Treasure of the Rudras is a Squaresoft RPG for the Super Nintendo, released in Japan in 1996. Its Japanese name is Rudora no Hihou (or Rudra no Hihou). Somewhere around 1998, video game emulation and fan translated video games dramatically grew in popularity. Word quickly spread of all the awesome Squaresoft RPGs that were never released in the US. What followed was an eruption of intense hype from RPG fans; they tried, begged fan-based translation groups to translate them. Treasure of the Rudras was one of these games included in the "OMG YOU MUST TRANSLATE IT" category. Unfortunately, the idea to translate Treasure of the Rudras was haunted by a hindering cloud: a bad reputation. Supposedly, RPG fans who knew Japanese played through the game and branded the storyline as terrible, concluding that translating Treasure of the Rudras was a complete waste of time. Another reason behind the flaming was because Treasure of the Rudras was really popular due to it being a Squaresoft RPG with incredible graphics. 'Hardcore' RPG fans tend to hate games that they consider to be too popular, and consider people who like those games 'stupid newbs'. This hindered prospective hackers from working on Treasure of the Rudras. To make matters worse, hackers who tried to translate Treasure of the Rudras gave up because they were unable to crack the mantra system. So for years Treasure of the Rudras was pushed aside and ignored. Those who brought the game up in emulation forums were violently flamed, just for showing interest for 'yet another over-rated Squaresoft RPG'. Those who hadn't even played the game believed the bad things they heard about it, and further supported its bad reputation, further hindering prospective hackers from it. Around 2000, RPG fans rejoiced as they heard the news that J2e Translations (the group responsible for the FF4j translation) announced that they were going to start working on translating Treasure of the Rudras! And then J2e Translations eventually shut down and took all their translations with them. RPG fans mourned the loss, but continued to persist for its translation, and continued to get flamed when mentioning the game in emulation forums. Then... years later... when those who yearned for Treasure of the Rudras had given up all hope... the most active translation group, Aeon Genesis Translations, announced their secret translation project: the translation of Treasure of the Rudras! In July of 2003, RPG fans cried tears of joy when the almighty Gideon Zhi of Aeon Genesis Translations announced their completion of the Treasure of the Rudras English project. Here's my attempt to illustrate the moment when I first heard about it. So that's the history of Treasure of the Rudras. I bothered to point out the details because I feel it's important for you to know that Treasure of the Rudras' English translation was highly anticipated for years. As for the game itself, it has an incredible feature that no other RPG has, which is the ability to create your spells (or rather, 'mantras' as the game calls it). Just type in any word and it will create a mantra. Literally!

Long ago, when the world was yet blanketed in chaos, it is said the Heavens gave order to the chaos. That the Heavens bestowed great power upon the Earth and brought unto it prosperity. Life on Earth was born. Those with great intelligence, the holy race of the Danans. Controlling the seas, the Mermaids. Proud, but arrogant, the Reptiles. And possessing incredible strength, the Giants. However, they did not have the Heaven's favor. And, in time, they disappeared. Then, the Heavens gave birth once again. Life, 'tis said, flourished anew.

Unlike other RPGs, having the proper element-aligned weapons/armor/accessories is VERY important in Treasure of the Rudras. It can dramatically effect your outcome in boss battles. Make sure to save before boss battles so you can start over with the proper equipment, because you won't know what a boss attacks with until you fight 'em (unless you look through a walkthrough beforehand). You'll easily last through most of the game if you always have at least one screen full of general elemental mantras (the mantra list is made up of 4 screens). I have the general mantras listed in my mantra guide. Don't use strong mantras immediately! They'll needlessly suck away your MP. You should gradually add stronger mantras as you progress through the game. And take your time! Days pass by -only- when you accomplish specific event(s).

You must play it!! Treasure of the Rudras kicks so much ass! Whoever said the storyline sucks must be a disgustingly picky version. The storyline rules! I find it very exciting and interesting. Three groups of people learn that the world will end soon so they go off to try and prevent the chaos from happening. I think Treasure of the Rudras has -the- most impressive-looking bosses out of any SNES RPG. Even many of the random battle enemies look awesome. All the enemies/bosses are fully animated the with same technique used in Super Mario RPG. All your characters are fully animated and they each have their own unique animations for specific moves like attacking and casting spells. The soundtrack is great! There are several songs that I like to listen to all the time I feel like opening up the SPC soundtrack. My only complaint is that some points in the game seem too repetitive (go through a dungeon, fight a boss, go through a dungeon, fight a boss, etc.). And don't play Treasure of the Rudras expecting it to be exactly like Final Fantasy 6! Its mantra system makes it a very different game.