This is The Black Onyx (Japanese name: ザ・ブラックオニキス), a landmark dungeon-crawling role-playing game published by SEGA. The image shows the physical SEGA MY CARD edition compatible with SC-3000, SG-1000 and SEGA Mark III consoles, designed exclusively for single-player gameplay.

Release & Platform Background

• Originally developed by Bullet-Proof Software and released in 1984. It was one of Japan’s earliest Western-style first-person dungeon RPGs.
• The SEGA MY CARD home port launched for SG-1000, SC-3000 and SEGA Mark III, matching the retail box shown here.
• The game received numerous ports across classic systems, including MSX, PC-88, Famicom, and other Japanese home computers of the mid-1980s.
• Strictly single-player only, with no multiplayer support, as marked clearly on the top right of the game box.

Game Premise & Lore

An evil wizard has seized the powerful magical gem known as the Black Onyx and hidden it deep within a massive multi-level underground dungeon. This cursed artifact drains vitality from the surrounding kingdom and spreads monsters across the land.

The player assembles a party of brave adventurers, including warriors, mages, rogues and clerics, to venture into the labyrinth. Their ultimate mission is to retrieve the Black Onyx, defeat the dark sorcerer, and lift the evil curse plaguing the realm. The fantasy barbarian battle artwork on the cover perfectly captures the game’s swords-and-sorcery, Conan-inspired dark fantasy tone.

Core Gameplay Mechanics

1. First-Person Dungeon Exploration: All dungeon navigation uses immersive first-person view. Players move tile by tile through winding mazes filled with hidden doors, traps, secret rooms and treasure chests.
2. Party Creation & Character Classes：Before adventuring, players build a team of up to five characters from classic fantasy classes: Fighter, Thief, Mage, Priest. Each class has unique strengths in combat, magic, lockpicking and healing.
3. Turn-Based Random Battles: Roaming encounters trigger turn-based combat against orcs, goblins, demons, undead and other dungeon creatures. Characters attack with swords, axes and spells to survive fights and earn experience points.
4. Level Progression & Loot: Characters gain levels to boost stats and unlock stronger spells. Gold and new equipment looted from monsters lets players buy weapons, armor and healing supplies in the town hub above the dungeon.
5. Permadeath Risk: Fallen party members can be revived in town churches, but total party defeat sends the whole group back to the starting town with lost progress, raising high stakes for exploration.

Version Comparison

Retro Gaming Historical Importance

• The Black Onyx popularized Western-style grid-based dungeon RPGs in Japan. Before its release, most Japanese role-playing games focused on top-down overworld travel, not first-person maze crawling.
• It laid critical groundwork for iconic later Japanese dungeon RPG franchises, such as Etrian Odyssey and Megami Tensei.
• The gritty pulp-fantasy box art is iconic for 1980s Japanese retro game packaging. Physical SEGA MY CARD copies remain collectible among vintage SG-1000 and Mark III enthusiasts.
• It blended accessible party RPG progression with challenging old-school dungeon design, appealing to both casual fantasy fans and hardcore strategy players of the era.

The Black Onyx download links