Lunar Legend

"GameArts on the GBA! Now all we need is Grandia!"

For all of you that don't know, the Lunar series extends back to the Sega CD days. Lunar games have appeared on a number of consoles such as the Sega CD, Sega GameGear, Sega Saturn, Sony Playstation, and now the Nintendo Game Boy Advance.
Lunar Legend is the same game as Lunar: The Silver Star Story on Sega CD, Sega Saturn, and Sony Playstation except with a few new features (and no anime movies :?( ).

Presentation: The box is nicely designed yet there is no real opening to the game. The title sort of just appears and sadly, it's not really that pretty. The menu's are a tad confusing at first but within the first 5 min, you get the hang of how things work. The character faces that appear next to the text are very well done and add to the game (IMO). With no anime movies, it does hurt the score but the anime still shots are a nice substitute for the GBA. The story itself reminds me a lot of the Lufia series (in a good way) featuring 4 great heroes of the past and someone who wants to rule the world. A little cliche, but it hooks you in. The characters are all very well done and they each feel unique. You start to care for each one too which is a big plus in my opinion.
Overall - 17/20

Gameplay: This plays like most 2D RPG's. Battles are turned based and with the nice little ''Auto'' button, you don't even have to do much in battles (Especially later in the game when you usually kill the enemies before they get a chance to attack). The control is perfect and it feels like you are in control of Alex (The main character). It's sad that you actually can't travel around the world map (You just select the place you want to go). But they made the controls perfect in my opinion, I just wish that some of the battles had more strategy. Even the toughest of bosses wasn't too hard and the game is sadly a little on the easy side.
Overall - 18/20

Graphics: One word, AMAZING! The colors are bright, the animation is fluent, and every character looks unique. These graphics look better then what the SNES was capable of and I just can't wait to see if Game Arts will bring over any other RPG's (*Message to Game Arts* ~ Convert Lunar 2, Lunar: Magic School, Grandia, and Grandia: Parallel Trippers and the GBA will be filled with some of the best RPG's!) Anyways, the battles are in 2D unlike the semi 3D battles of Golden Sun (1 and 2) so don't expect dazzling 3D effects on your GBA. But the Anime looks like it's right off your TV and I really can't see anything wrong in the graphics in this game. Even the locations are highly detailed (Except for a few which won't hurt the score).
Overall - 20/20

Sound: The music in the game is rather nice and a joy to listen to, even if you wind up ignoring it because you are into the story. The sound effects are standard...nothing special in this department. While the sound doesn't compare to the other versions of this game, they are rather nice for the GBA.
Overall - 16/20

Replay Value: Beating this game took me around 26 hours (I like to level up a lot =?D). On average I would say you could beat this in around 18-22 hours which isn't bad for a GBA game. The game is rather long and there are going to be some things that you miss your first time around. Card collecting is the biggest reason to come back. There are cards for every character, enemy, and boss in the game. While the cards don't give you any detail (Like the CD's in Mega Man and Bass), they do make you continue to struggle to get all 175 of them (Especially if you live by the Pokemon motto of ''Gotta Catch Them All''). If you miss a card, don't fret if you have a friend that has this game as well because you can link up and trade cards with one another which is a nice feature. Like most RPG's, many of us don't have the time to go back and replay them, but this one might be an exception. Especially if you are after the cards and other hidden things (Like Gallery pictures).
Overall - 16/20

Comments: I would say that this game is for those that LOVE the 16 bit RPG's. The people who feel that Final Fantasy started going down hill when FF7 came out. It feels like it belongs next to such 2D RPG classics like Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 4, Dragon Warrior 4, etc. Also, if you've ever played a Grandia or Lunar game in the past, you know how Game Arts is with RPG's and they are among the best out there so that may influence your decision on this game. I do strongly recommend it to everyone though if you have the time to commit to a game.

Buy/Rent: If you are an RPG buff and love 2D RPG's, then buy!!! If you've played Lunar: The Silver Star Story or aren't into RPG's all that much, you may want to give it a rent first.

Overall Rating: 87/100 B+ = 9/10 on GameFaqs

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/30/03, Updated 04/30/03