Lunar Legend

"Not bad, but not worth $30"

Let me start by saying that I never played this game on the PS1 or Saturn. I heard a lot about it over the years, though, and when the GBA version was announced, I was pretty excited. How does this incarnation compare to the CD versions? I have no idea. How does it compare to other GBA games? Well...

Graphics - 10/10

The Graphics in Lunar Legend are absolutely gorgeous. The characters, as they appear on the map and in battle, are super-deformed, in typical RPG fashion. Although they are small, and relatively simplistic, they have a huge range of expressions, and a variety of animations. Monsters are nice and detailed, backgrounds during battle sequences appear almost three-dimensional, and the full screen still shots--used liberally throughout the game--are among the best that I've seen on the GBA.

Sound - 8/10

Lunar Legend has a nice score which is likely to stick in your head for days after you've finished playing. My only real complaint with the score is that it's very limited. There's one track that plays during all random battles, one track for all boss battles, one track for all mazes, etc. Considering that most of this game takes place in mazes, it would have been nice to have more than one piece of background music to listen to.

Controls - 10/10

No complaints here. It's easy to maneuver the character around the map. Controlling the party during battles is also a breeze, thanks to the game's numerous battle options. In addition to the standard ''manual'' option, which allows you to select each character's action individually, it's possible to arrange actions in advance, then implement them with the ''tactics'' option. Or better yet, you can select the ''auto'' option, then go to get a drink while your characters and their enemies duke it out.

Story - 2/10

Well, this is where the game starts to run into some problems. Lunar Legend's story is akin to that of a bad science fiction movie--some good ideas are present, but nothing really comes of them. Relationships between characters are never explained, actions of characters are never explained, and overall, the story is so badly told that it's hard to tell what's going on at any given point. At its best, the story is trite, and filled with predictable plot twists. At its worst, you'll be wondering if parts of the story were lost during the translation from CD to GBA.

Gameplay: 4/10

Simply put, this game is boring and easy. Most of the game is spent wandering through mazes, which aren't especially hard to figure out, but are tedious due to the game's high monster encounter rate. Boss battles are rare, and require absolutely no strategy. Since the game 1) always places a healer in your party, 2) gives you a character who can restore full HP and MP at any time, 3) keeps the Special Attack bar charged between battles, 4) automatically revives fainted characters the same turn that they've fainted, and 5) provides you with enough money to upgrade your weapons whenever you want to; it is unlikely that you'll ever see the Continue screen. Normally, I wouldn't make such a big fuss about the difficulty level of a game, but when an RPG has no story, and requires no effort to beat, what's the point of playing it?

Buy or Rent?

This game is definitely a rental--replay value is limited, you'll have no problem beating it before the due date.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 05/30/03, Updated 05/30/03