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Climax is one of those RPG developers that hasn't done much to warrant RPG notice for awhile. Back in the 90's, though, Climax put out several RPGs worth noticing on (mostly) Sega hardware. Rumors have flown about one of them (LandStalker) being redone for the PSP, though nothing has yet come of it. As to the other games the company developed back before any system now prevalent existed - here's a quick rundown.
Before becoming its own developer, Climax helped out with the creation of Shining in the Darkness and Shining Force I for the Genesis. Shining in the Darkness I cannot speak definitively about, given that I only played perhaps an hour of it. It's a first-person dungeon crawling RPG that will require extensive map drawing and quite well-done in that vein. Shining Force I is not a match for the penultimate entry in the Shining Force series, but is a most enjoyable tactical title despite its oddities.
Climax's first title as a separate developer is LandStalker, and it introduced the developer's love of the isometric perspective. LandStalker is quite a good action-RPG in most ways, but isometric jumping puzzles can become most aggravating. This does not seem to be as great an issue among some, however: witness the game's labeling from some quarters as the Genesis's Zelda.
Switching hardware for the next title, Climax put Lady Stalker out for the Super Famicom. Another entertaining action-RPG (this time without jumping but still with the isometric perspective) does several unique things such as having completely random battles pop onto the field and two AI-controlled allies aiding the heroine. There is also the interesting notion of its title, and one of the characters being named Cocks (the manual prints in Roman letters that his name is Cocks, and I'm running with it). Had it been released in English SNES owners would have had some fun, and it manages to be a fairly easy import even so.
Switching hardware again and returning to Sega, Climax released Dark Savior for the Saturn. This is a title that prompts very varied reactions among its players; some despise it while others praise it. I lean more on the praise side, while recognizing it is very far from perfect and highly frustrating at times. Once more the isometric view is present, but combat takes a backseat to exploration here. The game is undeniably different from anything else, which may or may not endear players to its oddities.
And then Climax released Climax Landers/Time Stalkers for the Dreamcast. It does a few things right, but at its heart are several nasty issues. 1: Dungeons are random. 2: Item carrying capacity when entering a dungeon is limited, making luck essential to garner items needed for survival. 3: Character levels reset to one upon exiting a dungeon, with only skills and spells that may not work until more experience is acquired being retained. I do not utterly despise the game, but these issues are quite sufficient to give it a bad taste.
After Time Stalkers Climax seems to have concentrated upon a series called RunAbout in Japan, and released under something different across the Pacific. As RunAbout is a racing series, I have no further pertinent information to impart. Climax does seem (according to its website) to have participated in Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon for the GBA several years ago. Other than this the developer has not been doing anything RPG-related. Save for the PSP, as apparently Kingdom of Paradise was developed by Climax. I have no meaningful information on that title, but it seems there is at least one other action-RPG on PSP that has been restricted to Japan.
Climax is definitely a developer to inspire mixed feelings, particularly since the company's heyday (in terms of RPGs) involved a lot of isometric perspectives to confound players. But their games are mostly worth remembering, and most of the good ones are fully eligible to turn up on the Virtual Console sooner or later (sooner in the case of SitD). At the very least, Climax's titles are interesting. And that should be reason enough to remember them.
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