These past few weeks I've been replaying the remakes of the original Sega CD Lunar game! An by that I mean the remake, the remake of the remake, an finally the remake of the remake of... where was I going with all of this? Right! I just felt like talking about some differences I've noticed in each release. Trying ta determine the best one an all that. I'ma go with the order in which I've replayed 'em btw!
- Lunar Legend (2002)
Well okay this is different already just going by the title! No sign of "Silver Star" in it at all! But were people really begging for a Lunar GBA port? I dunno but I like it!
Good
• There's some interesting scenario changes mostly early on, like meeting Nash very early and saving the ship from pirates instead of a slime monster.
• Saving and reloading restores your partys HP/MP! Is that cheating? I don't care!
• The sprites/art! Looks better then the PSP game imo.
• Random battles! It's certainly not worse than seeing a monster on-screen which you cannot avoid. This greatly decreases the length of dungeons cause believe it or not you're getting into less battles then you are in the other versions! Plus there is obligatory "repel" items you can buy if ya really don't wanna fight.
• Much better inventory system!
Bad
• The translation? The dialogue can get real "wut" worthy. GBA character limits at work or just a dodgy localization in general?
• World Map gets treated like a menu now. Select where ya wanna go instead of getting ta walk there.
• Audio quality. Well its the GBA so what'd ya expect? This isn't no Golden Sun level music/sound effect quality we're getting here!
• The transition between entering/leaving places sucks! It also causes the music to pause!
• Cutscenes aren't animated but given the system its on did ya really expect 'em to be? Instead ya get some real low quality still images from the cutscenes.
???
• Why was the White Dragon Cave completely cut? And the Hag's Forest?
• What happened to Bows? They added some new weapon types sure but why cut one?
• This is much shorter than the other two versions. Because of cuts, non-animated cutscenes, and generally faster pace. Kinda tempted to list this under Good since if ya want a "Lunar Done Quick" experience this can be blown through in half a day.
• So many item/spell name changes. Why are Herbs now "Healing Gum"? Why is Heal Litany now "Heal Ave"? What does Ave mean?!
• Battle positioning doesn't matter nearly as much. It matters for whether or not how much of your party is hit by an AOE attack, but for normal physcial attacks your characters and monsters no longer run around the field so barring whiffs each sides guaranteed ta get all their hits in.
New stuffs!
• Trading Cards! Dropped from baddies, got from shops, Link Cable'd with a friend to trade 'em. There's like over 170 of these and ya know what? Its not a bad thing. They basically work like a character/monster gallery an since I like the art/sprites in this game they're nice ta look through.
• Not-Limit Breaks! Okay wait I looked in the instruction book and read these are called Arts. Great. The name may be kinda vanilla but they're generally useful as super moves tend to be. Unfortunately from what I noticed, the gauge only raises if your character does a normal attack, which late into the game pretty much equals wasted turns for Nash, Jessica, and Mia.
• Weapon types! Wands (differ from Canes how?), Hammers (which replace Maces), Claws, and Barehanded! The latter ones trade attack power for defense or an extra attack!
• Bonus dungeon! Par for the course extra for RPG remakes. Ya gotta get through an already difficult optional dungeon ta gain access to this one!
- Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (2009/2010)
Since this is the only one of the trio to get released in Europe I assume this is the version more people are familiar with. If this ones your only exposure to the series, I'm so sorry for ya ;.;
Good
• The updated soundtracks pretty great if ya ask me. That normal battle themes got some nice extra oomph to it!
• I like the lil pre-story thing with the Four Heroes. Seeing their younger selves an how they acted is nice, especially for Lemia since her personality doesn't come across so well in the main game because reasons.
• Barring Working Designs infamous jokes, the dialogue is just about word for word with the PS1 game, even them initially calling the Pao elder "him" when its a her, meaning its not a garbled mess like the GBA game.
• Arts guage now goes up if ya use magic or take damage (I think?) so later in the game Nash, Jessica, and Mia can actually use their super moves!
• The menus are a downgrade but shared inventory & stackable items is always nice.
Bad
• I don't like the redone art & sprites. I did appreciate the added touch of having a Gorgon Ghidra plush/statue in Mia's room though!
• Vocal songs. The lyrics seem stiff, like they're trying hard ta match the pacing of the music and coming across as unnatural.
• The transition between entering/leaving places sucks! It also causes the music to pause! Ya it happens in this version to.
• Battle animations of almost all varietys are real slow an drawn out.
• Movement speed feels sluggish compared to the PS1 & GBA versions.
• If a party member is poisoned/paralyzed/stoned after a battle ends ya gotta sit around watching Nall's slow butt flitter around curing them instead of those status effects just disappearing on their own. Who thought this was a good idea?
• Oh hey the World Map is treated like a menu again an somehow its worse then in the GBA version. Why? Well ya gotta watch your character walk from place to place now. An the multi-screen areas of the map get kinda confusing/jumpy to scroll through.
• Isometric view sucks cause it makes places feel small an cramped. This is supremely bad in dungeons because it makes avoiding encounters all but impossible!
• Monsters respawn when ya exit then return to a room which didn't happen in the PS1 game. This is bad because avoiding baddies as stated is nearly impossible, the transition between screens sucks as it is, dungeon rooms being much smaller now meaning more screen switching = more forced battles = halp. The culmination of all this suck is the Lyton Wind Shrine dungeon. Have fun!
???
• Why was this not fully voice acted in an era when many/most other PSP games/rpgs got the full voice acting treatment?
• Hey remember that bonus dungeon from the GBA version? Ya its not here because???
• Why're they using some of the spell names from the GBA port? Like "Riot" for instance.
• Dungeon redesigns can be good, bad, or just okay. On their own they're not necessarily bad but couple with the issues inherent with this version of the game some come across much worse then they shoulda been.
• The get monster to chase ya to break obstacle thing is gone. I dun think anyone liked that in the first place so whatevs!
New Stuffs!
• Loading clear data from the demo doesn't retain your progress but it does net ya a decent early-game weapon!
• Prequelogue? Before starting the main game ya fight the final bosses of Dyne's story!
- Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (1998/1999)
Welcome to Uncle Vic's Wild Ride in which bosses scale in level with Alex up to L50 (supposedly) and regular ol' baddies more often then not have regular attacks which can knock off half or more of any party members HP! But even so this is by far the best version!
Good
• Towns/Dungeons are pretty much fully loaded so once ya enter one you're good to go for the most part! No waiting for loading entering a home, no pause in the music, its just great! ^.^
• Towns/Dungeons are big! Not cut down into tiny lil screens!
• I feel like Jessica stays more useful regular attack-wise muuuch further into the game than in the others and her healing spell power keeps getting better instead of stalling like in the PSP game.
• Wow the shop menus are actually useful unlike in certain other versions! Ya can tell which gear is for which character an the stat improvements!
• Outtakes after the credits!
Bad
• Inventory management! Party members can only hold 6 items each, same items don't stack, an its that special kind of old school clunky shuffling items around.
• Rumble usage really coulda been less than full blast in most situations... it kinda got real distracting during story scenes.
???
• Random Working Designs humor! You're either okay with it or not.
• This is the only one in which Alex's sprite doesn't get the Dragonmaster hat in or out of battle. Kinda weird.
New Stuffs!
Lotsa stuff maybe? Been forevers since I even saw the Sega CD original!
In terms of game length here's how long they each took me this time around. Didn't go for all the secrets or excessive grinding btw.
Lunar GBA: 12:17:33
Lunar PSP: 21:33:40
Lunar PS1: 24:56:52
Special Mentions!
- Lunar: Silver Star Story Touch (2012)
Does this even count as a remake? From what I've read its a straight up port of the PS1 game except it uses the PSP games soundtrack and voice acting.Apparently its also no longer available for purchase soooo its kinda a non-thing now. Guess it's back now or never left at all? Could be a viable way ta play it for peeps that like gaming on their phones.
- Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (1999/2000)
The only remake of the sequel! Why? It was to good an they just knew they couldn't outdo themselves. Or maybe its not as beloved? idk. Its a much better game overall than the original, as sequels usually are!
- Lunar Legend (2002)
Well okay this is different already just going by the title! No sign of "Silver Star" in it at all! But were people really begging for a Lunar GBA port? I dunno but I like it!
Good
• There's some interesting scenario changes mostly early on, like meeting Nash very early and saving the ship from pirates instead of a slime monster.
• Saving and reloading restores your partys HP/MP! Is that cheating? I don't care!
• The sprites/art! Looks better then the PSP game imo.
• Random battles! It's certainly not worse than seeing a monster on-screen which you cannot avoid. This greatly decreases the length of dungeons cause believe it or not you're getting into less battles then you are in the other versions! Plus there is obligatory "repel" items you can buy if ya really don't wanna fight.
• Much better inventory system!
Bad
• The translation? The dialogue can get real "wut" worthy. GBA character limits at work or just a dodgy localization in general?
• World Map gets treated like a menu now. Select where ya wanna go instead of getting ta walk there.
• Audio quality. Well its the GBA so what'd ya expect? This isn't no Golden Sun level music/sound effect quality we're getting here!
• The transition between entering/leaving places sucks! It also causes the music to pause!
• Cutscenes aren't animated but given the system its on did ya really expect 'em to be? Instead ya get some real low quality still images from the cutscenes.
???
• Why was the White Dragon Cave completely cut? And the Hag's Forest?
• What happened to Bows? They added some new weapon types sure but why cut one?
• This is much shorter than the other two versions. Because of cuts, non-animated cutscenes, and generally faster pace. Kinda tempted to list this under Good since if ya want a "Lunar Done Quick" experience this can be blown through in half a day.
• So many item/spell name changes. Why are Herbs now "Healing Gum"? Why is Heal Litany now "Heal Ave"? What does Ave mean?!
• Battle positioning doesn't matter nearly as much. It matters for whether or not how much of your party is hit by an AOE attack, but for normal physcial attacks your characters and monsters no longer run around the field so barring whiffs each sides guaranteed ta get all their hits in.
New stuffs!
• Trading Cards! Dropped from baddies, got from shops, Link Cable'd with a friend to trade 'em. There's like over 170 of these and ya know what? Its not a bad thing. They basically work like a character/monster gallery an since I like the art/sprites in this game they're nice ta look through.
• Not-Limit Breaks! Okay wait I looked in the instruction book and read these are called Arts. Great. The name may be kinda vanilla but they're generally useful as super moves tend to be. Unfortunately from what I noticed, the gauge only raises if your character does a normal attack, which late into the game pretty much equals wasted turns for Nash, Jessica, and Mia.
• Weapon types! Wands (differ from Canes how?), Hammers (which replace Maces), Claws, and Barehanded! The latter ones trade attack power for defense or an extra attack!
• Bonus dungeon! Par for the course extra for RPG remakes. Ya gotta get through an already difficult optional dungeon ta gain access to this one!
- Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (2009/2010)
Since this is the only one of the trio to get released in Europe I assume this is the version more people are familiar with. If this ones your only exposure to the series, I'm so sorry for ya ;.;
Good
• The updated soundtracks pretty great if ya ask me. That normal battle themes got some nice extra oomph to it!
• I like the lil pre-story thing with the Four Heroes. Seeing their younger selves an how they acted is nice, especially for Lemia since her personality doesn't come across so well in the main game because reasons.
• Barring Working Designs infamous jokes, the dialogue is just about word for word with the PS1 game, even them initially calling the Pao elder "him" when its a her, meaning its not a garbled mess like the GBA game.
• Arts guage now goes up if ya use magic or take damage (I think?) so later in the game Nash, Jessica, and Mia can actually use their super moves!
• The menus are a downgrade but shared inventory & stackable items is always nice.
Bad
• I don't like the redone art & sprites. I did appreciate the added touch of having a Gorgon Ghidra plush/statue in Mia's room though!
• Vocal songs. The lyrics seem stiff, like they're trying hard ta match the pacing of the music and coming across as unnatural.
• The transition between entering/leaving places sucks! It also causes the music to pause! Ya it happens in this version to.
• Battle animations of almost all varietys are real slow an drawn out.
• Movement speed feels sluggish compared to the PS1 & GBA versions.
• If a party member is poisoned/paralyzed/stoned after a battle ends ya gotta sit around watching Nall's slow butt flitter around curing them instead of those status effects just disappearing on their own. Who thought this was a good idea?
• Oh hey the World Map is treated like a menu again an somehow its worse then in the GBA version. Why? Well ya gotta watch your character walk from place to place now. An the multi-screen areas of the map get kinda confusing/jumpy to scroll through.
• Isometric view sucks cause it makes places feel small an cramped. This is supremely bad in dungeons because it makes avoiding encounters all but impossible!
• Monsters respawn when ya exit then return to a room which didn't happen in the PS1 game. This is bad because avoiding baddies as stated is nearly impossible, the transition between screens sucks as it is, dungeon rooms being much smaller now meaning more screen switching = more forced battles = halp. The culmination of all this suck is the Lyton Wind Shrine dungeon. Have fun!
???
• Why was this not fully voice acted in an era when many/most other PSP games/rpgs got the full voice acting treatment?
• Hey remember that bonus dungeon from the GBA version? Ya its not here because???
• Why're they using some of the spell names from the GBA port? Like "Riot" for instance.
• Dungeon redesigns can be good, bad, or just okay. On their own they're not necessarily bad but couple with the issues inherent with this version of the game some come across much worse then they shoulda been.
• The get monster to chase ya to break obstacle thing is gone. I dun think anyone liked that in the first place so whatevs!
New Stuffs!
• Loading clear data from the demo doesn't retain your progress but it does net ya a decent early-game weapon!
• Prequelogue? Before starting the main game ya fight the final bosses of Dyne's story!
- Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete (1998/1999)
Welcome to Uncle Vic's Wild Ride in which bosses scale in level with Alex up to L50 (supposedly) and regular ol' baddies more often then not have regular attacks which can knock off half or more of any party members HP! But even so this is by far the best version!
Good
• Towns/Dungeons are pretty much fully loaded so once ya enter one you're good to go for the most part! No waiting for loading entering a home, no pause in the music, its just great! ^.^
• Towns/Dungeons are big! Not cut down into tiny lil screens!
• I feel like Jessica stays more useful regular attack-wise muuuch further into the game than in the others and her healing spell power keeps getting better instead of stalling like in the PSP game.
• Wow the shop menus are actually useful unlike in certain other versions! Ya can tell which gear is for which character an the stat improvements!
• Outtakes after the credits!
Bad
• Inventory management! Party members can only hold 6 items each, same items don't stack, an its that special kind of old school clunky shuffling items around.
• Rumble usage really coulda been less than full blast in most situations... it kinda got real distracting during story scenes.
???
• Random Working Designs humor! You're either okay with it or not.
• This is the only one in which Alex's sprite doesn't get the Dragonmaster hat in or out of battle. Kinda weird.
New Stuffs!
Lotsa stuff maybe? Been forevers since I even saw the Sega CD original!
In terms of game length here's how long they each took me this time around. Didn't go for all the secrets or excessive grinding btw.
Lunar GBA: 12:17:33
Lunar PSP: 21:33:40
Lunar PS1: 24:56:52
Special Mentions!
- Lunar: Silver Star Story Touch (2012)
Does this even count as a remake? From what I've read its a straight up port of the PS1 game except it uses the PSP games soundtrack and voice acting.
- Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete (1999/2000)
The only remake of the sequel! Why? It was to good an they just knew they couldn't outdo themselves. Or maybe its not as beloved? idk. Its a much better game overall than the original, as sequels usually are!
