Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia is a 2000 real-time tactical role-playing game developed and published by SNK for the Neo Geo Pocket Color. The game is a spin-off within the Ogre Battle series, originally created by Quest Corporation. The storyline takes place parallel to Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, and follows the path of Prince Tristan of Zenobia during his quest to reclaim his kingdom. As with other Ogre Battle titles, the player controls squads of an army, moving to different parts of the map accomplishing tasks and battling armies encountered on the route. Choices made during the narrative impact the ending.
Prince of Zenobia was developed by a self-appointed internal team at SNK after the intellectual property was licensed from Quest, with a casual atmosphere compared by staff to a doujin project. Production was described as troubled, with a delay being necessary to both adjust the scenario and polish the gameplay. The characters were designed by Eisuke Ogura, an SNK artist known his work on the Fatal Fury series. The game was supplemented by a guidebook, and a novelization with cover illustration by Ogura.
The game sold over 14,000 units in its first three days, reaching into the top ten best-selling titles of that week. Reception from critics has been mixed to positive, noting its graphical quality for the platform and replication of the series gameplay in portable form. Due to the failure of the Neo Geo console and consequent closure of SNK's North American offices after its buyout by Aruze, Prince of Zenobia was never officially released outside Japan. Some journalists have cited the title as needing a re-release on modern hardware.
Gameplay
thumb|left|Standard field gameplay in Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia.
Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia is a tactical role-playing game in which the player progresses through up to 13 levels. The player, as protagonist Tristan, commands squads across area maps to fulfil set objectives.