When did Tyrants: Fight Through Time release?

Tyrants: Fight Through Time was first released on December 31, 1991.

Tyrants: Fight Through Time

Dec 31, 1991Real Time Strategy (RTS)SimulatorStrategyPC-9800 SeriesSharp X68000Super Nintendo Entertainment System Sega Mega Drive/GenesisAtari ST/STE

Tyrants: Fight Through Time — frequently asked questions

What platforms is Tyrants: Fight Through Time on?: Tyrants: Fight Through Time was released on PC-9800 Series, Sharp X68000, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Atari ST/STE, DOS, FM Towns, Amiga, PC-98.
When did Tyrants: Fight Through Time release?: Tyrants: Fight Through Time was first released on December 31, 1991.

About Tyrants: Fight Through Time

First you choose one out of four different characters to represent you, Scarlet (red army), Oberon (yellow army), Caesar (green army), or Madcap (blue army). The game is split into 10 levels - the first 9 are groups of 3 territories which can be completed in any order, while the final 'Mother of All Battles' has its own surprises. Land is mostly of sand, grass or ice. You start with 100 men and you can use whatever quantity you find necessary on each island. The rest men left will go to another level with another new 100. In the second half of the game you can freeze men to save them for the Mother of All Battles. Once you select your island and place for your HQ, you must do some research for better weapons and defences. On the roof of your buildings you can put protectors like archers, gunmen, boiling oil men, and later on even laser turrets. If you send a team of unarmed men into an unoccupied square, they will build an additional base there, with larger armies completing this more quickly. Later on higher levels, you'll also build mines and factories, as you'll need to dig a certain material for higher level weapons, depending on whether the area you're on is rich with a certain material or not. With each next level, you'll start from a higher technology level and be able to progress to one higher level up than at the previous level

Summary via IGDB.

Game details

Platforms: PC-9800 Series, Sharp X68000, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Atari ST/STE, DOS, FM Towns, Amiga, PC-98
Developer: Sensible Software
Publisher: Image Works
Game modes: Single player
Themes: Historical, 4X (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate)

Details via IGDB.

Reception

IGDB rating

80/100

from 18 ratings

Every version compared

Prices, contemporary reception and the studio credited for each release

Platform	Year	Loose	Complete	Sealed	Period reviews	Fake risk
Sega Genesis	1993	$12	$31	$80	5 reviews	Low

Also released on: PC-9800 Series · Sharp X68000 · Super Nintendo Entertainment System · Sega Mega Drive/Genesis · Atari ST/STE · DOS · FM Towns · Amiga · PC-98. We haven’t priced or authenticated those versions yet.

Collector value & authenticity

Sega Genesis · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-29

Loose

$12

Complete

$31

Sealed

$80

few sales

Other releases and variants

Release	Loose	Complete	Sealed
European (PAL) release	$6	$20	—
Japanese release (Mega Lo Mania)	$7	$28	—

How often it sells

Loose: about once a month
Complete: about once a month
Sealed: about once a year

Prices marked “few sales” rest on about one recorded sale a year, so treat them as a rough guide: the next copy could sell well above or below. Expect to wait for one to come up.

Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-29.

Price over time

Loose
Complete

A loose copy sold for about $2.24 in Oct 2007, $12.50 five years ago, and $12.27 as of Oct 2026.

Show as table

Month	Loose	Complete
Jan 2008	$2.48	—
Jan 2009	$1.82	—
Jan 2010	$0.75	—
Jan 2011	$1.04	—
Jan 2012	$2.15	—
Jan 2013	$3.24	—
Jan 2014	$4.97	$9.95
Jan 2015	$6.99	$19.95
Jan 2016	$5.47	$14.49
Jan 2017	$9.49	$15.95
Jan 2018	$8.98	$14.48
Jan 2019	$6.96	$18.49
Jan 2020	$7.52	$17.99
Jan 2021	$9.02	$22
Jan 2022	$12.50	$28
Jan 2023	$14.15	$33
Jan 2024	$13.37	$29
Jan 2025	$10.25	$29
Jan 2026	$21	$30
Oct 2026	$12.27	$31

Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.

Release record

Territory	Date	Product number	Barcode	Known board
North America	1993	T-70056	052145820074	171-5978BA
Europe / PAL	March 1993	T-70056-50	—	171-5978BA
Japan	23 April 1993	T-68053	—	—

Source: Product numbers: MAME's Mega Drive software list and the No-Intro serial records in the libretro database, published where both agree on the same cartridge dump, or from the libretro records alone where MAME lists no number for that dump. Board and ROM numbers: MAME's software list

Region: NA+EU+JP
Released: 1993
Authenticity: Low

Modern re-releases, such as Sega Ages, the Genesis Mini and Nintendo Switch Online, are not tracked hereLow counterfeit risk

Sega Genesis prices, all games & how to spot a fake

A clever real-time strategy game from Sensible Software at a middle price among US carts.

Mega-Lo-Mania is Sensible Software's real-time strategy game, first released on the Amiga. On the Genesis, Virgin Games published it in Europe in March 1993 and in North America in 1993, where it is titled Tyrants: Fight Through Time. In Japan, CRI released it as Mega Lo Mania on 23 April 1993. Matt Furniss composed the Mega Drive music.

How it was made

Sega Pro visited Sensible Software while the game was nearly complete and credited Jools with the Mega Drive version; the magazine later reported the game held back until March 1993.

What the press said at the time

MegaTech Issue 19	July 1993	92%
MegaTech Issue 23	November 1993	93%
MegaTech Issue 26	February 1994	93%
MegaTech Issue 28	April 1994	93%
MegaTech Issue 30	June 1994	92%

“Mega-lo-Mania is a real quality piece of software - a vital cart for strategy-starved Megadrive buffs.”
— MegaTech, February 1993

“After that, Tyrants is less about naked aggression and more about defending your land and waiting for your opponents to weaken themselves so that you can strike. In essence, like the way it works in the real world.”
— Video Games & Computer Entertainment, March 1993

“Very easy to get into and the quantity of features and the quirky touches make it fun from start to finish.”
— MegaTech, July 1993

“Scores over Populous with its excellent animated combat scenes, easy-to-use interface and sense of humour, including hilarious digitised speech.”
— MegaTech, November 1993

In the sales charts

In 4 sales charts, June 1993 to July 1993; highest position #2.

Show all 4 placings

#2 in the HMV Mega Drive chart — Sega Pro, Issue 20, June 1993
#9 in the Our Price Mega Drive chart — Sega Pro, Issue 21, July 1993
#7 in the Virgin Mega Drive chart — Sega Pro, Issue 21, July 1993
#6 in the HMV Mega Drive chart — Sega Pro, Issue 21, July 1993

Sales charts as printed in the magazines of the time.

How the Sega Genesis version differs

Sega Pro reported in early 1993 that the Mega Drive release had been held back until March.

Also on other platforms

Amiga · Atari ST · Super NES · MS-DOS · X68000 · PC-98 · FM Towns

Amiga	Sensible Software
Atari ST	Sensible Software
Amiga	Image Works (publisher)

Amiga. The Amiga original was met with universal acclaim and is considered the first real-time strategy game to include a technology tree.
Amiga. The Amiga game has over 50 voice samples by radio voice actors, and their size put the sounds on a floppy disk of their own.

Before you buy

Among US carts it sits about at the middle. The European cart usually costs noticeably less than the US one, loose or complete. The Japanese loose cart usually costs less, while a complete Japanese copy costs about the same; its cartridge has a different shape. A complete US copy means the case, cartridge and manual.