It’s Christmas 1993. My large brother Phil is deep into Lunar The Silver Star on Sega CD. Because the tag alongside brother, I beloved nothing greater than to observe any sport he was into as I wasn’t assured sufficient to play something larger than a easy platformer. He would even go so far as recording his play periods on VHS for me to observe later (that is how I skilled Ultimate Fantasy VII initially.) Lunar at all times felt completely different, although: a magical mixture of traditional sprite-based artwork with these eye-catching anime cutscenes (because of the CD-ROM know-how.) It wouldn’t be for a couple of extra years that I make the leap into larger video games reminiscent of these however the core reminiscences are the inspiration of my love of video games. Enter Lunar Remastered Assortment, a long-awaited celebration of the collection.
The Lunar title has been across the block in varied iterations since its preliminary releases on Sega CD, like within the subsequent ports and re-releases on Sega Saturn, PlayStation 1, PlayStation Transportable and cellular. But, there hasn’t been a great way to play the collection exterior of the PlayStation Classics model on PSN (this has since been eliminated as of the launch of the brand new retailer,) which spins up an emulated model. Now we lastly have an accessible up to date model with touched up pixel artwork and cleaned up animation sequences. The true query that drove me to this overview was, does Lunar: The Silver Star and its sequel Lunar 2: Everlasting Blue maintain as much as in the present day’s retro-styled RPG requirements? Within the strategy of answering this query, I discovered a pleasing, nostalgic shock that reveals how far forward of its time Lunar actually was.
Lunar: The Silver Star and Lunar 2: Everlasting Blue are fairly boiler plate turn-based RPGs. They contain a hero’s sudden journey to cease a world threatening evil, all whereas amassing a lovable rag tag group of allies.These sorts of video games dwell and die by the extent of persona they show, however fortunately that’s the place the collection stands out most. Outlandish Kyle and boisterous Nash from the primary sport are as charismatic as Lemina and Jean of the second sport. These characters all play effectively with our protagonists Alex and Hiro, who’re the pure-of-heart, hopeful, heroes-of-lore archetype of their respective video games. Everybody in the primary and supporting forged make for engrossing personalities; thankfully, the villains are equally as magnetic. All through the course of their pretty linear tales, you actually get to know a cavalcade of additional dastardly villains, led by the very best at school Ghaleon. Including to the combination is a wild localization from a workforce that initially selected to incorporate ‘90s American popular culture references reminiscent of Austin Powers jokes right into a Japanese sport. It’s a group fan favourite.
I discussed the sport being pretty linear, however that’s to its profit. The linearity is used to actually hammer down an enticing story that retains you shifting ahead at a fairly regular tempo. Whereas different video games desire an open-world method, there’s a appeal to a curated straight ahead expertise. This has come extra in vogue with video games like Sea of Stars and Jack Transfer, but it surely’s straightforward to see how these newer video games have been influenced by classics like Lunar or Chrono Set off. The tales of the world dominated by the traditional goddess Althena all of a sudden in peril from the traditional evil Zophar can get to some darkish locations however stay hopeful all through. Contemplating the video games observe a fabled hero dragonmaster making an attempt to slay the 4 dragons and save the folks of Lunar, you may see how the tales construct onto one another regardless of happening tons of of years aside. What additionally helps is the fixed stream of animated cutscenes that happen throughout main story beats to actually punctuate the proceedings and flex that CD-ROM energy.
The acquainted turn-based fight has some slight positioning mechanics inbuilt. There’s an invisible grid that has characters solely capable of transfer a sure distance earlier than they’ll assault. As well as, some assaults will do space of impact harm, so spacing is necessary. Exterior of that, the remastered model permits for automated instructions to be set in your celebration so you may program how your celebration acts robotically. This takes a little bit of the repetitive nature out of fight, and there’s additionally a quick ahead button to hurry up the move if you happen to really feel it’s a slog. Enemies seem on display and may be averted but when touched will take you to the fight display. In contrast to different remastered collections just like the Ultimate Fantasy Pixel Remasters, there isn’t another approach to keep away from the monotony of enemy engagement. The variety of fights isn’t tedious but it surely’s proper on the cusp of being so. A slider decreasing or elevating the variety of enemy encounters would have been welcome, and maybe an elevated XP or cash slider, too. These are the standard of life enhancements I’d’ve wished from this type of remaster, particularly since my replay jogged my memory of the grinding essential to progress previous a number of the story bosses. It isn’t egregious, however the extra I averted fight, the more durable the story turned.
Alongside these traces, whereas all the pieces appears to be like crisp and fantastically introduced into excessive definition, it’s unlucky that the unique English voice appearing isn’t an choice; we’re caught with the brand new voice appearing introduced right here. How about some behind the scenes content material, or a toggle to swap between the unique vs remastered variations? At the moment, the Remastered Assortment provides the selection of enjoying the unique video games or the brand new remastered variations, however they’re separate executables. Fortunately, the save carries over from one model to the subsequent however you continue to should exit the sport completely to change. This lack of content material could should do with a breakdown in communications between the unique localization workforce Working Designs, however I’d have even beloved to see the Assortment expanded with the opposite variations of the video games and offshoots like Silver Star Concord, Silver Star Full, Lunar Legend, All The Lunar: Hyper Purposes, Lunar: Sanposuru Gakuen, and Lunar Dragon Tune, simply to make this the definitive compilation. All that stated, right here we’re with the PS1/Sega Saturn variations of Lunar 1 and a pair of, and that must be sufficient for now. We’ve positively seen extra strong collections and compilations of revered video games from the previous, and it’s a bit unlucky that Lunar hasn’t been afforded the identical therapy.
As a very long time fan of the Lunar collection, I’m greater than overjoyed to lastly have one in all my childhood JRPGs in a playable format on fashionable consoles. In 2025, I nonetheless discover the collection related and as charming because it was again after I was a starry-eyed youngster. I noticed myself in Alex and Hiro; they have been the heroes I wished to be. Nonetheless, that is removed from being a definitive assortment. There’s a lot extra that might accompany a package deal like this along with fight velocity, a cleaner look, and widescreen presentation. Authentic English VO, lacking video games, artwork work, orchestrated soundtrack and even high quality of life gameplay enhancements may have pushed this to the excessive requirements that firms like Sq. Enix and Capcom have set. I’m joyful that Lunar can now attain extra folks, however I lengthy for extra to share from such a cult traditional and one in all my all time favorites.