Magic Knight Rayearth

"Monotony . . . at its most monotonous."

Magic Knight Rayearth is based on the anime of the same name, and also unintentionally gave me a negative view of all things anime for over a year. Is it that bad? To put it simply, yes. It's a terrible game.

Story - 6/10

Okay, the last two hours of the story are suprising, twist filled, and almost exciting. So, why the low score? ONLY the last 2 hours are even remotely compelling. Until you get to the last area, it's just the same drudgery over and over again. Until that ''Whoa'' moment later on, there is no real incentive to go through the tedious and predictable plot. If the entire story was as entertaining as the last bit, it may have made up for the rest of the weak points. As is, it only amplifies them.

Graphics - 3/10

Ever buy a bag of coloured marshmellows? Well, if you have, you know what this game looks like, pastel and disgustingly sweet. It's the worst attempt at looking adorable I've yet seen. Plus, the towns everything is pretty spaced out, so all you see is a lot of pastel green grass and the odd sugary looking house. When you consider the game was released around the time of FFVI and Chrono Trigger, the graphics just look that much worse. However, the table designs were neat, and the game has very well detailed character portraits, pushing the graphics score up from a one.

Sound - 2/10

Nothing special, and a lot of the music is annoying. Worse yet, it also contributes to the ever present sugar and gumdrops feel of the game.

Gameplay - 2/10

It's just the standard RPG battle system, with all the spice of bread. It's just not fun at all. No customization either, you can't even buy weapons. It's perhaps the most generic RPG combat can get. The game is really short too.

Challenge - Mind bendingly easy.

Let's put it this way, I didn't heal in battle until the last boss. That was the only enemy that even scratched my characters. Sad, no? Anything warm can beat this game.

Rent/Buy/Burn

Well, do neither, it isnt' worth the bother. I completed the thing, but only because it was so short. Not worth any amount of money, unless you're the biggest MKR fan ever.

In the end, MKR is the worst RPG I've yet completed. I suppose I haven't seen the Anime, but now I really don't want to. If you are a huge MKR fan, perhaps you'll like it. But, from my perspective, it's a terrible and tedious RPG, not worthy of the space it occupies.

As a side note, it's fan translated, so emulation kiddies can try English. That's what I did.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 05/04/03, Updated 05/04/03