 Snastruck! Ease 3, Wanderers from Ease, is mostly known nowadays as one of the few action RPGs that's actually somewhat cheap, with the average eBay price being about $9.50. But is it worth playing today, or is it like Lagoon where it's cheap for a reason? Well, unlike Lagoon, Ease 3 is a side-scrolling action RPG. The usual RPG staples are here like stats, equipment, experience, and leveling up, and a few magic spells, although those are learned as you obtain rings, hence why MP in this game is actually ring power. The combat mechanics, though, are sword and shield fighting in real-time, similar to Faxanadu and Zelda II for the NES. Now, the big criticism for this game, especially at the time, is that it is way too hard. If you're serious about getting into Ease 3, you gotta grind immediately. I mean, kill these stupid bugs for like a half an hour. Otherwise, if you try and go all Rambo and power your way through, you will get your ass handed to you immediately. After grinding, the game is much more manageable, but yeah, that's kind of a bummer. I mean, let's go on this rollicking, swashbuckling adventure with swords and magic and all this stuff. But first, let's hang out and kill some bugs. I can see why that'd be a problem for a lot of people. Otherwise, what you see is what you get here. If you like this kind of side-scrolling combat combined with some RPG elements, and really, if you liked Zelda II, you're likely to enjoy Ease 3. Again, just make sure to grind a lot to start with. I wouldn't want anyone to write this game off entirely after just 20 minutes because of the absurd difficulty. But yeah, this game is a nice marriage of action and RPG components. I just wish there was a little more to the magic ring system, but that's just me. Continuing the comparison to Lagoon, the biggest strength of Ease 3 might be its soundtrack. It's excellent, and it stands out from other games. One of those cases where if you hear just a few seconds of the soundtrack, you immediately know it's Ease 3, and I really appreciate that. As for the story, it does seem kind of goofy on the surface to jump into the series on the Super Nintendo at the third game, since the other games in the series, at the time, were only on the Sega Master System and various home computer systems. Anyway, you are Adol, certified hero, traveling with your friend Doji. They head to Doji's home country after hearing some nasty rumors about some unsavory things going on, and their suspicions are confirmed when monster attacks are happening everywhere. Eventually, Adol runs into Elena, Doji's childhood friend, and she tells him her brother is working for this evil ruler who's up to evil things like reviving evil beasts named Galbaland. Sound of Bland? That's kind of because it is. The gameplay is the hook for this game, not the story, that's for sure. And since we're on the story, it's worth noting that Ease 3 was supplanted in the overall story canon by Ease the Oath of Felgana, released for PC back in 2005, and then eventually for PSP in 2010. The story is mostly the same, but expanded and spruced up quite a bit. So if you're going to play Ease 3 for Super Nintendo or any of the other original ports for that matter, keep in mind it's pretty much been entirely replaced in the series canon. Speaking of ports, this game got released on TurboGrafx CD, Sega Genesis, Famicom in Japan, among many others, including a beefed up version for the PS2 that kept the game's original gameplay mechanics intact. Just for the record, I've only played the Super Nintendo version, so I can't really speak for the others. But anyway, yeah, it's tough to know to recommend Ease 3 or not. It's not as fun as the first games in the series, and I like Ease 4 for Super Famicom a lot more as well. I just like the combat system in those games a lot more. Ease 3 is a little more standard, I guess, which makes it a little bland. I don't think it's a bad game, but it's definitely flawed. I do think it's better than Lagoon. So if you see those two games sitting side by side at a used game store, and you're looking for a cheap RPG, go for Ease 3, Wanderers from Ease.