The Krion Conquest

The Krion Conquest, known in Japan as either Magical Kids Doropie (まじかるキッズどろぴー) or simply Magical Doropie (まじかるどろぴー), is a side-scrolling action/adventure game made by Vic Tokai in 1990 for the Famicom and NES, and later ported to mobile phones in Japan by Genki Mobile. The game takes place in the then-futuristic year 1999 when the Krion (Akudama) Empire attacks Earth with an army of robots, and the only thing effective against them is magic. Thus, Doropie (known as Francesca outside of Japan), a mercenary witch-for-hire, sets out to stop them.

Gameplay
In The Krion Conquest, the player must travel through each stage while avoiding and defeating numerous enemies. When the player makes contact with an enemy or enemy attack they will lose health points in the lifebar. When all health points are lost, the player will lose a life, and when all lives are lost, the game is over.

Doropie (Francesca) can can fire different objects based on the wand type the player has selected. The gameplay closely resembles Capcom's Mega Man series, while the cutscenes resemble the ones in Tecmo's NES version of Ninja Gaiden. Doropie's outfit color also changes when a different wand is selected (using a similar style menu). The powers included are the normal shot (red outfit), the phoenix ability (pink outfit), the freeze shot (blue outfit), the bouncing ball shot (green outfit), the shield ability (orange outfit), and the broom ability (purple outfit).

Several of the enemies resemble those found in the Mega Man series, such as the Mettools (spelled Mettuar in the U.S.). Unlike the first three Mega Man titles released at the time, The Krion Conquest allowed players to shoot directly upward, crouch to dodge enemies and projectiles, and shoot charged magic. Mega Man later gained a similar charged Mega Buster ability in Mega Man 4 (December 6, 1991), which was retained in later Mega Man titles.

The Krion Conquest
The following plot summary is from The Krion Conquest intro sequence:

''In 1999, the Krion Empire Robot Battalion descended upon the Earth, and brought the planet to the brink of destruction. The Krion Empire demanded the immediate and unconditional surrender of the world. When Planet Earth refused, the Krion Empire started a massive general attack. The Krion Empire set up large bases at points all over the world from which they sent out their robots. The robot hoardes attacked indiscriminately. Their power overwhelmed even the most advanced armaments of the world. Nearly everyone believed the world would soon be ruled by the Krion Empire.''

Magical Kids Doropie
The following plot summary is translated from the mobile versions' website:

''The year is 1999. The player is put in the middle of a war already lost when the Akudama Empire (known as the Krion Empire outside of Japan) attacks the Earth with its army of robots. No conventional weapon in existence is efficient against this opponent. The robots are however totally vulnerable to magic. A hired mercenary, Kagemaru, summons the only non-sealed witch, Doropie to stop the Akudama Empire's offense.''

''The imperial army, led by an old nemesis of Doropie, Empress Elysia, does not surrender though. Elysia captures Kagemaru and blackmails Doropie into breaking her seal and setting her free. It seems that the mercenary lost his life and Doropie sets out to stop the now-free Empress. After the battle, the dying Empress Elysia confesses of the reasons behind the invasion and apologizes. The imperial warship explodes shortly thereafter, but not before Doropie escapes it. She is contacted by Kagemaru, who apparently survived the wounds that Elysia inflicted on him. Doropie comes back to Earth shortly afterwards.''

Characters

 * Doropie (どろぴ～) (known outside of Japan as Francesca): A witch full of cuteness that was summoned from a place full of demons. To save the world, she takes six magic abilities along with her and fights against the robot army corps, the Akudama Empire.


 * Kagemaru (カゲマル): The boy who summoned Doropie to fight against the Akudama Empire. He has the secret of Gokuraku Kishin Tei. Unlike Doropie, Kagemaru didn't have an official name in the North American version.


 * Gokuraku Kisin Tei (極楽機神帝): The master of the Akudama Empire robot army corps and the one responsible for the declaration of war against the whole world. She is closely connected with Doropie. Like Kagemaru, no official name was given to her in the North American version.

Regional differences
The Krion Conquest, excluded some features from its Japanese version. The "Continue" feature and extra lives were removed. The most noticeable difference between the original Japanese release and the North American version is the removal of every cutscene, except for the slightly modified introduction sequence and several redrawn in-game graphic elements. The circled hexagram seen at the end of each stage in the Japanese version was also removed, possibly due to Nintendo of America's policy of not allowing religious content in video games.

Screenshots
For comparison, images on the left are from Mega Man 2 and 3, and images on the right are from The Krion Conquest.