"A very good game harmed by an awful translation"

Back in 1995, when the Saturn wasn't even a year old in Japan, Sega of Japan released a very good action RPG based on the popular manga and anime series, Magic Knight Rayearth. The game was a cute, clever, and very fun action RPG. Working Designs obviously knew a good game when they saw one, and they quickly bought the rights for US translation. I was very happy with this news, as I was a big fan of the anime series, and I had imported the original Japanese game. I was looking forward to seeing what Working Designs could do with it. And so I waited...Turns out I would have to wait almost three years to play Rayearth in English. Due to legal problems in the licensing of the original Japanese names for the characters, and many other instances of the usual Working Designs delays, Magic Knight Rayearth was not released in the US until December 1998. By that time, the Saturn was already dead, and Sega had fully turned its attention to the Dreamcast. Magic Knight Rayearth, a first generation Saturn title in Japan, turned out to be the last US Saturn game ever released.

So, was the years of waiting worth it? In the end, unfortunately, I think I should have stuck with my original import copy, as Magic Knight Rayearth is, in my opinion, Working Designs' worst translation in recent years. From the dialogue to the acting, the translation almost sucks out all the joy out of the game. Yes, it's still the same game in the end, and yes, it's still very fun to play. But, unfortunately, the game becomes a casualty, due to the uncharacteristic hack job of Working Designs.

The game loosely follows the first half of the original manga and anime by CLAMP. The first hour or so of the game stays pretty close to the source material, but then the game begins to branch off in new directions, introducing characters and situations that never appeared in the original story. It's only during the last part of the game, during the final confrontation, that the game once again begins to follow the original storyline.

As the game opens, three Japanese middle school students are on a field trip to famous Tokyo Tower. They are Hikaru Shido, Umi Ryuzaki, and Fuu Hououji. They go to different schools, and have never met each other before. All of a sudden, there is a blinding white light, and a young woman's voice is heard, calling for the ''Magic Knights''. Before Hikaru, Umi, or Fuu know what's going on, they find themselves magically warped out of Tokyo Tower, and into another world that they have never seen before. Moments after arriving on this strange world, the three girls meet a powerful wizard named Cleff, who looks like a young boy, but is actually over 700 years old. Clef informs the girls that they are in the kingdom of Cephiro, and that they have been summoned there by Princess Emerald (Emeraude in the original story). Emerald is the key to Cephiro's balance, and has kept the land in harmony with the power of her prayers for Cephiro's prosperity, as will and strength of mind are the strongest forces on their world. However, recently, Emerald was kidnapped by one of her own followers, Zagat (Zagato in the original). Now that the princess is in captivity, and can no longer pray for Cephiro's prosperity, the land is quickly falling into darkness, and dangerous monsters have begun roaming the land. Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu have been chosen to become the legendary Magic Knights, who are charged with the task of saving Cephiro. If they cannot rescue Emerald, they can never return to their homes in Tokyo. And so, these three young girls must discover the ancient powers of the elements (Fire, Water, and Wind), and must discover the long lost machines (Mashin in the original) - giant robotic suits of armor that can give give them the power to save Cephiro.

The game may sound like your average ''save the princess'' story, but there is a big twist at the end, which gives the tired cliche some new life. The game seems to perfectly capture the feeling of the original manga/anime story, though the effect is somewhat harmed by Working Designs juvenile translation. Like the original source material, the game's story is sometimes funny, sad, exciting, and upbeat.

The game is shown in a traditional bird's eye view RPG style. Gameplay is very similar to past action RPGs like Zelda or Secret of Mana. You control the three girls, whom you can switch among at any time, as they make their way across Cephiro. Each girl has her own strengths or weaknesses. Hikaru is the all around average character, since she's the leader of the three, Umi is physically the strongest, and Fuu is the weakest, but she can attack from a distance with her bow and arrow, and she holds healing magic. The game features puzzles which require the skills of one of the girls, so you often have to decide which character works best for a given situation. There are no weapon or armor shops, which ties into the original story, where the girls' armor and weapons would evolve as the story went along. The only shop that appears in the game is a hidden store that you can find near the end if you collect all the Rainbow Gems which are scattered throughout the game. (Kind of an optional side quest.) You build your characters health and magic meters by finding crystals in treasure chests, as well. The game is fairly simplistic, which is understandable, since both the game and the anime TV series were targeted at young audiences.

However, Sega, the makers of the original game, did add a few cute touches to the gameplay. For one thing, when you examine an object in a town (and you can examine just about anything), you get a different response from all three of the girls. Some of these can be cute. Not only that, you can also read the diaries of the three girls, and get their opinions and reactions to the events that have taken place so far in the game. In the import, the diary was text only, but Working Designs added dialogue, where the character would read the diary entry out loud to you. Another thing I liked about the gameplay is that the two girls you're not using cannot be hurt by enemies when you're not using them. They also stick with you, and don't wander off on their own, like in the Secret of Mana games.

The game's graphics were one thing that truly impressed me when the game was initially released in 95. The character sprites are small and very cute, but the world these characters inhabit was one of the most detailed in an RPG at the time. The colors are bright and vibrant, there were lots of cool special effects, like lightning bolts setting withered trees on fire, or tiny balls of light floating aimlessly through dark forests...Each town had it's own unique feel and look to it. At the time, this was one of the best looking RPGs ever, its only competition being Sony's Arc the Lad. The game also had some anime sequences at major plot points in the game. Except for the opening intro that appears before the title screen, all of these scenes were original, and were made exclusively for the game. Yes, the quality of the anime scenes weren't the greatest (the video quality was kind of grainy looking), but this was originally a first generation Saturn title, so I can forgive it.

The sound was impressive as well. The game had a very good soundtrack, though it's not one of my favorites. The music always fits the scene well, but none of the tracks truly stick out in your mind. One nice touch, however, is that some of the music in the game is taken directly from the anime TV series' symphonic score. The game also has a lot of voice acting, as every major character speaks in full dialogue. In fact, in the original Japanese game, everyone talked, even the people you spoke to in towns. Working Designs took this feature out of the US version, however, and town conversations were text-only. In the Japanese game, all the dialogue was performed by the seiyuu (voice actors) from the TV show. However, for the US version, this is the first fatal mistake Working Designs made...

Right from the beginning, I knew something was wrong. The game opens with the TV show's introduction, complete with the first season opening theme song (which is one of my top five favorite anime themes of all time). However, Working Designs completely changed the lyrics from top to bottom. This wouldn't be so bad if the new lyrics were good, but they come off as being cheesy. Not only that, the girl they got to sing the US version of the song doesn't even belong in the same category as Naomi Tamura (the Japanese pop star who sang the original theme). The girl who sings the translated song has no emotion whatsoever in her voice, she just sings the lyrics with no feeling. This song is supposed to be an uplifting, encouraging theme, and her dead voice just does not do the song justice.

When the game actually started, my heart sunk even lower when I began to hear their voices. Now, Working Designs usually prides itself on having some of the best dubbing in the industry. I don't know what happened here, however. Maybe they just did not take as much time as usual, since the game had been delayed so long, and they wanted to get it out there. None of the voices sound right. Hikaru sounds a bit too old, and not enthusiastic enough. Clef sounds like a cross between C-3PO and a munchkin. Innova (Zagat's right hand man) just sounds stupid, as his voice is too high. And Ascott (a child summoner, and another one of Zagat's followers) sounds like a killer doll from a bad horror movie. The acting in this game is so over the top and melodramatic, I found myself laughing during some of the more serious moments. Not only that, two of the characters' names (Hikaru and Zagat) are mispronounced by the actors throughout the entire game! Why the hell did Working Designs spend so much time fighting for the right to use the original Japanese names (which wound up being one of the key reasons the game was delayed for so long), when they don't even bother to pronounce them right?!

Unfortunately, the dubbing is not the only area where Working Designs completely dropped the ball. The translation, as well, suffered a rare hack attempt by the usually talented writers. The game's script is filled with juvenile sexual and toilet humor, which does not fit in with the Rayearth story. I knew something was wrong when I saw this game had gotten a Teen rating, especially since this game was originally targeted at younger players. Sure, the original manga and TV show had some mild violence, but for the most part, it was fairly clean. Working Designs, however, decided to add a lot of childish humor, which does not give you the feeling you are playing a Rayearth game. I know, Working Designs has a habit of adding modern day references and humor into their games, but what they seem to have forgotten this time is that this was a licensed game, and they should have made a bit more effort to stay close to the original source material. I'm sorry, but I just have a hard time picturing the character of Fuu saying (after she gets so angry at a person, she hits him), ''I'm Ike, and he's my Tina!'' And of course, there are references to US movies like Clash of the Titans, and mild toilet humor (a kid in a town asks the girls to pull his finger). I'm sorry, but I just don't need those kind of jokes in my Rayearth video game.

So, does the game itself have any faults, besides the Working Designs translation? Well, the game is a bit on the easy side, since it was geared toward younger players. Working Designs made a few of the bosses a bit tougher than in the import, but not by much. Also, the control is a bit touchy at times. The girls walk very fast, and they sometimes seem to slip and slide along, like they're sliding on ice or something. This can make it difficult when you want to examine an object, or talk to a person. It's especially difficult when you want to make a difficult jump over a pit, as if you're not careful, the girls will run right off the cliff if you don't stop at just the right time. The kind of stop and slide for a second or two.

Overall, Rayearth is certainly not a bad game. In fact, it's one of the few games based on an anime that I enjoy playing. However, the crude translation and the obnoxious, over the top acting really hindered my enjoyment of this game. I ultimately decided to sell the US version, and hold onto the original import copy. If I had been reviewing the Japanese game, I would have given it a final score of a 9, thanks to it's great story, cute extras, and detailed graphics. But, because of Working Designs' dubbing and translation, and their decision to cut out over half the spoken dialogue, and replace it with text-only, this game's score is cut down to an average 6. It's a shame, really. This game deserved better treatment.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/27/01, Updated 06/09/03