Soleil, released in North America as Crusader of Centy, was developed by Nextech and published by Sega, released for the Genesis in 1994 as an action-adventure heavily inspired by the top-down Zelda formula. Players control a young boy named Corona who can transform into animal forms and recruit talking animal companions that fight alongside him, each contributing different abilities in combat and puzzle-solving as he investigates his father’s disappearance and a growing conflict between humans and beasts. Its central hook, animal companions with genuine personalities and combat utility rather than simple cosmetic pets, gave it a distinct identity within the crowded field of early-90s action-adventures chasing Zelda’s template. Overlooked commercially against better-marketed contemporaries, it has since earned a dedicated cult following for its charm, its unusually thoughtful narrative themes about coexistence, and its place as one of the Genesis’s most fully-realized Zelda-likes.