Lunar Legend
Lunar Legend is a traditional role playing game that was developed by Game Arts and released for the Nintendo GameBoy Advance on December 10, 2002.
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Developer: Game Arts Publisher: Ubi Soft Release Date: December 10, 2002 Platforms: GBA JustRPG Score: 82% Pros: +Appealing Characters. +Fun RPG combat. +Decent cut-scenes. Cons: -Weak 2D graphics. -No replay value. -Unsatisfying combat animations. |
Lunar Legend Overview
Lunar Legend is a role playing game that is a re-telling of the original, Lunar: The Silver Star. This updated version of the game includes a new updated story, and content changes. The game plays like a traditional role playing game and the story is relatively satisfying. Although, the length of the game and the in combat battle animations leaves something to be desired. Overall this game is a solid addition to the franchise, and a decent handheld RPG.
Lunar Legend Screenshots
Lunar Legend Featured Video
Lunar Legend Review
| Lunar Legend is the fourth incarnation of the Sega CD classic Lunar: Silver Star. Having never had a chance at the previous three, I knew Legend was a must have when I happened upon it. I have not been disappointed. |
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The game is sufficient graphically, though not wowing, which is common for a handheld release. The sprites are most comparable to those in Chrono Trigger in terms of articulation, although Lunar uses shorter, more cheerful characters. Spicing up the characters are dialog portraits (which usually vary based on the character’s mood) and a few full art still screens, which are more or less snapshots of what in previous versions were cinemas. There is a nice congruence between the sprites and the more fleshed out artwork, and everything ran quite smoothly. The whole system works well, but does little to grab your attention. |
| Aurally, Lunar is quite pleasant. Well, to be strictly true, some of the high notes are a tad harsh on the ear, but all the music of Lunar Legend is catchy beyond all reason. Aside from the occasional jar due to hardware limitations (the GBA and a GBA cart can only do so much musically), things you hear in the game will have you bobbing or humming along. |
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Gameplay aspects of Lunar Legends are quite standard. The game is low on puzzles, and the World Map is simply locations with no traveling in between. Combat is equally normal, with random encounters, leveling, and learning of abilities at fixed levels. Most of the Lunarcast do have a gauge that fills as they attack, allowing for a special ability to be used when it is filled. The only aspect that is not standard to this style of game is the ability to save practically everywhere. But then, this feature is a necessity for any handheld game, so perhaps it isn’t so novel. |
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| On the surface, the storyline doesn’t seem to stand out. A boy named Alex dreams of adventure, wishing to be like his hero Dyne the Dragonmaster. A Dragonmaster being one who can call upon the Guardians of the Goddess Althena for protection. Naturally, things happen, disasters occur, and Alex is well placed to becoming the next Dragonmaster. What makes the story stand out is the little things that go on during all this. Well, that, and both the game’s dialog and the pace of the plot. The dialog is quite amusing, and the pace is incredible. It is highly unlikely the average gamer won’t be engrossed. |
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The strong dialog naturally makes the characters stand out. Although young Alex is fairly typical, his flying cat-thing (and Lunar mascot, pretty much) Nall is fairly funny, and the supporting characters Kyle and Jessica are not to be missed, especially when addressing each other. Antagonists are relatively strong as well, and while not on the level of Xeno games (few things are, though), given the age of the game I was surprised when I wasn’t fighting some random, faceless evil to finish off the game. |
| I managed to cap off the game in a little less than 15 hours, so Lunar Legends is one of the shorter games I’ve played. It is also perhaps the easiest. I prefer easy games in general, but the ease of Lunar Legends is too high. Even the final boss, who could kill or reduce to single digits of Hp my entire party each turn, didn’t really stand much of a chance. The game also seemed to lack sidequests, but given the reckless speed the game’s pacing encouraged, I imagine I just missed them. |
| Lunar Legends is a hard game to put down. Fortunately, it can go anywhere as long as you have some batteries. |
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Final Grade: 82% |
Lunar Legend Screenshots
Lunar Legend Videos
Lunar Legend Gameplay