Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete

by Working Designs

Product Details

• ASIN: B00000JIUG
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,658 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

GameSpot Review

After a seemingly inexhaustible series of delays, Working Designs has finally redelivered the game that put them on the map. Originally released in Japan more than two years ago on the Sega Saturn, Lunar Complete is extremely dated but still delivers where it's important - gameplay.

Alex was but a boy in the isolated village of Burg, a boy who dreamed of one day being like his lifelong hero, Dragonmaster Dyne. As the typical RPG would have it, Alex's dream comes true as he's swept into an adventure to save the world from a great evil, save his woman, and enter manhood. While Lunar Complete retains the overall story and theme of the Sega CD original, a number of the game's individual events are different. For example, a number of the trivial problems facing Alex on the road to adventure, such as the broken bridge and lighthouse, have been eliminated completely, while the entire ending of the game has been reworked. Additionally, GameArts chose to add three new female accomplices to the ranks of evil. Fortunately, all these changes are for the better - the end result is an adventure that's more epic, satisfying, and generally cooler than the original while retaining the emphasis on character development that earned Lunar its lofty reputation in the first place.

Like the story, Lunar's gameplay has been tweaked and refined, but largely remains the same. Lunar is a traditional, old-school RPG in every way, even though it is one of exceptional quality. The excellent battle engine from the original is still in place. Unlike most RPGs, Lunar's battle system takes character movement into account, letting you position your characters and set up more elaborate attacks. Once characters earn multiple attacks through level advancement, this becomes especially useful. You will no longer encounter enemies in the overworld, however, and you can see approaching monsters in the dungeons. While the move to remove monsters from the overworld altogether is somewhat questionable, the ability to see monsters in the dungeons is a blessing, letting you run from or prepare for battles before they begin. On a more unfortunate note, Alex can no longer command magic and relies on virtually the same sword techniques that Lunar 2's Hiro does, ultimately hurting some of the game's strategic elements. As a result, boss battles generally boil down to Alex repeatedly using his Sword Dance until the battle's done, while the other characters support him with healing and attack magic. A minor flaw, and an unnecessary change, nonetheless.

As stated before, Lunar is a truly dated game - with the exceptions of the voice and FMV, the game portions of Lunar could be faithfully re-created on a Super Nintendo. However, the game's colorful graphics and visual design are still attractive, even seen through such a low-tech window - not a single polygon can be found on Lunar's dual CDs. The 2D simplicity of Lunar's world is greatly enhanced through the use of exquisitely produced anime cutscenes, used for everything from simple character introductions to brilliant destruction. Unfortunately, GameArts took away one of the Sega CD's coolest features, the lack of the RPG staple color-swapped enemies. Never in the Sega CD original did one see the same enemy, only sporting a different color scheme. Lunar: Complete not only brings pallette-swapping back in full force but mostly contains monsters from Lunar 2's bestiary. Lunar's sound is quite good, but much of the game's new music, such as the battle theme, doesn't compare with the original's.

Working Designs has had plenty of time to work on Lunar's translation, and fortunately it shows. The text is for the most part excellent and doesn't rely too heavily on Working Designs' traditionally puerile humor. The voices are also of excellent quality, truly bringing the characters to life in both the 2D world and the cutscenes. Working Designs' extras are nice touches, although the Making of Lunar video is ridiculously overwrought with tales of the game's translation instead of its creation.

So, it's finally here. Lunar: Complete is a must-buy for fans of the series, as well as an excellent introduction to this landmark RPG series. Lunar may not have modern aesthetics, but its gameplay and story are among the best of any RPG of any era. --Peter Bartholow
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Definately an upgrade, November 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (Video Game)

Played and loved the Sega CD version of this game a few years back. Just got a playstation and this is one of the first titles we grabbed. There are some definate differences between the two, and this version comes out on top in our opinion. The humor is the same for both and (from what we've been able to play so far)so is the plot. The cut scenes are longer and more involved which makes it a treat to watch. The minor downs are: no random battles while crossing the terain - good if your hurt and need to heal, but frustrating when you first start and want to build levels, and the opening theme was much more moving on the earlier version - used to play it several times before playing just for the beat! But, overall, this is definately an upgrade.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Old-School RPG, January 16, 2001

By 

Eric Johnson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (Video Game)

If you are looking for story as the driving force behind an RPG, then this is a game you will enjoy. Lunar doesn't rely on graphics or amazing sound. It relies on the strength of its storyline. The graphics are the type you'd find on an older system, which makes sense because this game was originally released on the Sega-CD. This comes with two bonus CD's. One is a soundtrack, which is nothing to be excited about since the music isn't something you'd want to listen to outside of the game, but is a nice touch. The other is a making of CD that was rather interesting because you get to see how much the people who made this game were into it and cared about the finished product.

One of the neat things about this game is all of the voice acting. It's such a nice touch and really adds a lot to the game. The female voices can seem rather whiny and too high pitched (which could be said of the males at times too), but other than that, it's quite good. Also, there is a lot of pop culture references and innuendo going on that make you laugh. That may be the best thing about the game. The story is fun. The game is fun. You have fun playing the game.

It's not new. It's not full of eye candy. But the game is very enjoyable and worth the money if you enjoy playing with a good story.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Refreshed Classic, October 8, 2001

By 

Mr. N. W. Blackford (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (Video Game)

I never played the original "Lunar" but this Special Edition makes me wish I'd been there when the saga started. This package is amazing, it includes:

Book: A small but thick hardback book full of artwork and infomation about the game.

2 Game CDs: Only because the anime cut-scenes take up so much disk space, this game could fit on one CD without them.

Making Of Featurette: On it's own Playstation CD that you can play like a movie in your Playstation.

Fabric Map: A nicely illustrated material map.

Soundtrack CD: The music from the game, which is is pretty good but features some "Disney" style tracks.

The game itself is great. The graphics might not appeal to everyone. I'd go as far to say that ZELDA for the SNES looks a lot better. But that's not the point here, the game itself is very involving. It has nice character development and you feel very compelled to complete it.

There is one thing I must warn you of, this is the kind of game where you can get STUCK and have no choice but to start the game again, this is because you can SAVE anywhere... so watch it. Also, the game's battles WILL annoy you at first, but you'll grow to them after time. The battles will get on your nerves but everything else makes the game a real journey.

You'll recognise things from modern RPGs which is a clear reference to how influential this game was as an RPG. The power/magic system is very close to games such as "Secret Of Mana" and the "Final Fantasy" series.

There's a LOT you can miss in this game. Every character in the game says something new after every event occurs, it's outstanding the amount of work and effort that's been put into giving this game new life, and it works.

So, if you like RPGs, and especially if you like keeping your games in good condition and love extras, this IS the game for you. With over an hour of new anime-style cut scene footage and a very amusing script (which can be suprisingly dirty at times). This makes for a great RPG adventure that you won't forget, and may after time wish to play through again.