Switch spells
 * Start - Pause

Menu Screens

 * D-pad - Highlight option
 * A button - Confirm selection
 * B button - Return/Back

Cutting Cage

 * D-pad - Movement
 * B button - Cut
 * A button - Guard
 * Start - Pause

Dasher

 * D-pad - Movement
 * B button - Jump
 * Start - Pause

Weapons
For details, see Bladenite IV: Sword of Kherus/Weapons

Reception
Bladenite IV: Sword of Kherus received generally favorable reviews and sold well, although some consider it was not as golden as the original TLB2 trilogy. It was loved dearly by those who were new to action-adventure games, considering it to be the perfect entryway into the genre.

The game, when released in Japan for the ALTOPLay (the Japanese version of the Super Box), it lead to the Bladenite series gaining a cult following among Japanese players. According to The Official Murphy's Magazine, one Japanese Bladenite fan went as far as to write and illustrate an unofficial manga based on the games.