Lunar Legend

If you missed Lunar on the Sega CD and PlayStation, here?s your chance to play an RPG legend on the go. Well, more or less.

Lunar: The Silver Star was one of the greatest RPGs of the 16-bit era, and now it?s made its way to the GBA?well, sort of. Lunar Legend is a sort of hurried, alternate universe ?retelling? of the Working Designs original with characters that show up in totally different places, cities that take on entirely new (and smaller) dimensions, and chunks of plot that have been abridged or transformed into something completely different. While stuff like the original full-motion anime cut-scenes and stellar orchestral score obviously didn?t make the cut, it?s the stuff that didn?t really have to go that is most sorely missed: namely, the original, brilliantly irreverent Working Designs translation, and the original Lunar?s stupendously epic feel.

The GBA-ing of Lunar isn?t without its pluses. The walking-around-town graphics have been improved, and the battles have seen a pretty significant upgrade: They?re faster, more animated, and decorated with bigger, more detailed characters and enemies. There?s even a new ?Arts Gauge? that adds a little new life to the turn-based combat. And even though character customization options are limited, new levels come quickly, and weapon upgrades are frequent. A new ?card collection? option has been added, too?you can earn enemy cards after battle, purchase them from special card stores, and trade them with other link-cable-enabled friends?though they don?t do anything except show up in a gallery, and truth be told, they aren?t even all that interesting to look at.

While Lunar Legend is definitely recommended for anyone who didn?t live through the Lunar phenomenon, anyone who?s played the original (either on the Sega CD or later on the PlayStation) is bound to be disappointed. It?s sort of like seeing the two-hour movie after having read the 900-page book.

Comments [0]

post a comment

Post a Comment