The Lunar games, originally released for the Sega CD in the early 1990s, exemplify the traditional JRPG genre of their era. As 16-bit titles on Mega CD, they leveraged the CD format to deliver advanced features for the time, including high-quality pixel art, animated cutscenes, CD-quality audio, and voice acting. Gameplay in both Lunar titles adhere to classic JRPG conventions, with the typical bird’s eye view and no-frills turn-based systems. After several remakes on PlayStation and PlayStation Portable, the franchise became dormant since the mid-2000s and copies of the games became rare and cost prohibitive. With remasters being all the rage, and Game Arts’ own Grandia games getting a remastered duology, it is now time for Lunar to have its time back in the sun.
When the Lunar games were remade on PlayStation, they were considered old-fashioned. They were not much of a leap compared to JRPGs on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. They featured chubby, big-headed sprites and almost no 3D graphics, relying more on 2D elements and dazzling anime cutscenes to liven the presentation. In the modern gaming landscape, players are more open to playing “retro-inspired” games, making the Lunar Remastered Collection a perfectly timed release for fans of the genre.
By contemporary standards, the Lunar series may seem quaint. Developed in the early 1990s during the genre’s formative years, these titles reflect a period when developers were still refining JRPG conventions. Selecting attacks forces party members to advance toward targets for attacking. If an enemy is too distant, the character may exhaust their movement before inflicting an attack, forcing players to wait for the next turn. This mechanic also applies to enemies, creating strategic considerations around choosing melee versus ranged attacks.
Spells, while consistently long ranged, consume MP, a critical factor in prolonged dungeons or boss encounters. Party positioning adds further depth to combat. Positioning melee characters at the back increases their movement time, potentially causing missed turns, but can serve defensive strategies by luring enemies while ranged characters attack from safer positions. The Lunar games introduced notable innovations for their time, including the absence of random encounters and the on-screen display of all party members during exploration. Lunar rendered visible enemies and distinct party members, enhancing immersion and tactical awareness.
Lunar Remastered Collection’s staunch adherence to traditional JRPG design contributes to its renewed appeal. In an era where modern JRPGs feature robust mechanics that may be overwhelming, Lunar’s straightforward approach is a breath of fresh air. Despite their early 1990s origins, the Lunar games exhibit forward-thinking design elements. Compared to many JRPGs on the original PlayStation, their gameplay is notably streamlined. Every party member participates in combat, and the story-driven and quickly paced narrative dictates party composition, reinforcing the focus on a cohesive, character-driven experience.
The stories in both titles barrel forward, rarely letting up, offering minimal deviation from the central storyline. There is not much fluff to be found as the narratives are laser focused. There isn’t even much exploration apart from the elaborate dungeons, with little opportunity for exploration beyond the main objectives. While this restricted freedom may not appeal to all players, the Lunar Remastered Collection delivers substantial content, comprising two extensive JRPGs that have varied adventures to keep the experience from becoming stale.
Lunar: Silver Star Story follows a classic hero’s journey, with Alex fulfilling his destiny and romancing a childhood sweetheart, regaling in the armour of his hero, beating the big bad magician, and making friends along the way. It’s a classic and well-told story that holds up thanks to its witty dialogue that has been preserved from the old Working Designs localisation. The amusing crass humour and snide asides are all here.
Lunar: Eternal Blue offers a more expansive and less conventional epic, where Hiro the hero is pursued by Althenian guards and guides an otherworldly girl named Lucia. He teaches her how to be more human-like and she teaches him responsibility, as they learn to depend on each other while thwarting a new big bad and making friends along the way. The enduring appeal of both titles lies in their meticulously crafted characters and natural, engaging dialogue. They may not seem like much these days since there have been countless anime adjacent media and video games that have gone on to elevate similar kinds of stories. However, it’s hard to not be taken in by the effectiveness of the Lunar Remastered Collection‘s simplicity.
Extensive anime cutscenes enhance immersion, complemented by expressive sprite animations that, despite their simplicity, feature a notable range of poses and actions in story and battle sequences. Graphically, Eternal Blue distinguishes itself within the Lunar Remastered Collection through its exceptional background pixel art. These intricately designed environments minimise repetitive tiling, showcasing a remarkable level of detail that remains impressive. Not only is Eternal Blue more of an artistic achievement, but it also impresses with its extensive anime scenes. The first Lunar has over 43 minutes of OVA-quality anime, but the sequel impresses by having a little over an hour and five minutes of comparable quality.
