"Full of some of the best graphics ever seen on a Sega RPG or strategy game, Shining Force III is a last minute gift to loyal owner of the Sega Saturn."

The news had arrived. The Sega Saturn's plug had officially been pulled. However, that did not stop one of the best games of the year from being released. Full of some of the best graphics ever seen on a Sega RPG or strategy game, Shining Force III (SF3)is a last minute gift to those who have a Saturn.

SF3 uses many of the same elements found in its predecessors, Shining Force and Shining Force II, and is also similar to the Playstation's Vandal Hearts, Ogre Battle and Final Fantasy Tactics. There is a story sequence at the beginning of the game to get you involved with the characters. Afterwards, you are given freedom to explore the city, which will inevitably progress the story line even further. After progressing so far, you and your small band will find yourself in a battle (the meat and potatoes of SF3). Following that, the story line will move forward usually leading you to another city, which starts the cycle over again.

The majority of time spent in SF3 is in battle. You move characters on an appropriately landscaped 3-D board. You can fight, cast spells, or search the area around you. Once chosen you get to watch a beautifully 3-D sequence of your character performing the action. Strategy is necessary to keep your characters alive. Obviously, you will want to put your strongest characters in the back, with your weaker archers and mages in the back. On some maps there are two locations going at the same time. For example, a forest may have an ancient tomb, with enemies infesting both. You have to carefully allocate your troops equally so that neither side gets overwhelmed. Also, since experience is based on fighting, casting spells, etc., you will also want to do this in a way that uses everyone equally.

There are a variety of characters in SF3, and about a dozen different character classes. The classes are prechosen (In SF3 World, your race pretty much determines your class) and each character can be promoted to a stronger class after obtaining the necessaries levels. Each character has a wide variety of moves, some really spectacular. Some of the characters are hidden, and must be sought out. In between battles you can choose which characters, weapons, and items you wish to implement in the next. Since each character can only hold 4 things, item management is critical. Here is a breakdown of the elements of the game:

Graphics (9/10) - One of the highlights of this game, and some of the best I have seen on the Sega Saturn. The cities are done in 3-D polygons with some sprites which can be fully rotated. The battles fields are similarly drawn. In SF1 and SF2, battle scenes were poorly animated graphic scenes of hand drawn characters in various poses, which was less then exciting. The coolest part of SF3 *is* the actual battle scenes and makes this game with fully rendered characters pulling off awesome combo moves and spells. The more your character uses the same weapon, the more proficient he/she becomes, the cooler his combos/specials look. These graphics are very nice resolution for the Sega Saturn. More games like this could have really picked up Sega's sales!!

Sound (7/10) - The sound is pretty standard, but nothing memorable. What *is* memorable is the voice acting during the combat scenes. While pulling off moves, your character may chant his/her spell, or yell a battle cry. However, they are poorly done (It sounds like a group of high school students volunteered to do this project). Still, it is better then nothing!

Control (8/10) - SF3 uses a graphical menu system. Most of the time you choose your options by pressing one of the direction buttons on your controller pad. You can easily move items between characters, and several short cuts have been added in item management, from previous Shining Forces, making SF3 easier to play. However, more on-line explanation could be put into the game, and you may find yourself making the occasional mistake from lack thereof!

Gameplay (7/10) - SF3 builds on previous SF games by adding some extra gameplay elements. On top of the normal "Gain Experience, Earn Levels, Grow Stronger" road that the other SF games have followed, SF3 puts in a few extras. For example, the more you use a weapon, the more powerful your attacks with it become. Another example, the more Character A fights beside Character B, the stronger their friendship becomes offering each other stronger support such as added defense and luck.

While this sounds promising, it really lacks the depth of character development found in other strategy games today. You play very little part in the development of your characters, as nearly everything (Class, skills, name, etc..) is predetermined. On the other hand, the large number of characters you can eventually recruit gives you more of ability to chose whom you want in battle. This game is great for beginners, but may leave intermediates and advance users wanting more.

The game itself is fairly large with plenty to explore and do in each of the towns. The battlefields also have secrets of their own for discovery. The large array of weapons and characters, with the moderately good story line, keeps this game from becoming boring.

Replay Value (5/10) - There is not too many reasons to want to play this game again once completed. Since the story is the same, as are the characters, the only reason would be to try and find more secret characters, or discover new moves with different weapons.

Overall (8/10) - Definitely one of the best games for the Sega Saturn. If you like strategy games, you cannot go wrong with this one. If you have never tried them before, this is an excellent title to start with! Any fan of the Sega Saturn would do good to add this special title to their collection!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99