{{More footnotes|date=January 2018}} {{Short description|1994 video game}} {{Infobox video game | title = Brain Lord | image = brainlordSNESboxart.jpg | caption = North American box art | developer = Produce! | publisher = Enix | artist = Sachiko Kamimura | composer = Masanao Akahori | released = {{vgrelease|JP|January 29, 1994|NA|October 1994}} | genre = Action role-playing | modes = Single-player | platforms = Super NES }}
{{nihongo|'''''Brain Lord'''''|ブレインロード|Burein Rōdo}} is an action role-playing video game developed by Produce! and published by Enix for the Super NES. It was only released in Japan and North America.
==Gameplay== Most of the game takes place in dungeons, with a heavy emphasis on puzzles.
The player takes on the role of a young adventurer who can have up to two jades, creatures that perform tasks such as healing or long range attacks, following the player character at one time. There are five dungeons in the game: The Tower of Light, Ancient Ruins, the Ice Castle, Droog Volcano, and Platinum. The player starts out in the town of Arcs; there is only one other town, Toronto. In Toronto there is a battle arena in which the player can fight for money. The player can also bet on other competitors.
The video game features several kinds of weapons including bows, boomerangs, swords, axes, and flails. Defeated enemies yield gold. Throughout the game the player can acquire better armor and weapons to increase his defensive and offensive capabilities, similar to ''The Legend of Zelda'' series.
The jades that accompany the protagonist can level up by picking up blue 'XP' orbs that are dropped randomly by defeated enemies.
==Plot== Remeer's father, the last of the dragon warriors, was sent on a quest to find the last of the dragons terrorizing the village. His father never returned.
Years later Remeer sets out on his own journey to find out what happened to his father. Remeer is joined by his four friends: Kashian (a bounty hunter), Barness (a spiritual guru), Rein (a warrior), and Ferris (a witch). Each help him as he makes his way through the five dungeons in the land.
Remeer (or its equivalent 'Lemele') is used for prominent characters in two more video games developed by Produce! and published by Enix, ''The 7th Saga'' and ''Mystic Ark''.{{fact|date=August 2025}}
== Reception == {{Video game reviews | EGM = 8/10, 7/10, 7/10,<br/>8/10, 7/10<ref name="EGMbl">{{cite magazine|last1=Semrad|first1=Ed|last2=Carpenter|first2=Danyon|last3=Manuel|first3=Al|author4=Sushi-X|last5=Weigand|first5=Mike|url=https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/126ee2a4-2009-41e0-94af-72402eb2bb01|title=Review Crew - Major Mike's Game Roundup: Brainlord|magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly|volume=7|issue=9|publisher=Sendai Publishing|date=September 1994|page=32|access-date=2025-11-20|via=Video Game History Foundation}}</ref> | Fam = 8/10, 7/10, 8/10, 7/10<ref name="FamBL">{{cite magazine|last1=Tsūshin|first1=Hamamura|author-link1=Hirokazu Hamamura|last2=Uchisawa|first2=Goro|last3=Watanabe|first3=Miki|last4=Chuji|first4=Giorgio|title=New Games Cross Review: ブレインロード|magazine=Famitsu|issue=268|publisher=ASCII Corporation|date=February 4, 1994|page=39|language=ja}}</ref> | GI = 8/10<ref name="GIbl">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.gamehistory.org/item/db97b7c7-5777-45c7-893c-de20a5f4b53d|title=Classic GI: Retro Reviews|magazine=Game Informer|issue=181|publisher=GameStop|date=May 2008|page=106|access-date=2025-11-20|via=Video Game History Foundation}}</ref> | GP = 78%<ref name="GPbl">{{cite magazine|last1=Ward|first1=Trent|last2=Brumley|first2=Doug|url=https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File:GamePlayers_US_0708.pdf&page=58|title=Review: Brain Lord|magazine=Game Players|volume=7|issue=8|publisher=GP Publications|date=August 1994|pages=56–57}}</ref> | GameFan = 80/100, 80/100, 82/100<ref name="GameFanBL">{{cite magazine|last1=Halverson|first1=Dave|author-link1=Dave Halverson|last2=Rickards|first2=Kelly|last3=Cockburn|first3=Andrew|title=Viewpoint: Stunt Race FX; Planet SNES: Brain Lord|magazine=GameFan|volume=2|issue=9|publisher=DieHard Gamers Club|date=August 1994|pages=[https://archive.org/details/Gamefan_Vol_2_Issue_09/page/n30/mode/1up 31], [https://archive.org/details/Gamefan_Vol_2_Issue_09/page/n97/mode/2up 100–103]}}</ref> | SP = 81%<ref name="SPbl">{{cite magazine|last=Nicholson|first=Zy|title=Import Review: Brain Lord|magazine=Super Play|issue=25|publisher=Future Publishing|date=November 1994|pages=50–51}}</ref> | TOT = 3<ref name="TOTDEbl">{{cite magazine|last=Anton|first=Michael|title=Import-Corner: Neue Rollenspiele|magazine=Total!|issue=21|publisher=MVL Verlag|date=February 1995|pages=54–55|language=de}}</ref> | rev1 = ''Super Gamer'' | rev1Score = 71/100<ref name="SuperGamerBL">{{cite magazine|last1=Pullin|first1=Keith|last2=Butt|first2=Damian|url=https://archive.org/details/super-gamer-09/page/59/mode/1up|title=Super NES Review: Brain Lord|magazine=Super Gamer|issue=9|publisher=Paragon Publishing|date=December 1994|page=59}}</ref> }} {{Expand section|date=November 2025}} ''Brain Lord'' garnered generally favorable reviews from critics.<ref name="GameProBL">{{cite magazine|last=Neves|first=Lawrence|url=https://archive.org/details/game-pro-issue-63-october-1994/page/118/mode/2up|title=Role-Player's Realm: Brainlord|magazine=GamePro|issue=63|publisher=IDG|date=October 1994|pages=118–119}}</ref><ref name="NPbl">{{cite magazine|title=Brain Lord; Now Playing: Brain Lord|magazine=Nintendo Power|volume=65|publisher=Nintendo of America|date=October 1994|pages=72–77, 104, 107}}</ref> Reviewers in ''Weekly Famicom Tsūshin'' had two reviewers comment that the game was similar to the PC game ''Brandish'' and another saying it reminded them of ''Soul Blazer''. Hamamura Tsūshin complimented the game saying it was willingness to break free from the mold of established RPGs. Two reviewers complimented the amount of puzzles making it appealing. Another said the game grew plodding as it went on which ruined the more action-oriented parts of the game. The fourth reviewer said that as it was continuous action sequences followed by difficult puzzles, the game did not give the player much room to breathe.<ref name="FamBL"/>
The reviewers of ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'' said ''Brain Lord'' was "more standard fare" from Enix. While complimenting that it strikes a nice balance between the action and RPG elements, and the "atmospheric" music, they found the story plodding and only containing average graphics.<ref name="EGMbl"/>
In a retrospective review, ''Game Informer'' complimented the games logic puzzles, calling them "good ones, not just stupid two-step switch puzzles." They described the graphics to be sub-par, even for the time of its release and that it had the "nasty tendency to make you replay long portions if you die."<ref name="GIbl"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{moby game|id=/brain-lord}}
Category:1994 video games Category:Action role-playing video games Category:Enix games Category:Fantasy video games Category:Produce! games Category:Role-playing video games Category:Single-player video games Category:Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Category:Super Nintendo Entertainment System-only games Category:Top-down video games Category:Video games developed in Japan