Riz-Zoawd has hit shelves in Japan, and being interested in the soundtrack as well as the theme of the game I wasted no time in playing a bit of the new DS RPG.

The game wastes no time in deviating from the original plot by leaving her house behind in Kansas rather than taking it with her in her tornado travel to Oz. Also, in the original works, Dorothy helped the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion with their troubles before adding them to the troupe. Media.Vision seems to have loosely translated "helped" as "beaten the crap out of" as each companion presented a boss fight before they decided to join me down the yellow brick road.

Everything in Riz-Zoawd is controlled entirely by the touch screen, and this worried me when I first heard about it; I’ve always liked to use the D-pad and buttons when given the opportunity in RPGs. However, after a minute or so of running into walls I was using the trackball to nimbly dodge encounters that would have otherwise ended poorly.

Visually, Riz-Zoawd ranks among the prettiest games on the DS. Areas are huge and detailed, with plenty of things to look at off the beaten path (and also reflected in the many rivers you cross). The game’s sound also shines. The team-composed soundtrack does not disappointed, with very high quality tracks kept on the cart (though you wouldn’t be able to tell unless you had headphones on thanks to the DS’s speaker quality).

Combat plays out in a rather simple manner. In each turn you are given four action points to spent amongst your party, and each character takes different mounts to act. Dorothy and the Scarecrow take 1, the Lion takes 2, and the Tin Man takes 3. Characters acting are the only ones who can attack and the only ones who can take damage, as well. Battles ranged from extremely simple in the first areas to extremely difficult up the end of the first set of stages.

Rumor has it that XSEED has been looking at picking up Riz-Zoawd, and if they do it will be a worthwhile addition to any RPG fan’s collection.

[Images from Famitsu]