A New Favourite: Lunar the Silver Star for Sega CD - A Review | hungrygoriya
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- There are a lot of RPGs that I've experienced over the years that just haven't quite won my heart over, but I'm happy that Lunar The Silver Star for the Sega CD did just that. It really left a lasting impression on me with its great cast of characters and twisting storyline, along with some very unique turn-based battles to keep you interested. Definitely check this one out if you haven't! 🍖
It's weird that this is the second game I've played where a brother and adopted sister have feelings for each other. I don't know why this is a regular thing in these games, but I'd like it to stop.
The introductory animation and outro text were created and designed by Saad Azim.
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#retrogaming #lunar #segacd
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Ohhhh fancy intro! My roommate from ye olden dayes had this game on Playstation, the cover art alone was so alluring. I only got a few hours into it at the time, same with the Sega CD version years later for a video, but this makes me want to dive in proper. Thanks!
My husband really loves the Sega CD Bios screen and casually made a joke about making the logo do those things... it took so long to get it just right, and I think it's my favourite part of this entire video!
And my friend, I hope you'll try this game out completely someday. It really kicks up the narrative as you go, and while the beginning's just fine, the way the story's told and how all the characters come together so wonderfully makes it a worthwhile experience.
iPhone port of the PlayStation version is pretty good if you want to play it on the go.
*I hope you have a great rest of your day!*
@@nickcarroll8565 warning that the script for the iPhone port is a bit bastardized from WD’s og script
It's been a long time but I think the PSX version is my favourite. Although I've not played complete. The first version I played wad the GBA which is ok.
Like Goriya says, it can be quite cliche but you know what, I love a classic story of adventure and battles against evil! And this game has a fond place in my heart ☺️
Silver Star: 4 writers, 3 translators and a few proof readers.
Ted Woosley: Pffffffffffffffffffffffffft
One of the most magical gaming experiences of my childhood was watching my big brother play this for hours. I would invite neighborhood friends to come over just to watch that awesome intro with that super catchy song. The game would always freeze (as would often happen with Sega CD games) in a particular spot, the Black Dragon boss battle. But my brother devised a solution, he’d lift the Sega CD up slightly and then drop it, always got the CD back on track. Absolute classic, unsung RPG gem. Glad you enjoyed it.
It was such a lovely experience for me, and I'm so glad that you have some wonderful memories with your brother too. That intro song is so good. We'd always make a point to blast it on my stream whenever we'd start playing for the evening and everyone would be there jamming away. It still gets stuck in my head sometimes!
fun fact: the guy asking Nall how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop was originally Adol Cristin from the Ys series, stranded on the moon
If Adol was in the game, even in a cameo capacity (or better yet if Dogi was with him), my head would have exploded.
WHAT are you serious? That's hilarious!
@@wickedwhispers595 I had a good time.
Adol goddammit why did you even get on a spaceship in the first place, you KNOW what happens whenever you get on a boat!
@@goranisacson2502 best part is it's part of his official diary that he visited the moon at some point, so it's Ys canon that he's there in Lunar
My favorite RPG/game of all time. First time and advertisement drew me in and actually delivered. Thank you Working Designs for the localization.
It's a great one! I looked through some magazine scans with ads for this one and they were really beautiful. Glad it met your expectations at the time.
I absolutely love watching your reviews - its so great to hear such an in depth break down of a classic like this.
I'm very glad to hear you're enjoying my little corner of the internet. Thank you!
Ahhh one of my classic treasured series from my childhood. I played this game back to back with Final fantasy 3 (6) on the SNES. Best 2 months of my summer break I could remember.
That's really cool that you got so many great RPGs under your belt in such a short window of time.
That sounds like heaven.
No, no, no way.... Lunar definitely had one of the all around GREATEST soundtracks of all JRPG's! Maybe top 10? Soooo many classic tracks that get stuck in your head. Also, the voice acting is legendary. Ghaleon was great, and Quark is still my default "dragon" voice 30 years on. Love this game! "The time for valor has returned again...."
There are a lot of great and memorable tracks here, for sure!
SEGA CD Version of Lunar is my favorite
Oh, you must use the headphone jack on a model 1 genesis/mega drive for sound, it's the only way to get stereo audio from the machine! (the back connector only does dual mono bizarrely)
And the '90s sure loved it's endless pop culture references didn't it? Aged like fine milk :D
That is a very weird symptom I hadn't considered. Mono? What the heck?
And the pop culture references were not only dated, but also very American! Even just being a little further north in Canada here, many of them flew right over my head. They're extremely local to the time and the place.
@@hungrygoriya It is odd, I thought it was a bug maybe, but they never revised it. The Model 2 has stereo out the back though.
Oh yeah, I remember watching the simpsons as a kid and wondering who on earth they were refering to half the time. lot of shows and celebs that never aired here etc.
What an amazing video to wake up to. The new intro caught me off guard but only took me a moment to catch why, very cool!
Lunar as a game holds a weird place in my heart. It is one of those "really cool JRPG's" that years ago I used to read about in gaming mags but did not have a chance to play. In later years I have tried to get into the game and play through it but was never able to stay focused and see it through. I absolutely love your eye for detail and how you can call out those minor nuances in the gameplay as now I know what to expect. Yet another game you reviewed that has been moved up on my playlist. Thank you!
Thanks so much for this :) The intro swap was my husband's brainchild and we laughed so much learning how to make it. To me, it's the best part of the video since I learned a lot of new things trying to make it.
I truly hope you enjoy your time with this game if you play it. It has those bumpy moments like I mentioned here, but it's also so full of charm that it's ridiculous. The story's what really makes it for me.
Hey! I'm one of the folks who runs LunarNET* -- I'm thrilled you reviewed and seemed to mostly enjoy the first Lunar game! It's always been a very special and emotional game for me (probably apparent), but it's always interesting seeing how others experience it fresh.
(* ok so we haven't really updated the site much since there just isn't a lot of news, and most of us are pretty busy these days, apologies =/ )
Some of the things you noted have always been contentious (like the pop culture references, even by the late 90s aged poorly, and how inventory items were rather pointless). Though I realize now since this was one of my formative games, I got into the habit of rarely using inventory items in other games, rather than expecting other games to have more accessible inventory setups.
Another rare thing of the era is this was one RPG where grinding was basically unnecessary, as long as you didn't run from many battles.
Anyway, hope you have a chance to play Lunar 2 for the SCD if you haven't already (I always liked the sequel more), and find more things to enjoy!
Well hello there! I'm always glad when people facilitate passion projects like LunarNET to bring a community of people together. Thank you for your work on that site!
I couldn't believe how many inventory items I found and didn't want to keep, and that's rare for me. I usually hang onto everything, but those low-powered spell vials, mint essences, and really anything to cure status effects were more or less useless. Even revival items weren't necessary with the auto-resurrect post-battle! They were very kind in this game!
I think the only place I started running from battles was in the dungeon where the localization tripped me up (right near the end of the game, the translation makes it sound like you can't go forward through the next area and keeps bouncing you back out a door). I was in there forever looking for a way to progress but all I needed to do was get into the fight one more time to push things along... ugh. I got so tired of fighting robots in there, haha
Thanks so much for your kind words and for your encouragement. I'll definitely be playing Lunar 2 someday, hopefully sooner than later!
You're one of those big Lunar fans aren't ya? Probably worshipped Ghaleon, didn't ya? Even went to some sort of SHRINE to him? 😉
@@chuckjcarter The "Shrine" to "Ghaleon"..... now there's a place I haven't heard of in a long, long time =D
@@hungrygoriya Definitely hear you -- fortunately the inventory size isn't as limited in later games (although there are still limitations that affect battle strategy). They even kept the inventory setup in Lunar 2 (SCD) for the remakes (SSS and EBC for Saturn/Playstation). Lunar 2 is a fair bit more challenging and on a first play through probably will require a bit of grinding in a few places, though.
@@Kizyr I'm always up for a grind as long as the game's fun and the music's good company.
One of my favs. First CD based RPG I played and that music was great. I'd play that from my CD boom box when I wasn't even playing the game. Strange though. I never had your audio issue when I played it back in the day though.
I wish this had been something I experienced as a younger person, just because I would've fallen totally in love with it then. I like it a lot now but I think playing it earlier would've really lit up my passion for turn-based RPGs a lot sooner.
I wonder what the trouble was. I know a few people were helping me troubleshoot it during the streams and they said it was a common complaint. I didn't try it with a model 2 Sega Genesis. Did you have the model 1 growing up?
@@hungrygoriya I was under the impression that only the model 1 Genesis/Mega Drive had the superior sound chip design and the later models did not. I could be wrong on that one but when it comes to old consoles that tends to be where my expertise resides. I am going to look into this a bit more. Wish I would have caught the stream.
I had the Model 2 back in the mid-90s when playing it. The SFX was a littlr loud but not *as* jarring as it sounded here. It could just be my imagination -- I haven't played it on the original hardware in over a decade.
@@OGBuddah Yeah, from what I understand, the model 1 has better sound but I was asking more for the lack of the volume adjustment/headphone jack on the model 2. I never tried my setup with a model 2 and with no way to adjust the console volume relative to the Sega CD part, I was wondering if it was balanced better with that setup.
@@hungrygoriya Yanno... I can't even remember which model I had. I traded a friend some Magic the Gathering cards I had for his Genesis and his TurboGrafx 16 and about 20 games, and then I ended up getting SEGA CD and the 32X for it at some point. I want to say it was the model 2 though, because I'm pretty sure I bought the CD unit new in the store and by then it would have already been like 1996. I'd check for you, but after I moved out and my brother went into the army my youngest brother traded all of our Atari 2600/5200/7800, Nintendo, SNES, N64, Game Boy, Genesis/CD/32X, and Playstation systems and games to GameStop and eventually he was left with only one PS2 game after all the trade ins. I didn't find that out until about 10 years after I'd moved out. I wasn't too happy about that. He sold all of that back when it was only pennies on the dollar too. All I was left with was the Virtual Boy and a few games for it. Even GameStop wouldn't take that back then.
My first RPG was Final Fantasy on NES if you don't count Faxanadu. Just like Nintendo ruined Atari games for me, RPGs ended up ruining most other types of games for me after I'd played them. Lunar was certainly something special by the time that came into my life in High School. I could see how it doesn't stack up for you today though. It is hard playing old games, especially if you don't have any nostalgia for them.
Funny thing is that I missed out on Final Fantasy VII through IX. By the end of high school and into my mid 20's I hardly had any time for games, although I did manage to find the time for FFX which to this day is still my favorite RPG story ever. But after playing FFXII and the awesome battle system, I have a hard time going back and playing almost all turn based RPGs that I used to love unless I can emulate them and map Fast Forward to a button. I would like to play the FFVII remaster at some point, but being pretty OCD completionist about such things, I can't really find the time to get into anything too serious for the foreseeable future. And usually by the time I end up finishing a game I've spent so many hours getting 100% that I forgot what the story was about.
It's quite the gem, huh? This game was amazing to me back in 1994 when I first played it. Mind you, anime was still very rare stateside back then, and having an alternative to Final Fantasy or Phantasy Star with animated cutacenes and voices was mind-blowing to me. This game was one of the deciding factors in me getting Sega CD. Played through it again last year, and it still holds up for me, in some ways more so than any of its remakes. And the soundtrack definitely takes me back to a simpler time, pre-internet, when getting to something like this was one of the coolest things to me.
I'm so happy you have these fond memories with this game. I can totally see falling in love with the idea of this game and it being a driving factor to pick up a console, especially if you were into RPGs at the time. It's cool even playing this for the first time now since I've played quite a few games at this point, and it's an easy favourite for me with all of its charm. I say this a lot, but I think I would've really liked this as a kid as well!
This game was my intro into the Lunar series and I absolutely love it. Was a lot of fun watching your playthrough on Twitch as well. Appreciate your content!
Like others, my experience with Lunar was seeing advertisements in gaming magazines and yearning for an RPG experience (and compelling art direction that I didn't know the word for yet) that was just out of reach. Years later I would play their remakes on the PlayStation, which retain their localization "quirks" but fix a fair number of the issues you described (emotive character portraits come to mind). The PS editions were a highlight of my PS1 experience; I'm glad the same can be said for you and the original release!
I was honestly pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this one. I know Lunar is extremely beloved but barely anyone has really mentioned the Sega CD version specifically. I wasn't sure what to expect but all of the plot twists got me and I was really enamoured by the characters too. I can't wait to try the Playstation versions some day, though I hope I'll have the opportunity to play Lunar 2 on Sega CD first.
@@hungrygoriya Absolutely go that route! I imagine you'll appreciate the PS editions even more with the Sega CD editions under your belt--the basic premise and storyline are similar, but everything from the graphics to the music to the battle mechanics have been redone. It shouldn't feel like a retread.
@@absuplendous I will keep this in mind on the hunt for a copy of Lunar 2!
My copy of Lunar on sega cd would randomly hang up and I’d have to tap it to get the cd to continue reading 😅
@@nickcarroll8565 Oh no! At least it didn't freeze up on you completely. There were a few times where if I took too long to clear a text box, the game would get stuck.
I take it this was your first Working Designs game, given your surprise at all the pop culture references? ;) That was kind of their thing! If you play Popful Mail next, you'll hear SO MUCH MORE of it -- though Popful Mail is a more tongue-in-cheek game, so the highly referential humor and over-the-top voice-acting actually fits the mood and setting a lot better than it does in the Lunar games.
And hey, it may be sad that you're done with Lunar, but there's always Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, which is every bit as good as the first game, if not better. That one came out on Sega CD in English as well, right? I know it came out in English on the PS1, as that's the version I played, but I never owned a Sega CD growing up, so I'm not sure if the original version made it to store shelves before the Sega CD was left by the wayside.
Anyway, cool review of an absolute classic, and a great introduction for you to the work of the infamous Working Designs, whose legacy is vast but incredibly controversial (not just because of the constant pop culture references, but also because they almost always tweaked the difficulty of the games they released to make them MUCH HARDER in English than in the original Japanese -- this wasn't the case with Lunar, AFAIK, but if you do get around to Popful Mail, it's VERY MUCH the case there!).
EDIT: Aaaaand, it just occurred to me that I thought I'd already watched a video of you talking about Popful Mail, so I searched RUclips, and sure enough, I did! So this was NOT your first Working Designs gameplay experience, it seems. I m dum! Heheh. But I'm going to leave this comment anyway, because hey, why not? You released another great video, so I'll toss it some engagement and help out the algorithm as much as I can! ;)
I see you did end up finding my Popful Mail review, and yeah, it was TOUGH! I remember reading the manual and realizing they'd jacked up the difficulty and wondering why the heck they'd do such a thing, but here we are.
Lunar 2 is definitely on my list, but it might be that I'll end up playing the Playstation version of it. I don't own it for Sega CD and I'm totally priced out of picking that one up any time soon. I'm glad there's a little more to look forward to on the Sega CD though... nothing quite as exciting as Popful Mail or the Lunar games in my eyes.
And thanks, as always, for stopping by here! I appreciate it!
Great video. Lunar is one of my personal favorites, the sense of wonder/adventure/charm it evokes has only been matched by games like Grandia to me. I’ve never played the Sega CD version but have played every other, this video is making me want to give it a shot though as I’ve heard so many good things about it.
I hope you'll give this one a try sometime. I still have yet to play Grandia, but yours and a few other comments are hyping me up for that game. I dabbled a bit with Grandia II when we first got a Dreamcast about 6 or 7 years ago and loved what little I played of it.
I used to pop the game into my cd player and listen to the cut scenes. Amazing game. Some of the cut scenes gave me chills. Lots of good memories with this one.
I can see why this game would leave an impression on someone.
Really enjoyed watching this playthrough. This was a game I saw in magazines many times as a kid, but never owned a Sega CD and always wanted to try it. The characters and their development and interaction was excellent, as was the positioning of combat in this one where the less armored characters needed to stay further back. Too bad that inventory system was so bad though, haha.
Thanks for playing this!
The inventory system made me want to scream to the sky every time I had to shuffle things around. Otherwise, a phenomenal game. I hope you get a chance to play it some day!
So glad you covered this one. Part of what made this game so great in my opinion was the dynamic among Alex, Luna, and Ghaleon. There are very few RPGs that have done such a great job with casting the role of a villain, even down to the voice acting.
I think you are on to something regarding the music. It was impressive at the time, and in some aspects even holds up to modern standards.
You're totally right. Usually the villain's just someone you see at the end of the game or hear about throughout. It was very well done here! I tried really hard not to talk about the story much since it was so good experiencing it for the first time with no spoilers, but all the twists took me by surprise! I loved it!
The music in some of these games is almost like early PC quality, which still applies to late PC quality because it's still virtually the same medium in my mind. I do love the chiptunes of the old consoles as well, but music's a really important aspect of a game experience to me. When it has that bit of extra polish to it, it really elevates things!
Great review! I have this and Eternal Blue on Sega Saturn but haven’t gotten around to playing them yet. I’m still working through Albert Odyssey on Saturn which is another fun old school JRPG that Working Designs localized. I was excited to see you put out another video. Your reviews are always super insightful.
Thanks so much! Is there any way to play the Saturn version of Eternal Blue in English? I've seen a few threads on forums about a translation patch coming out soon but I'm curious. I actually have Albert Odyssey as well but haven't played it yet. Maybe I should move that one up the list!
Great review as always, HG! Love the Sega CD BIOS inspired intro!
Thank you, thank you! I had a lovely time learning some new editing tricks for that part.
The quality of your videos, and the personal connections you convey within them is impressive!
I really appreciate this comment. Thank you so much!
@@hungrygoriya You're very welcome!
YES It's always a good day to see a new video from you in my notifications.
I've beaten the PS1 version of this game a couple times since childhood, so it's really cool seeing how it looked originally.
Definitely go for the sequel now!
Awww thanks! I'm still on the hunt for the sequel. I had a chance to buy it about 5 years ago for around $300 and didn't pick it up because I thought it was too expensive. It's pretty much doubled now :(
@@hungrygoriya WHAT? $300 is crazy enough, I can’t imagine any game I would pay $600 for haha
.. it is pretty awesome though. Hopefully you stumble upon it at some flea market for a good price some day.
@@RealFerfer Cross all your fingers for me!
Yay, a new video! I binged your entire back catalogue and have been eagerly awaiting a new one! Great pick, too! I got a copy of the "Silver Star Story" strategy guide in high school, and wrote a book report on it like it was a novel for my composition class, and got great marks for it, even though I never played the game!
I also had Eternal Blue Complete for the PS1, with the deluxe pack-ins, but still never played it before selling most of my game collection on eBay. Bummer! I REALLY to play these games now!
I'm a bit slow on the release schedule sometimes, so I appreciate the patience!
I love that you got to write a book report on a strategy guide! I guess the guide told you all you needed to know without playing, so bonus.
I have Lunar here for the Sega CD, and then Lunar 1 and 2 for PS1 with all the stuff inside. I was a little obsessed with finding the PS1 versions for a while and I wish I'd put more effort into finding the sequel on Sega CD before the pandemic price hike.
And subscribed! I never played the Sega CD version so my nostalgic emotional attachment stems from the PlayStation version. Still this video was a joy to watch and listen to, lunar and lunar 2 were just a comfy vibe back then and I still return to them today. I have even sang the songs as lullabies to my children.
Thanks very much! I can see how this game would stick to you in a meaningful way long after you finish playing it. And what lucky kids!
your channel is a like a library full of classics and for a nostalgic like me that's great, you got a new sub
Oh thank you! Glad to hear you're enjoying your time here.
Thanks!
Awww thank you very much! I appreciate it!
Right as the Covid lockdowns began in March, 2020, I modded my Genesis Mini to add more games and used it to finally play the Sega CD versions of this and Lunar: Eternal Blue. FANTASTIC games and easily one of my favorite RPGs. It was a real treat to work my way through them, and helped me keep my sanity while stuck at home! I hope they get rereleased again someday, or that a Lunar 3 comes out.
I can't tell you how much video games helped me during the pandemic. I found so much community in gaming in the livestreams especially. It's awesome that you found these games so wonderful. I really, really want to try Eternal Blue's Sega CD version but I've been looking for a copy for ages. One of these days!
I got my hands on a Sega CD model 2 last year and the first game/s that I wanted to try out aside from Snatcher was the Lunar series! I wanted to play them in order so I started with Silver Star. It was kinda slow at the beginning but once Ghaleon killed Quark I was hell bent on getting revenge! I thought that it was really well paced throughout and I loved the soundtrack when Laike made his big reveal I jumped out of my seat. I hadn't had a game get those reactions from me in a long time. I absolutely cherished the time spent on this amazing journey and I'm so happy that you also took it upon yourself to share your experience with the world, Greetings from México!!!
I'm pretty sure we had similar experiences here. All of the story twists caught me by surprise completely, and I loved every moment of this game too. Thanks so much for taking a moment to share your experience with this one!
I'm considering buying this game for my Sega CD and this video helps a lot. Thank you for making a video about it.
My pleasure! Good luck on the game hunt.
Letssss gooooo! I own all the lunar stuff on sega cd and ps1.
I've been hunting for a copy of Eternal Blue for ages, but I'm well priced out of a copy at this point. I might try out the Playstation version sometime though! I have this game's remake and the sequel on PS1.
Absolutely killer game. This and Eternal Blue were two of my favourite games from my childhood. People are always down on the Sega CD, but it had a few amazing RPGs. I also like the PlayStation remasters, but something about the original Sega CD versions of both Silver Star and Eternal Blue were magical.
I definitely felt a bit of magic in this game from the first time I laid eyes on it. I really want to find the Sega CD version of Eternal Blue but it's not looking good at this point given how the collector market has gone. I do own them both on the Playstation though!
Whether on Sega CD or PlayStation, Eternal Blue really is worth playing. The PSX version has many quality-of-life improvements, such as eliminating those individual character inventories. Also, in the remakes party characters have different portraits for different emotions!
I grew up on this game and the music still strikes a deep chord of nostalgia in me. Thanks for this. At the time the game was completely perfect to me, it’s fun to see it through a critical lens.
The music's so memorable! And I can see how this game can feel perfect. It has so many good things going for it. Inventory-related strife is more of a personal beef for me. It really gets to me, haha
Fantastic review! Haven't played this game in 25 years!
Hey thanks alot. I mean, a lot! :)
Glad I found your channel, very cool stuff. This game in particular I missed out on during it's release but always wanted to circle back to it. I loved seeing ads featuring the art work and just getting into RPGs thanks to Breath of Fire, it always appealed to me.
It's definitely worth getting to if you haven't! I've been slowly getting to more and more from this era of RPGs and while most games I've played have some pretty glaring issues, especially with story translation, this one's really good. I hope you enjoy it!
Nothing beats sitting down with a nice cup of tea and finding out there's a new Hungry Goriya video to delve into. I wish more games had graphics as beautiful as these!
Awww thank you! Happy to oblige!
I can say that as a 12/13 year old, the humor hit me really well. This was my favorite for a long time, and when I played the playstation version, I missed the funny parts. In fact, it gaslit me into thinking maybe the SegaCD version wasn't this tongue-in-cheek game that I remember at all. Was it some other similar game? Did I imagine the humor? So, I'm glad to have seen your review, proving that my memory was right. Thanks.
Oh no! It's unfortunate to hear the tone was changed so much between the two versions. That's unfortunate!
The ps1 version, while not bad. Was such a watered down version that lacked the same character and charm from the sega cd version.
Used to have this for the Sega Saturn but I sold it (along with a large part of my collection) when I fell on hard times. Would love to play it again since I never beat it but it's outside my current budget. Glad to see others are enjoying this! I also love Working Designs translations! Games like Magic Knight Rayearth, Dragon Force, and Albert Odyssey were made so much better with their translations.
Also, also, love the new intro!
Not going to lie, mostly "liking" this for mentioning Albert Odyssey. Probably the most underrated of the Working Designs rpgs. That one I remember having moments where I legit laughed out loud.
@@chaospoet agreed! The combat was a bit slow and the final maze was a nightmare, but Albert Odyssey is a highly underrated RPG. Love the cast of characters and quirky dialogue
So much of the Sega CD library's outside of my current budget... I feel you on that. I'd love to pick up the sequel to this one but yikes... I don't have that cash lying around for a single game.
Of the other three you mentioned, the only one I have is Albert Odyssey. I will eventually get around to playing it some day as well, though I have watched a friend play through a lot of Magic Knight Rayearth. That was a very cute game!
And thanks about the intro! My husband and I were joking around about making it look like the Sega CD intro screen since I'd sat around at the beginning of every stream for this game talking to my chat for 10+ minutes with it playing, and then I got to work!
@@jasonmiller3543 Yeah that end dungeon almost broke me. It's the only bad part of the game. I tell anyone who is interested in playing it just use a guide because you won't figure it out, because it makes no sense.
Sega CD's best game ever made! Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete was a badass remake for the PS 1 but the original was awesome. Lunar had some of the best music ever in a RPG and Luna's song was chilling. Brings back memories of her hymn. Lunar 1's cast was WAAAAY better than Lunar 2.
When I was streaming this, so many people kept popping into chat saying they loved the PS1 game but hadn't seen the Sega CD version before. It shocked me, but I guess it really shouldn't have. The PS1 version's a lot more widespread by my assumption, anyway!
@@hungrygoriya I still have my Sega CD version of both 1 & 2 still in the box with the foam. Lunar 1 will always be in my top 10 best RPGs of all time. Working Designs localized so many games but Lunar 1 was by far the best they ever did.
@@jamescruz5637 That's so cool! My copy of Lunar's a bit busted up (missing the card at the back of the manual, no foam etc. but the game itself is at least in decent shape. It's so great that you have those games and in such nice condition. What a lovely collection!
I appreciated the pop culture references and humor, it's part of what made this game stand out to me as having extra fun and personality. It was the Playstation version I played though. This and its sequel Eternal Blue still to this day 20+ years later are my most memorable RPG experiences.
Would love to see a review of Eternal Blue and your thoughts on that one.
I feel like I would've enjoyed the references a lot more if I'd played this one when it was new. And I'd love to review Eternal Blue one of these days, but I haven't played through it yet.
Thanks for going over this! One of my best friends years ago had this game, he said it was his favorite. I never got to play it, but was always curious.
It was really, really good! I'm glad you got to experience it somewhat through your friend.
I have only ever had experience with the PlayStation remakes, so seeing the originals through your lens was the interesting and made me interested in trying the older versions.
I also took the time to look through your back catalog as I said I would in your previous video, and while we do disagree on many games I can understand where you come from better. As I said then, I wish I hadn’t been introduced to you from that video, but I am glad I stuck around. There are even many games you have reviewed that I hadn’t even heard of that I’m excited to find and try!
Please keep up the great work.
This version of Lunar was extremely charming and definitely worth some time if you have it to give.
And I'm glad you stuck around! Secret of Evermore was not a favourite of mine and definitely rubbed me the wrong way. All of the videos on this channel are an honest unpacking of my personal experience with these games, and it's usually a first-time experience for me. They're not all going to be bright and sunny, but at least they're truthful! I hope you enjoy the rest of the channel.
I understood that as I went through more and more videos. Your 5 hated SNES classic games had me initially upset but by the end after hearing what you said I agreed with more than half of the games and it made me re-evaluate my own opinions.
Example: I grew up with Evermore, but not with Secret of Mana. I adored every second of Evermore, but was told Mana was the be all end all, probably as much as you were told.
I have a feeling that if either of us had played Mana in our childhood, or had you had Evermore while younger, our opinions would be the same as everyone else.
Also, I saw you in your Brandish video loved Shining Force AND Lufia 2, and so therefore you won me over there, and I ordered Brandish on the spot.
While I grew up around the 16 bit consoles the Sega CD was never on my radar for something I would own, I remember back to reading issues of Gamepro that had short strategy guide sections for the sequel to this game, Eternal blue. However, when the Lunar SSC came out for the Playstation, it drew me in hard and has remained one of if not my favorite RPG of all time. Loved the video, it gave me an insight to the older version of the game I had yet to experience, and now that I collect and play retro games myself perhaps I need to do myself the justice one of these days of getting a Sega CD for the collection and hunting down the assuredly expensive Lunar The Silver Star for myself. Cant wait for the next video!
I distinctly remember having friends in high school that were obsessed with the PS1 Lunar games, but nobody I knew ever had a Sega CD! I obviously didn't play Lunar until now, but I can definitely understand why people got sucked into this series no matter the entry point console.
I hope you do manage to track down a Sega CD and this game someday if it's something you're really interested in experiencing. I can definitely say this was a phenomenal game and well worth a playthrough in this form, as long as you don't mind shuffling inventory around once in a while!
That original intro song has been in my head for like 30 years. They made a dreamy peaceful one for the amazing ps1 remake but this little gem on SegaCD was my first Lunar experience and that 80’s anime jam was iconic AF. I’m trying to play Silver Star Story Complete on my iOS my only trial is the movement controls. You suffer for your faves sometimes. I love the battle system to death and sometimes they really own you if you aren’t prepared. Thanks for showing the love. And Lufia is an all time fave of mine too. They really make you love the people you’re commanding. Wait Monkey Island SegaCD???? Whaaaaat?
You have a new sub , came across your channel at random and have been enjoying your videos. Must say your audio balance for lack of a better term is perfect and crystal clear.
Oh thanks so much! I often worry the music's going to end up too loud but I'm really glad it feels just right.
@@hungrygoriya Trust me it's perfect , what also helps is that you don't speak as of you are in a rush/hurry. Looking forward to seeing more videos from you.
Lunar is hands down one of my top 3 RPGs of all time! I owned both Lunar 1 and 2 on Sega CD and Playstation.
Working Designs jokes were one of those things that were very hit or miss in everyone of their games.
Thank you for reviewing this!!
It was my pleasure! This was something I'd been wanting to play for a long time and I'm glad I finally did!
I played Popful Mail as well and found their jokes a little off-putting but they weren't as niche as they were here. I'm Canadian and a lot of these jokes are so local to the US that even I didn't get some of them living right next door! It seems so silly to me!
Great review, as always!
I'm kind of surprised how many parts of the game have held up, like the battle system.
To me, there's not much here that didn't feel fun while I was playing. The battle system was definitely simple but engaging and kept me interested to learn about new encounters.
I remember walking into a local pawn shop back in 1995 with a buddy (we were sixteen); this shop in specific as we came across used video games cheap, fairly often. We were fumbling through all of them as they were always disorganized, and came across both Lunar games -- but they were brand new and still sealed -- and listed as $20 a piece! I read about both in GamePro magazine prior, so I knew a little about them already, but both for $20 and still sealed? If I recall, they were still $50 in the store (and most likely, you wouldn't be able to find the first game). Needless to say, I bought them immediately; my buddy and I went back to my house to where our unforgettable Lunar adventures started. I love your content, so much nostalgia. You cover so many gems that many don't know existed, or had the chance to play growing up (myself included). Thank you for all that you do for this community and keep up the great work!
What a lucky find! I'm very jealous! I keep hoping I'll run across Lunar 2 on the Sega CD one of these days but I'm running out of hope at this point. I'm so glad that that little bit of good luck set you on what sounds like a wonderful journey into a series that's very near and dear to you.
And thanks so much for your kind words! It's been great getting to experience so many games for the first time and also sharing those adventures with all of you here. One of my favourite parts is chatting with people here in the comments and hearing about their memories. Thank you so much for sharing yours with me!
Never played the SEGA CD version, but I did play lunar silver star complete for PS1 and I thought it was crazy good.
I'm hoping to play that version someday. I'm glad I started with this one since the PS1 game apparently has more content!
Never got to try the original Sega CD verions of Lunar 1 & 2 but the remakes are some of my favorite games of all time! Happy to see you had a good time with this one
There were a lot of folks that dropped into my livestreams of this game with the exact same sentiment you have here. I felt it was a good idea to showcase this version of Lunar just because so many people hadn't played it for themselves!
And I loved this. It was a truly a wonderful game!
@@hungrygoriya Im glad you did, it was great to see what I missed out on. It makes me wish I could find a way to play the original 1&2! :D
This is the 2nd rpg I ever played/beat, so this series is special to me. I'm glad you appreciate the original version...not enough people have had an opportunity to play it. I know you're having a hard time finding an affordable copy of eternal blue. If I ever decide to part with it, I'll keep you in mind and give you a deal if you're interested so you can play it on stream. Thanks for your review!
The fact that a lot of people haven't seen this original version was a big motivator to make this review. I know this game's been talked about a lot, but not necessarily this version in particular. I was glad to shine some light on it!
I'd definitely be interested if you do decide to go that route! You know where to find me if that day ever comes around.
Experience points for plot advancement and exploration are the intended primary sources in old D&D, experience for slaying foes being a minor consolation prize to offset the risk/resource drain involved in combat. And because per monster experience is low, it takes a heck of a lot of fighting to advance through violence alone.
So of course videogame RPGs lost a big part of this in translation and basically invented the level grind. It's always nice to see a game bring things into alignment.
The more I hear about D&D, the more I think I'd like it. It sounds reasonable to get experience for any important things you do. I like how you put that: advancing through violence alone. That's a great point!
Another wonderful video about a mesmerizing game! Thanks for sharing this, Lunar is a great series and I hope you get to try the sequel, Eternal Blue. It's my favorite. Cheers!!
Thank you for taking the time to watch and for your kindness!
The GBA release titled Lunar Legend* is how I played this. And it was a grand experience that took me through a dreary three months in Uruguay when I was visiting family ages ago... I can't tell you how many times I abused the full heal feature. You save the game, turn off and on the console, and your party is fully healed! It was great.
Whaaaaaat... that's a great feature! I'd definitely abuse the heck out of that too!
Glad this game saw you through some slower times. From what I've seen and heard about Lunar Legends, it looks like an experience I'd like to have myself some day.
This has been on my to-play list for ages. I really need to get around to it sometime.
I hope you enjoy it when you do. It's worth moving up the list in my opinion!
I just beat this game in the past year after putting it on pause ten years prior. I enjoyed it.
@@projectmayhem6898 Oh right on! Congratulations on finally making it through!
I bought a SegaCD just for Lunar. It is still in my top 5 games ever made. I prefer the original to the Complete remake. I play it every now and then to this day. I hated what WD did to Lunar 2 with the saving needing MP and the radicle changes to monsters and such. I recently played the Translated Saturn version of complete. I will love these games for ever. The OST is still in my playlist to this day.
Good to know that there are other big Lunar fans out there. That's awesome! I only have the PS1 version of Lunar 2, and from what I understand, it's missing some of the password nonsense of the Sega CD version. I'm not sure about the monster changes, but I'm anxious to play the sequel someday in some form. How was the Saturn version?
@@hungrygoriya Password? I don't know what you mean. The Saturn version is amazing. It's basically the same as the psx version, but the FMV in it are cleaner.
I got lucky that the first time I ever ventured into playing a non Squaresoft RPG was exactly this one game -- the PS1 version -- that I still love today. An extremely positive experience.
Everything is so above average it is impressive. The battle system is unique, never saw anything equally as cool as it in any other game (aside from the sequel, Lunar Eternal Blue).
The music is memorable and also well placed as part of the plot. I recall the purpusely offtune song in the blue dragon's cave when you first visit it and later when it gets corrected after you clear the area.
The plot looks cliche only at the beginning (as you said too in the video), but it soon develops layers with some actual provoking themes (like xenophobia, discrimination and oppression). The characters are so cleverly and funnily writen, including the antagonists and other NPCs. The art with their faces in the dialogue box in the PS1 version made it even better, since there are many variant expressions for each main character (I can't imagine Lunar without them, it shocked me to know there were only one art for each character in the Sega CD version).
In fact.... this game made me such an impression at the time that me and a friend (that also played the game) tried to get every word correctly from the lyrics of the anime intro (there's one in the PS1 version and it is awesome).
Took us some time because we are not native English speakers and it was pre-internet time, but we fortunately knew enough English to understand the dialogues and fill it in.
Actually, the English translation is so high quality that I remember playing the game with an English dictionary by my side to understand some words and expressions I was not familiarized (most of german origin -- less common than their latin origin synonyms which are easier for me to guess the meaning without checking). Not that the game uses archaic vocabulary... it just had it richer than other games I was used. And I loved that!
Another thing: every NPC had not one default text when you talk to them, but two. You need to talk to them twice to learn the second part... with usually hilarious results that expand the first thing they say. I talked to every NPCs twice everytime in every town, always. Even better: as you progress the main plot and stuff in the world changes significantly, many NPCs in towns you visited earlier gained new sets of dialogue to update to the new conditions.
That kind of attention really made my pace in the game, it got me totally invested (and rewarded) in backtracking just to know what changed with those characters.
For me, that's the measure of the dedication put into this work: no need to "bribe" the player with items or powerful weapons as a reward to talk to people: I just did because I wanted more information and more story out of this world.
If you liked the Sega CD game, you would probably love to play the PS1 version. Then you could judge too which version's normal battle and boss battle music you prefer most, just as I did (they are different, hahaha).
It's really heartwarming how much you love this game and how much of an impact it had on you. And I agree with everything you've said here, especially the part about the worldbuilding through dialogue. I tried to give people as little about the story as possible in this review because it was the best part about it for me. If anyone's feeling inspired enough to play this for the first time, it'd be ideal for them to come in spoiler free and enjoy the ride.
I very much look forward to trying out the PS1 version, but especially the sequel someday. If the second game has as much care and thought put into it as the first one does, I'm sure I'll love it too. Thanks for sharing!
You are my new favorite reviewer.
Oh thanks very much :) I'm honoured!
I have not played this version yet and your praise makes me want to play it despite it's few flaws. Thanks once again for a great video :) Really enjoy these retro reviews and your insights.
If you don't mind being lost once in a while and some inventory struggle, this game's phenomenal otherwise!
I like how you review those old games like they were new games. There are a lot of technical restrictions and outdated game design paradigms that other reviewers simply gloss over when talking about those classic. You talk about the weak points in a very fair way. I like your review style.
Technically, most of the stuff I review on this channel is new to me! I haven't played a lot of modern stuff either, so it's like I'm in a bit of a time warp of sorts! Thanks so much. I'm glad you're enjoying the channel so far!
I’ve always been curious about this game, but never had a console I could play it on.
After another of your videos, I think I’ll have to go back and explore this one!
Although the inventory system sounds like something I wanted up in a cold sweat from!
I hope you enjoy it if you play! The inventory is pretty terrible but as long as you prioritize what you want to keep and get rid of all the useless stuff (most things become obsolete by late game after your magic gets better), you should be okay.
Great review! SS was a magical experience for me when I first played through at 14. New to your channel. Looking forward to more!
I had some friends in high school about that age when they experienced this game and loved it back then too. I'm just extremely late to the Lunar party!
I missed out on this game growing up as I only had a Genesis, I would get it years later as a deployment game for either the Gameboy or the PSP. I absolutely loved it then and your video dropped a huge amount of good nostalgia from it, so thank you.
It's my pleasure! Thanks for taking the time to watch! I'd love to see what they did to get this onto handhelds and maintain everything they set into motion in the original.
One of may favorites! I may or may not have skipped some high-school to play this game.... it makes me feel happy
Nice! It's been so wonderful talking with other people who love this game. Thank you for sharing!
The PS1 version is the gold standard by which i judge JRPGs to this day.
Which, btw, actually fixed a lot of the issues you had with the Sega CD version: The music is better, sound mixing is better, voice acting actually sounds like post-2000s anime dub rather than pre-2000s anime dub, and the character portraits change depending on the character's mood.
The box also came with some absolutely amazing doodads, including the soundtrack which i still listen to today. It also included a CD with behind the scenes stuff, including an interview that really set my mind in how i view remakes: Each console is a different storyteller of the same story. Mr. Sega CD and Mr. Playstation are both telling the story of Lunar. Mr. Playstation is a much better storyteller than Mr. Sega CD, but that doesn't invalidate Mr. Sega CD's value as a storyteller.
And now we can add Mr. GBA and Mr. PSP to the pile as well. Mr. GBA was not equal to the task, and Mr. PSP told a more detailed story but also changed the voices and sounded a lot older than Mr. Playstation.
...seriously, the PSP version is solid but they redid all of the voices because of the newly added content. They kept Alex's voice actor, who was age appropriate in the 90s. He sounds too old by the time of the PSP version.
I have the PS1 versions of this game and its sequel, but I don't have the GBA or PSP versions. This is a really interesting summary of some of those differences between them! Thank you for sharing!
Would agree with your points except for the music. The Sega CD version had an undeniable charm to it. The PS1 changes too many of those tracks.
I like the music arrangements on the Saturn Remake version much more than the PS1 version.
@@CRedd9830 I haven't heard all the different variations on the soundtrack. I'd love to hear what the Saturn could do though.
Not actually true about Alex’s VA. He’s voiced by Ashley Angel in both the Sega CD and PSX games but for the PSP remake he’s voiced by Yuri Lowenthal
Your Channel is a hidden gem. I really enjoy your videos.
Why thank you!
@@hungrygoriya Love and peace.
The music is amazing, but the reason it is lacking in variety is because it is redbook audio which was really expensive to pull off at the time. It was mindblowing for the era when everyone was used to hearing midi produced from the soundchip.
Too bad it was so costly at the time. It's a great soundtrack regardless!
I loved this game so much I obliterated all of the speedrun world records for it! Thanks for covering! - Nick
Hey congratulations on your achievements! I love watching speedruns but hadn't considered checking one out for this game yet.
Great review of a fantastic game, I still have the Playstation game in my collection... and the cloth map hanging in my game room!
Oh nice! Did you frame it or just pin it up? I have both Lunar games on Playstation and look forward to them some day!
@@hungrygoriya It is clipped up on the corkboard so as to not damage it.
This game was a reason I got myself my own Genesis and CD add on. I am totally jealous of your Model 1 Sega CD!
I completed this game on my Sega CD back in high school! So good.
So glad you enjoyed it too!
EXCELLENT review! I highly recommend you play the PSP version someday if you can. It fixes nearly all the problems of the original and makes for a truly magical experience! 😸
I had no idea there was a PSP version! Thanks for the info! If you can stack inventory stuff, I'll buy it in a heartbeat, haha
How's the localization on the PSP version? The GBA version is a let down for me
@@thecatlike2125
Not as good as the PS1/Saturn, not as bad as the GBA.
The Playstation version is also great, Silver Star Story.
Overwhelming majority of Lunar fans all preferred the vastly superior Sega CD Versions. The inferior PSX Remakes killed the franchise for crying out loud lol
Lunar 1 and 2 on Sega CD are like top all time childhood memories for me. And thus, pretty much they define what I like about JRPGs.
The comment about faces is interesting and I think was just a product of the time. Having portraits for dialogue was pretty damn new for the time, and Lunar 1 was one of if not the first games to even do it. The next evolution was multiple faces per character and that wouldn't come for a long time too. Likely due to memory issues.
I can see why they'd become a nice baseline for you going forward.
And that's a good point about the portraits. I played Popful Mail as well and they at least had a few different faces for each main character during conversation, and I think it came out around the same time? Either way, I liked the portraits. I just wish there was more of that!
After playing the Complete version on PSX emulator about 16 years ago I'm proud to have finally received both my Sega CD/Genesis combo and my copy of Lunar The Silver Star today. Playing in the EU the supplied RF cable isn't compatible with my CRT so I'm due a start-up til tomorrow though. I've always loved this game, even more so than the sequel, which was fantastic as well in it's own right. The music and atmospohere is just really well done and has a great identity. Storywise it's like an italian pasta where something with simple ingredients can create something wonderful when the essences completely complement each other. I only wished Alex was a bit more talkative than he is.
Thanks for the review and your personal view and have a sub!
Thanks for subscribing and for sharing your thoughts here. I was pleasantly surprised that this game met my expectations and then some. I hope you've been enjoying the game (if you've gotten into it yet... I'm a little late replying here!)
@@hungrygoriya It is a true gem of JRPG's. I was just lucky enough as a kid that I got a burned copy of Lunar 2 instead of some NBA game I thought I was buying on a flee market. That ofcourse led me to this one. I've put in a bit of time into it last week but I decided I want to mod my Sega CD first with non-volatile memory preventing loss of save data for the next 150 years.
@@Romess1 Oh wow! That's definitely a lucky coincidence then, haha... the NBA game might've been cool, but I don't think it could've been as cool as this by a long shot. Congrats on the mod as well!
@@hungrygoriya it definitely opened a world for me. Even more of a coincidence that best friend's brother also imported that game (we're from the EU) and was able to help us out in a pre-gamefaqs era (90's). I can tell you there were maybe a handful of people that played imported JRPG's at that time, it was barely even covered in the game magazines. I've seen you also reviewed Popful Mail. Have you contemplated playing more Working Designs productions like Vay or the Saturn games?
Ohh fancy new intro! Keep up the amazing vids HG!
Thanks so much! It was fun to learn a few new editing tricks for this one.
@@hungrygoriya it's a new chapter in the HG video, though I shall miss the faxanadu sounds, they will live on in our memory with slappy water theme, lunar intro, and of course, cursed Kirby soundtrack!
@@asgardga0 Oh Faxanadu will be back! Not to worry! This was a super special Sega CD intro for a super special Sega CD game!
I've only ever gone through the Silver Star Story Complete version of this game all the way through myself, but mostly it is a glow up with a few changes. I do love a lot of the spite work for the Sega CD version of the game. It's just at the cusp of where I think the number of constraints they're under with sprite size and color palette is still really impressive to me.
Working Designs definitely did a divisive job on its localizations, and my personal take is that yeah the references were pretty cringe and dated even for the era they came out in, but it also showed that localizations could have a lot of character. Games localized into english especially for the time period sometimes covered for a bland story, sometimes they took out or reduced the pop-culture references that wouldn't make sense to an english-speaking audience, and it's interesting to see what the differences are in the audience's expectations for a game's text and how that influenced how different regions of the world remember those games.
I really need to play the PS1 version someday. I'm really partial to how the Sega CD version looks but now that I've experienced that, I'd consider looking into the glam version.
There are times in my life where I really wish I understood Japanese if only to be able to play games the way they were originally intended for their audience. Something's always lost in translation, but for what it's worth here, Working Designs did create a game that made sense, was easy enough to follow, and flowed well from a conversation perspective. The outdated references can get wrecked though... I also really don't like fourth-wall breaking stuff in movies either. I roll my eyes every time. Just let me get immersed in my game world, please!
@@hungrygoriya I think it was an interview when Silver Star Story Complete was coming out that really stuck where the producer or designer or someone was saying that they don't feel that any given version is the definitive one, they just think of it like the consoles are different storytellers who largely tell the same story, but they each tell it in their own way.
A great review!
Some of your issues with the game are solved in LSSSC on the PS1
Thank you! I'm sure I'll love LSSSC when I get around to it someday!
Thank you for the recommendation I'll make sure to try it. New sub here, been watching your reviews they're great and super chill. Keep it up.
This is good to hear! Thanks for spending some time here. I appreciate it!
Greatest RPG game ever. Absolutely hooked me in my childhood. Just incredible. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was so good! I wish I'd played it as a kid, but better late than never!
Goriya, you might like Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon if you like deep RPG character interaction. Every day, the town characters either manage shops(that you can browse for unique items), or venture the town in seemingly purposed yet difficult to predict routes. Each character in the town has a relationship level with your active character that you can build on to unlock unique perks. You can even marry some of them. Not to mention the insane quantity of items,tools and weapons in the game that will have you constantly deciding to drop to allow inventory room for preferred items.
I haven't ventured into the Rune Factory specifically, but I have played regular Harvest Moon and really enjoy those games. I enjoy the idea of RPG elements in my farming/relationship sim so that's very intriguing!
@@hungrygoriya o, i meant Rune Factory 3, haven't played the prequels. i tried a couple Harvest Moon games, wasn't too impressed, and the ones i played didn't have the deep dialogue that RF3 has. seems like every day, the characters say something different.
Great review! I played this as a kid but never got far. I actually picked it back up recently and finally beat it! My only complaint is that the airship sequence was a bit of a letdown (pun intended). I was really hoping to explore the entire map. I've never even come across fan made maps of the overworld stitched together.
I honestly wondered if that airship sequence was some kind of parody on the whole open access thing that happens in so many RPGs. I wouldn't put it past these folks!
I'm surprised someone hasn't done the overworld stitching yet. There's that small map in the manual that's good for nothing but I'd also love to see the world on full display.
Congratulations on finally finishing this one!
I really loved this game when I played it so long ago... Great memories!
I'm glad you got to experience it back then. I was very late to the party, but I really enjoyed my time with it. I hope to play the sequel sometime.
This is my favorite version of Lunar Silver Star. Maybe it's because of nostalgia but the Sega CD version has its own unique charm that the other remakes don't. With Luna being your only magic caster for the first bit, you can only attack with Alex and Ramus. It might be a bit monotonous but when you get Nash, you can definitely feel how much more competent magic casters are in the world of Lunar and how naked Alex felt until he acquired his fire magic. It's a feeling that isn't replicated in the other remakes.
And they others are remakes, not ports. The PS1/Saturn version was made from the ground up and took more cues from Eternal Blue, opting to get rid of the large assortment of magic in favor of just a handful per character. GBA did likewise and the PSP version essentially being the culmination of the PS1 and GBA with a few extra bits and pieces to make it the definitive version of the 3.
Granted, that's not to say I don't love Lunar 2. It's actually my favorite of the two. But I always make it a point to recommend both titles for anyone who is looking for hidden gems of RPGs. It's a shame that the Japanese MegaDrive Mini got Lunar 1 and 2 but we here in the west didn't. If only they did, it would've been an instant Day 1 buy for me.
They definitely did a good job of making magic feel like an upgrade and incredibly valuable in this game. I'd love to see these games ported out just to make them more accessible, especially with how expensive Lunar 2 is these days on the Sega CD.
And I agree about the sadness around the Genesis Mini 2. I'm in Canada so I don't think I could've even ordered it if I wanted to, but even still, Lunar 1 and 2 might've made it worth begging a US friend to ship one to me.
Great to hear that you enjoyed Lunar so much! It really is a great game. Give the PS1 version a try somewhere down the road when you experience it again- they did a wonderful job with those remakes of both part 1 & 2.
I'm definitely excited to play the sequel and also see what the PS1 version brings to the table as well. I've heard a lot about how it fixes some of the issues I mentioned with inventory and magic-related stuff. Very interesting!
What a fun ride. I find it fascinating that you're experiencing this now for the first time. I still remember being a teenager and playing this on my friend's Sega CD. Hands down one of my favorite RPGs. Do you have a Sega Saturn and have you played Albert Odyssey? That was my other favorite Sega RPG.
I only had an NES, Genesis and Game Boy with a few games each growing up. I eventually got a PS2 and missed everything in between. I'm playing catch up constantly, but I'm loving these games for the most part!
I do have Albert Odyssey! I'm missing some of the other "big RPGs" on Saturn and Sega CD, but that is one that I do have. It was just out of the frame in that photo at the end of the video.
As an rpg-obsessed kid who never owned a Sega console, I remember gazing longingly at ads and reviews for this game in game magazines, lamenting my inability to play it and just for one second experiencing what unfortunate Sega kids (or gamers here in Australia, where I've since moved) went through on a pretty much permanent basis. By the time I discovered it had gotten a PSX release I'd grown up a fair bit and had (temporarily) put aside my love for JRPGs in favour of sex, drugs and rock n roll. I still need to pick it up and give it a go.
PS - did I see Vay in your collection? I remember seeing exactly one ad for it back in the day and I'm intensely curious about it - there's very little out there on it. Hope to see your hot take on it someday...!
I've heard similar frustrations from folks in Australia about how not much came out there. I hope they at least get to experience some of those games nowadays with the art of emulation, or more knowledge around breaking through region locks. Sorry you missed out on this one. IT was phenomenal!
Your eyes did not deceive you: Vay is there! I haven't played it yet but I hope to someday. Hopefully I'll like it enough to want to review it.
I started this on Sega and moved to the PSP and what a wonderful game. Really this game still holds up today.
I'm glad you're enjoying it! I thought it was really fun and can't wait to play the sequel someday.
I just finished playing through Eternal Blue last month and what an outstanding game! I know I went out of order and need to play this one but wow Eternal Blue was fun. It might be recency bias but I might like it more than Phantasy Star IV, Crono Trigger and Earthbound to be my favorite 16 bit RPG.
This is some very high praise! And nothing wrong with playing them out of order. Whatever makes you happy!
Eternal Blue improves on Silver Star in so many ways, it's probably the closest a JRPG studio has ever come to making a truly perfect sequel. Silver Star already stood out for exemplary character writing and Eternal Blue just doubles down on it, it's exceedingly rare for a sequel cast to be more charming than the original, but this is definitely a case where it happens. Adding on the later animated cutscenes and improved audio and voice acting in Eternal Blue Complete (psx) is an incredible experience.
I don't think I'm sold on the whole experience being better than Trigger though, the flowing ATB combat system with combo techs hits an incredible sweet spot in gameplay that you just can't match with something super basic like Lunar's combat. And the soundtrack diversity is just... well... Trigger is still one of the most remixed soundtracks in gaming history.
There's definitely different values in each. And because I've played Eternal Blue and Eternal Blue complete it kind of blurs the experiences together, the PSX versions do a lot to bring out the character charm that the Sega CD can't with less hardware power, a similar case with Silver Star but even more pronounced in Eternal Blue which does hinge on a solid voice acting performance.
@@badassoverlordzetta yeah, I know most people would completely agree Trigger is the best of the bunch and I had a bunch of fun playing it but there was just something extra for me with Eternal Blue.
Found your channel from letting youtube autorun while playing games. It was a faxanadu play through and by the laws of nostalgia I had to buy a copy. If you have not tried the nes game called "the guardian legend" it is my favorite nes game combining vertical scrolling shooter stages with a Zelda like world map exploring bits.
Keep enjoying those classic games.
Oooooo I hope you enjoy Faxanadu! I love that game very much and in about a month's time, I'll be doing my yearly playthrough. Thanks for your kindness! I'm glad you found me here!
The Guardian Legend is a fantastic game! It was very fun... I actually beat it with a friend by trading the password back and forth. The music in it is fantastic!
@@hungrygoriya as I play on 3rd party hardware I'm going to play the game with the pendent patch as isp patch files can be used on the hardward I use to play
@@grantskolos4128 Aha! Right on! I actually played with a game genie code that fixes the pendant just last year for the first time. It didn't change much, but picking up that pendant and having it do what it was supposed to was awesome!
This is another one of those games, I've wanted to play since I was a kid, but never got the chance to. I'll have to see about getting this one someday!
I hope you enjoy it when you get around to it. It was worth the wait for me!
I love this classic, and especially its PS1 remake, so much. Glad I found this channel!
Liked, subscribed, commenting for the algorithm
I would love to try the PS1 remake someday. I'm glad I started with the original though!
And thanks so much for your support with the channel. I've been very blessed with lots of new eyes on my stuff these past few videos. I appreciate it!
@Hungry Goriya
Very nice review! Really starting to understand you as a gamer, and that's not intended as an level of insult. While this may already be coming, Lunar 2 is a great sequel! Also, the Playstation remakes are something you should take a look at sometime in the future!
The more games I play, the more I'm starting to understand what's important to me in games as well. I'm always learning something new about myself playing these games!
I don't currently own a copy of Lunar 2 on Sega CD, nor do I think I'll ever at this point, with how expensive it's gotten. I do have both games on Playstation though, so I've always got that option for Eternal Blue when the time comes. Thanks for the recommendation!
Awesome review! I loved this game so much. The sequel is even better so good luck finding a copy. You also did a great review of Shining in the Darkness and I suggest you check out Shining Force, Shining Force II, and Shining Force CD (make sure you check out the correct order to play the games). Also, if you have a Saturn you should definitely play Shining Force III.
I still need to find Lunar 2 and Shining Force CD, but I have the others. I do plan to play them someday!
This and Popful Mail were my favorite Sega CD games!
Popful Mail was great too! So tough, but so good!
:) Cute game, I wish I got to play it more back in the day.
I hope you try Lunar Eternal blue as well.
Working designs translated some really cute games for cd/saturn before they fizzled out.
I hope to someday. I have the PS1 version of it but I'm not sure if/when I'll ever get my hands on a copy for the Sega CD.
Oh, wow! I never really put the connection between Pink Floyd - High Hopes and that Lunar 1 track together before. Definitely many shades of Pink Floyd (or maybe it's Genesis [the band[, my memory is not the best) in the Chrono Trigger OST but this is quite the revelation.
Looking forward to the day you stream Lunar Eternal Blue. If you liked this game then I'd say it's a certainty you will enjoy the sequel.
It is funny! I was editing and listening to some music for this review and my husband popped in and said "WAIT! Is this Pink Floyd?" and that was that. I couldn't unhear it after that, right down to the banging noises in the background!
I can't wait to play Eternal Blue someday. I'm still going to try to track down the Sega CD version for a while before jumping into the Playstation version, but either way, I'll be excited to hear more about this game's world and dive back in.
@@hungrygoriya I think tracking down the Sega CD version of Eternal Blue, difficult (and likely expensive) as it is, is a fantastic play to make.
Between the two versions of Eternal Blue, I am more a fan of the Sega CD version. The PSX version has its charms but the original EB shines as an all-time great tribute to the Sega CD since it was the last game ever made for the system.
It offers quite the glow-up over Silver Star for Sega CD. It irons out almost all the rough spots and confusion you outlined in this video and showcases what Game Arts could really do with the system after accruing development experience on Silver Star.
Here's hoping you are able to find a working copy of Sega CD Eternal Blue in good condition at a reasonable price!
Great video as always!
For Segs CD I could recommend Vay and Snatcher!
Cheers!
Snatcher is kind of an acquired taste, since a lot of people don't care for the "gameplay" of Japanese adventure games from around the time. Still, it's notable since so few games like that ever got exported to the US.
I have Vay but no Snatcher. I don't know if I'll ever own that one given how expensive it's gotten.
Oh, Lunar. I have such a complicated relationship with this game.
I've never actually played the Sega CD original that you reviewed here, largely due to the expense and difficulty to find of the hardware, and after watching a friend's brother play the PSone remake for a few hours, I eventually ended up with the Game Boy Advance... remake/demake/remaster, Lunar Legend, which is probably my favorite version of the game, despite widely considered the weakest version by fans.
And the reason for this, besides nostalgia, is because Legend is the one version that completely abandons Working Designs' script.
I feel like I've mentioned it at least once before, but I have a rather strong distaste for WD's localization efforts. I appreciate that they were some of the only people in the 90s to try to put real effort into localizing a Japanese game for western audiences, but the pop culture references, random rewrites and juvenile humor added to a game where it clearly wasn't there feels like a bad "abridged series" parody that spits all over the source material, and isn't to get into all the arbitrary game design changes they usually implemented to make the games they worked on harder, more tedious, or more reliant on their official strategy guide.
And saying all that kind of hurts, because I love Lunar, I love the characters and the story, and it hurts that the it's hard for me to recommend the game to people despite it being a game I love.
Enough sour grapes, time for my usual fun facts: while Alex is close to being a silent protagonist in the original, he actually has a lot of dialogue added in future remaster releases, which is an addition I love! They also add some more time with Luna as a party member.
Also, the aforementioned GBA port adds a special gauge that, when charged up, let's each character use their own special Super Attack. This would carry over to the PSP remake, too! A lot of games I comment on on your channel seem to have PSP remakes xD
Thank you for reading this novella of a comment, btw ;v;
You know, I really feel for you here. I can't imagine knowing and loving something so much, only to see it transformed into something that you don't entirely appreciate or love as much as the original. I didn't like all of the translation, and in fact, the juvenile humour and sexist stuff in this script actually really bugged me. I didn't want to get into that kind of discussion about it at length inside of the video itself because it's the only version I've experienced so far, but I felt that way about Popful Mail's dialogue sometimes as well. And speaking of Popful Mail, I definitely felt the difficulty uptick there, but I didn't really feel it in Lunar. I was probably very overlevelled most of the playthrough but it's still weird that any one company would want to blow up the difficulty in a game just for the sake of it. I wonder how many guides they did end up selling...
And I stayed right to the end for your fun facts! I was honestly wanting more time with Luna so it's nice to know that I can have that in some of the remake options out there. And Super Attacks? Do they cost MP? hahaha
"Translators being in touch" and "Working Designs" has never been so abused.
Yeah... I'm obviously grateful for the translation in general, but I could've gone without all the little quips and nonsense they stuffed into this script.