Lufia & the Fortress of Doom

"The only other game that compares to it is Lufia II."

Lufia has to be the best RPG for any system, second only to Lufia 2. With a great story line, smooth controls, and a great fighting system, Lufia deserves a place in the video game Hall of Fame.

Gameplay 10/10

The controls in Lufia are easy to master. In towns, dungeons, or in the over world, you can simply use the control pad to move around. The movement is seamless and smooth. In the battle screen, you can use A for your physical attack, Up+A for magic, Right+A for defense, Down+A to run away, and Left+A to use items. Simple, right?

Menu 7/10

This is a special area that I only grade for RPGs. As you know, in every RPG, there is a menu where you can use items, equip weapons, use magic etc. Well Lufia's menu is a little confusing at first but easy to get used to. There are 4 selections:Items, Equip, Magic, and Menu. Items..well, you can use items like potions. Equip is to put on your newly bought weapons and armor. Magic is to use spells outside of battle, such as cure. The Menu is where you can change a few settings of the game.

Battle System 10/10

Another original for RPGs. The battles in Lufia have some flaws, but for the most part they are easy and fun (except for against hard enemies). You probably won't get bored from fighting a lot of enemies unless you fight for hours or something. I already explained the controls: A=Physical Attack, UP+A=Magic, RIGHT+A=Defense, DOWN+A=Run, LEFT+A=Items. It's turn based, so you will select the attacks of your party members, they will attack, then the enemy attacks, and so on. However, sometimes you will get backtracked and it will only let you pick the attacks for some of your members but not all of them. Also, if you order someone to attacks an enemy/group of enemies and another person kills them before your other person does, they will simply attack air and miss. This is fixed in Lufia 2.

Graphics 9/10

For it's time, Lufia had ok graphics. They could have done a better job, but it does look pretty good. The characters are nice and colorful, and the landscape looks nice, although they aren't very detailed. Basically, it looks nice but it's not detailed enough.

Sound 10/10

Marvelous. The music in this game is just amazing! Every tune fits the scenario perfectly; when something bad has happened, there is a disastrous music; in the dungeons, the music is eerie and scary; in towns, it is happy and joyful, and the battles are filled with energy and liveliness. Just listen to them, they are nice. As for the sound effects in the game...well, they are standard, but they certainly don't get annoying.

Storyline 11/10

The story is brilliant. It is the best story for any RPG, or game, for the matter, EVER. The game starts off where Lufia 2 ends. Maxim, Selan, Artea and Guy have gone to doom island to stop the sinistrals, 4 evil super humans bent on taking over the world, from killing off the human race. They face the sinistrals:Gades, Amon, Erim, and Daos, and they win. Then 90 years later, it shows you living a nice life as a kid in the town of Alekia, and you meet a strange girl named Lufia. 9 years later, you hear of monsters attacking a nearby kingdom. The story then takes off after you go and investigate.

Overall 10/10

The second greatest RPG ever (remember Lufia 2 is better). It's definitely worth playing. I assure you that you won't be disappointed with this game.
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Why didn't I add replay value? Because that's a stupid category for an RPG. You don't really buy role-playing games to play them over and over, you play them to beat them.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/10/02, Updated 06/10/02