"I dedicate the ridge of my helmet to light colored palms on dark hands."

This game was the main reason that I bought a Saturn. Because I ended up getting a copy of it in a trade with someone. The Shining Force games are some of my favorite strategy games ever. They are probably responsible for getting me to start playing strategy games in the first place.

Gameplay:10 Just like in the other games you can have up to twelve people in the in your battle party. I love the way the battles work in this game. They have made it a bit more interesting by allowing you to become partners with the other characters during battle. To do this you have to help the other one out in battle as much as possible. Doing this allows you to be able to get various bonuses. For example: If Synbios is someone’s partner, that person will have higher attack power when they are next to him. It is best to try to place your troops more strategically so that you can use this to your advantage.There are three different partner ratings. Partner, Friend, and Trusted. The more you fight with a partner the higher your partner rating is and the higher your stat bonuses will be. If someone you are partners with falls in battle, their trust in you drops a bit.
You also let out various battle cries when you cast spells and do special attacks.
When you get on a high enough level you may get a promotion which gives you major stat boosts and you can learn some new spells. Your characters face changes when you promote them too.
When you are not in battle you will usually be in a town stocking up on better equipment. Which brings me to another interesting aspect. Each weapon class has three types to it. For Example: For Spears there are Lances, Throwing Spears, and Halberds. Each one of these different types has three different special attacks apiece you can learn for them. The more you use one specific type the more proficient you get in that one. So if you had been using Halberds through half the game then decided to switch to Lances, there would be a major decrease in the power because you are not as proficient with that weapon.

Graphics:10 When I first started playing this game I was amazed at how beautiful the graphics were on it. This was my first Saturn game I ever played, and I did not think that the Saturn had graphics this good. The Graphics on the game look better than some of today’s more recent Playstation games. And the pictures for the characters are awesome.

Sound:10 I love the music on this game. It all fits the game so well. Just wait till you hear the music it makes whenever Medion pops up. It is awesome. That music and Julian's battle theme are my favorite pieces of music in the game. Whenever I listen to Julian's battle music I just feel like I need to go and play the game.

Story:10 The story in this game is very good. You are Synbios a knight of Aspia and you fight to protect your homeland. I know this has been used many times before, but the things that happen along the way are really interesting. My one gripe about the story is that it is not totally complete due to the fact that there are actually Three scenarios to the game. With each you play a different character and experience different events than the other characters did. On Scenario 2 you play Medion and Scenario 3 you play Julian. The problem is that scenarios 2 & 3 were never released here. Only in Japan.

Replay Value:8 Once you’ve beaten this game it’s still worth playing through again, Because there are several hidden characters and also some hidden maps to find. I only found a few of the hidden characters and none of the hidden maps so I’ll probably end up playing through the game again so I can find them all.

Difficulty:8 The difficulty on this game is pretty well balanced. As long as you try to keep your guys on a decent level you should do fine. You will definitely need to take some time to level up. I did have a problem with the enemy AI though. I thought that they where sometimes a bit stupid. There where countless times where I would have lost, but didn't because they where too stupid to go and attack my hero who would die if he was even tapped. Despite this flaw, the game is still very fun.

Buy or Rent: Definitely buy. Especially since there is probably not anywhere around that still rents out Saturn games. This game is going to cost you quite a bit though. It is very rare. It will probably cost you anywhere from $60-$100 on E-bay depending on the condition. But it is truly worth it.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/16/01, Updated 01/20/04