Not a Lunar anymore

Recently I've been having a crack at the Sega CD game Lunar: the Silver Star.

The Sega/Mega CD has been a continual source of fascination for me. In the early nineties I recall Sega drumming up interest for it promising better graphics & better sound then what was going around and the incorporation of videos into gameplay. Yet my ten/eleven year old mind was skeptical: These features sounded great but how would they fit into the game? And what were the games like anyway?
And as it turned out, such a mindset was prophetic: The Sega CD was plagued with lousy games that relied more on FMV than actual games. Nevertheless, with a such a wretched track record, the Sega CD did however boast some decent games - and to me seeking out these diamonds in the rough sounded something of a challenge worth rising up to.

Which now brings me to Lunar: the Silver Star. I never knew Sega as having much in the way of RPGs so to see an RPG on a Sega machine that isn't Phantasy Star or Ultima certainly raises an eyebrow. Furthermore, the Lunar series came courtesy of Working Designs who were noted for taking little known Japanese games and giving them wacky translations. Some game fans might consider this blasphemy but I'm more curious to this. Why? Well sometimes a free translation may result in something even better than the original (e.g. the anime Ghost Stories and Samurai Pizza Cats) and after playing so many serious RPGs I think it was high time I tried something fun and light hearted. Keep in mind that Lunar was released in the US in 1993 - the following year Final Fantasy 6 would arrive and commence the ultra serious path that the Final Fantasy games have been following ever since.

So far I'm finding a lot to enjoy in this game. The graphics are nice and colourful and the music is great. Okay, it is a bit odd how the music stops and starts - as opposed to following in a continuous loop - but there are some nice themes and a great use of the sound capabilities of the Sega CD, In particular I really love the Overworld theme this game has:



Also of note is that game is fun to play. Now I've had my share of grind in RPGs - even 4th generation RPGs - and here it is no different but somehow it doesn't feel tedious. Yes I've had some moments of grind but they haven't happened very often and the few that have, have gone by at more more quicker pace and never once did I find it dull.

Of course this is only a first impressions and it would be interesting to see how this game ends up for me. But for now I like this game and I look forward to playing more (and eventually it's sequel!)