Shining Force is a turn based strategy game for the Sega Genesis.

This patch makes the game randomize the timings at which characters join, with the exception of Max himself and the non-promotable characters: Domingo, Musashi, and Hanzou only randomize between each other, and Jogurt remains fixed. Characters' starting levels are also swapped to match whoever's spot they replaced.

Some character inventories are also affected: Domingo swaps equipment with whoever replaces him (so as to not have a Katana or Doom Blade by chapter 4) and Lyle's weapon is replaced by the same initial weapon as Hans if Lyle's starting level is less than 8 (so as to not have an Elven Arrow at the start of the game).

Cutscene sprites and dialogue are not affected, but join messages are changed to match the new character, with the exception of the first group of 4.

Characters' stats are entirely untouched by the main patch, which may lead to some balance issues: since Bleu and Adam originally start at very low levels and had stat progressions with that in mind, Bleu and Adam's unpromoted classes get extraordinarily high stats and whoever replace them start with really low levels. This side-patch is available to somewhat alleviate these issues, with some bonus starting level changes (details in readme). There's also an alternative side-patch that only upwardly adjusts starting levels and leaves Bleu Adam's stat progressions intact.

Database match: Shining Force (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Genesis (v. 20180824-045026)
File/ROM SHA-1: 7CBB3ED31C982750D70A273B9561A9E1B2C04EEA
File/ROM CRC32: E0594ABE