Magic Knight Rayearth

"A better adaption of the original story than the Sega game"

From the moment I first saw the anime Magic Knight Rayearth, I knew it would make a great RPG. I mean, the show's about three fourteen year old girls from earth who are summoned to a magical world, meet a wizard who tells them they must save a princess who holds the magical world together with her thoughts and prayers, and has been captured by her former High Priest. So, the girls must discover the power of ancient elemental magic (Fire, Water, Wind) and revive the three Mashin, giant robotic suits of armor that can aid them in battle, in order to save the princess if they want to return to earth. Wizards, a kidnapped princess, ancient magic, prophecies of heroes who will come from another world to save them...That has RPG written all over it! (In fact, there's a running gag throughout the cartoon where one of the three girls summoned to this world keeps on commenting that their adventure seems a lot like a video game RPG.) So, it was no surprise that in 1995, multiple RPGs based on the anime and manga came out for various systems. Since I already reviewed Sega's game for the Saturn, I thought I would take a look at the game that was released for the Super Famicom by Tomy.

Like the Sega game, this game follows the plot of the first half of the manga and anime, as these three girls (Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu) find themselves warped to the magical land of Cephiro during the middle of a field trip to Tokyo Tower. They have never met before they are summoned to this world, but they quickly develop friendships between each other, as they need to work together to become the legendary Magic Knights, and save Cephiro if they want to return home to Tokyo. One difference between this game and the game produced for the Saturn is that this more closely follows the original storyline. The Sega version started out by following the story described in the manga and anime, but then it went off in its own direction, introducing characters and story events that were created for the game, only to once again follow the original source material at the end. This game for the Super Famicom stays more faithful to the story, and although some plot elements and scenes are missing, it's still a fairly accurate adaption.

Another difference between this game and the previous Sega game is that this is a traditional RPG in the style of Final Fantasy or Breath of Fire, while the Saturn game was an action RPG like the early Zeldas or Secret of Mana. You must guide Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu across this strange land, encountering random battles as you go. The girls get weapons early in the game from master weapon smith, Precea, but they can also rely on the elemental magic that was given to them by the wise wizard Clef. Hikaru holds the power of Fire, Umi possesses Water, and Fuu controls the element of Wind. (Their names are tied into their powers, by the way, as Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu are related to the words ''fire'', ''water'', and ''wind'' in Japanese.)

Fortunately, the girls won't be alone in their quest. Unlike the Sega version, where you were stuck with the three girls for the whole game, other characters will join your party along the way to help you rescue Princess Emeraude from High Priest Zagato. These include Ascot, the child summoner, Caldina, the beautiful and money-obsessed dancing girl/illusionist, and Lafarga, the former captain of Princess Emeraude's guard who has vowed to rescue the woman he swore to protect. Eventually, once the three girls have awakened the powerful Mashin robots, they can summon them in battle.

Gameplay is fairly basic traditional RPG fare. Battles are random, and are represented in an isometric view, kind of like Breath of Fire or the Suikoden series. There are no weapon or armor shops, which ties into the original story, where the girls' armor and weapons would magically evolve as the adventure went on. However, you can buy healing items at stores in the towns you visit. The attacks you're given access to seem a bit limited. You can attack with your weapon and choose from a small list of spells, but that's about it. However, you should never find yourself in too much of a bind. Since this game was aimed at younger players, the game is never too difficult. Battles are easily won, and monsters give plenty of money, so you should never be low on cash to buy replenishing items. Basically, anyone with past RPG experience should find nothing new or overly challenging here.

The graphics in the game are good for a Super Famicom game, but considering how late this game came out in the system's life, they're a little disappointing, especially when you compare them to other games that came out the same time like Seiken Densetsu 3 and Tales of Phantasia. The graphics are bright and colorful, and they capture the mood of the anime well. There are even some very nice character portraits that appear next to the text box. The only main area of the graphics I was disappointed in were the spell effects, which I thought could have been better.

The sound is also average RPG fare. The tracks are appropriate for the scene, whether they be upbeat and happy, or dark and foreboding. The music just does not leave an impression, and you're likely to forget it shortly after you turn the game off. The sound effects also fail to impress. There are some cute voice comments from your characters, but the other sound effects are kind of bland. Maybe it was just the version of the game I was playing, but I thought they sounded a bit muffled at times.

The game seems pleasant enough. It's not an epic RPG, it was just a chance for fans of the series to re-live the original story. However, there are some flaws that hold it back from capturing an outside audience. The most obvious is the fact that random battles are just way too frequent. (This seems to be a common complaint in my RPG reviews...) You can literally only walk about four or five steps in-between battles. While this makes building money and leveling up a breeze, it adds an extra level of tediousness to the gameplay. And, as I mentioned before, the game is very simplistic and easy. It's short, and can easily be beaten in under ten hours. None of the enemies you encounter, or the bosses, should cause any RPG player to break into a sweat.

I can only recommend this game to people, like me, who are loyal fans of the original story. All others will probably be bored by the simple gameplay, and not see any reason to stick it out for its short length. It's definitely not a bad RPG, but it just doesn't really stand out among the hundreds of other titles out there. This is a good ''time killer'' RPG, if you've beaten everything else, and just want something to kill time with. It's too bad, because I think the Rayearth story has what it takes to be a really killer RPG.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 01/13/02, Updated 06/09/03