The opening cutscene of Lunar Silver Star Story might be the most ‘90s introduction to any game I’ve ever played… and I was alive in the 90s. Presented here in glorious 4:3, and accompanied by Noriyuki Iwadare and Victor Ireland’s track ‘Wings’, it captures a moment in gaming and culture where anime was making inroads into the West, and Japanese developers could push the latest hardware to newfound heights, making this a golden age for JRPGs.
While Sony had sewn up huge franchises like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, SEGA still had plenty of clout, and the Saturn – one of my favourite consoles of all time – played host to some amazing JRPGs, with Lunar Silver Star Story sitting at the top of the pile. Admittedly, it later found its way to PlayStations around the world too, but Saturn had it first, alright?
Lunar Silver Star Story Remastered Collection is, in essence, a remaster of a remake, with the very first Lunar appearing for the Mega CD/Sega CD in 1992, before being remade as Lunar Silver Star Story in 1996. GungHo have pulled together Lunar Silver Star Story and its sequel, and given them a buff and a scrub suitable for modern platforms, bumping the resolution, cleaning up the cutscenes and adding in some welcome quality of life changes that make the games easier to live with nearly two decades after their original release.
The first game follows the adventures of Alex, a young man who dreams of becoming the next Dragonmaster, and who, after encountering the White Dragon Quark, discovers that it might just become a reality. Set on this path, he finds himself facing off against the big-bad Ghaleon, a former hero whose outlook was corrupted after the Goddess Althena decided to give up her power, and become human. As with all the best baddies, he believes that he’s right, willing to turn the world upside down to prove a point.
Alex is initially accompanied on this quest by his cute cat/bird companion Nall, Ramus, a dumpy treasure-obsessed friend, and his lifelong companion, Luna, and you’ll meet various other characters and party members along the way who all cement the fact that Lunar Silver Stary Story is a genuine classic. That’s helped by energetic and committed performances from the entire cast, with the characters truly coming to life across the many hours you’ll spend with them.
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue sees you take on the role of Hiro, an adventurer who finds himself caught up with the mysterious Lucia, aiding her in her quest to meet the returning Goddess Althena. Both stories feel enjoyably old-school – timeless tales that still hold up in the modern age.
Whichever of the games you’re playing, the artwork helps to paint an even clearer picture, and Toshiyuki Kubooka’s character design absolutely shines here thanks to the enhanced resolution and widescreen aspect. I love this classic mid-90s look, and it’s reminiscent of artwork in other games and anime of the era like Guardian Heroes and Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Both games effectively mix animated cutscenes, pre-rendered backgrounds and pixel-art, and it’s just such an alluring combination. It’s not as spectacular perhaps as Dragon Quest HD-2D, or modern takes on the genre like Octopath Traveller, but it’s great looking, and the visuals help carry the story along perfectly.
The main action is resolutely turn-based, but there are a few surprises to the way that combat plays out, not least the necessity to choose how your team is positioned, and which enemies they can attack based upon that. It adds a spot more thought to each action, and some surprises along the way when things don’t quite play out as you were expecting. There’s also an auto-battle mode, which would have been trendsetting at the time, and is still a real boon when you’re making your way through dungeons and facing off against low-level mobs.
The key new addition is the ability to alter the battle speed, and alongside the auto-battler function it makes grinding and exploring feel so much less of a chore than it can do in these old-school RPGs. I wish that all RPGs were so considerate of your time!
If you’re a purist who’s looking to play both of the games as they were originally intended, it’s great to find that both the original and the remastered versions have been included here. However, with the reduced resolution and bars either side of the screen, it feels like there’s little to no reason to do this, other than pure curiosity. It would have been nice to be able to switch between the two versions mid-game, but you have to start them separately from the main menu.
There are a few old-school foibles to deal with – whether its tricky route-finding through dungeons, having to work your way back through the same areas, or the constant ‘La La La Laaaaaaa’ of Luna’s magical healing song in the first game, but they’re minor annoyances that you can forgive given the age of the originals.