Lufia & the Fortress of Doom

"A classic that shall live on until the end."

In about the mid '90's, a well known game company called Taito brought us Lufia and the Fortress of Doom, little knowing just how popular it would turn out to be. Though the basic story gets used quite a lot in lots of RPG's, Lufia tells it in a new and interesting way. If you play Lufia and then play the Lunar games, you'll start to notice some similarities, but let's not spoil them. First, let's take a look at the...
Gameplay 10-10. Lufia's gameplay is traditional RPG gameplay. Explore the world, finding items and gaining allies as you fight to save the world from destruction. Only thing is, you don't gain experience that easily, and raking in money isn't exactly easy either. Monsters just don't seem to give enough experience or gold, with but few exceptions. In the event that you do manage to encounter one of those rich monsters, more often than not it runs away before you can kill it.
Control 10-10. The battle system is very cool in my opinion. When you enter a battle, you get a cross-shaped selector with five icons. Each represents one of the five commands, Attack, Item, Magic, Defend and Run. Each character will display this selector.
Audio 10-10. Even with his slight lack of experience, Yasunori Shiono did an excellent job composing the music, with one exception. The battle theme could have been a bit better. Music, in my opinion, is a very important aspect of a good RPG. I've noticed that RPG's tend to have the best music, but of course there are some exceptions. Lufia's music is positively excellent. One of the most recognizeable tunes from a video game comes from the Lufia series. I am talking of course about the theme that plays in the final area, the Fortress of Doom. The other music is good as well. Sad scenes have fittingly sad music, victory has happy music and so-on. The SFX, unfortunately, leave something to be desired. There is little variety. I do have favorites though. I like the sounds lightning spells make. An interesting thing in the sound department is that depending on whether you're talking to a kid, an old man or woman or just an average person, the game makes a different sound. Older people or monsters have lower sounds, while kids have much higher sounds. My only regret is that the soundtrack to this game is extremely hard to come by.
Story 10-10. Ninety-nine years ago, the world was threatened by four evil beings called Sinistrals. These four were Gades, master of destruction, Amon, master of Chaos (the first game calls him Terror while the other two call him Chaos), Erim, mistress of death and Daos, master of Terror. The great warrior Maxim led three companions, Guy, Artea and Maxim's own wife Selan in a desperate battle to save humanity. Though Maxim himself died along with Selan, the Sinistrals were destroyed. You, the hero of the story, are Maxim's descendant. It is your task to destroy the reemerging Sinistrals with the help of your friends, Aguro, commander of the army of Lorbenia, Jerin, a descendant? of Artea, and your childhood friend Lufia. This game does have a very interesting plot twist which I will not spoil. Play the game yourself to find out. Interestinly enough, before you actually begin the game, you get to play through the first Battle of Doom Island. Yes, you get to control Maxim for one scene.
Overall 10-10. If you have not already played this game, I recommend you do so. You won't be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/01, Updated 03/01/03