Equinox is a 1993 Super Nintendo Entertainment System isometric dungeon-crawling video game by Software Creations and Sony Imagesoft. The game is a sequel to Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos.
Many years after the first game, former player character Shadax is imprisoned by his treacherous apprentice Sonia, who then sends her army to take over the seven kingdoms across the world. It's now up to Glendaal, a son of Shadax, to set off on a journey to rescue his father and put an end to the Evil Empress's reign. But it won't be easy—there's eight dungeons and 458 rooms total to traverse and many blue orbs to collect before you finally battle Sonia. A famous ad
for the game warned that completing it could take your entire lifespan and then some—if you plan to play this, better make some spare time!
This game contains examples of:
- Badass in Distress: Shadax, the hero of Solstice, has been captured by his apprentice Sonia and must be rescued.
- Big Bad: Sonia the Evil Empress kidnapped Shadax, starting the entire plot.
- Blob Monster: Featureless, fluid blobs moving around the rooms are a common monster. They come in a few different colors, but have the same behaviors regardless of color.
- Cult Soundtrack: Tim Follin came back to work on this after he worked on Solstice, and his involvement is often the reason people discover this game at all. Contemporary reviews particularly praised the soundtrack's new wave and prog rock influences, and Tim Follin’s later recognition as “the insanely talented composer that worked on games you’ve never heard of” led to the soundtrack receiving more attention in recent years. The boss theme is a particular highlight, starting out fantasy-like before turning into a trippy prog rock banger.
- Depth Perplexion: Equinox had some insanely difficult puzzle platforming rooted in this issue. You could try to jump onto what looked like an ordinary block sitting on the floor in front of you, only to vanish behind it and realize that it was actually just further down the screen from you, floating in midair.
- Gotta Catch 'Em All: Twelve blue orbs per dungeon are needed to summon and defeat bosses.
- Life Meter: Life can be replenished by picking up apples inside dungeons or fighting trolls on the overworld. Defeating trolls with weapons that they were not defeated before or defeating bosses increases the maximum life meter.
- Mana Meter: Magic can be replenished by picking up potions in dungeons or fighting bats on the overworld. Picking up new spells or defeating bosses increases the maximum magic meter.
- Parents in Distress: The hero must save Shadax, his father and the hero of the first game, from Evil Empress Sonia.
- Spin-Offspring: The protagonist is a son of Shadax, the first game's protagonist.