The Lunar saga is what you would consider to be a classic RPG, a very linear, story driven game; one where people in the towns all tell you the same thing almost every time you talk to them. The characters of Lunar give this game its unique charm and flavor. As with all great RPGs, the story in Lunar doesn’t just focus on only one character, but rather a group of characters and the supporting cast, all which are used together to tell an enriching and rewarding story.

The story of Lunar begins in a small rural town, named Burg. This is where we find our young hero, Alex, gazing at the memorial for the world’s last Dragonmaster, Dyne. Alex’s dreams are to become a Dragonmaster and to go on countless adventures like Dyne, and to protect his loved ones from the darkness of evil. Alex’s closest friends from his hometown of Burg, also share his enthusiasm for adventure. Ramus, one of Alex’s best friends and the son of the mayor in Burg, has dreams of fame and riches, dreams that he believes can only be accomplished by adventuring outside of the small rural community of Burg. Nall is Alex’s pet and friend, who is in reality a baby dragon that just looks like a flying cat. He serves more as the comic relief during the game. This leaves us with Luna, adopted by Alex’s parents fifteen years ago, who is known for her remarkable singing prowess. Luna and Alex have been extremely close for the last fifteen years, and appear to be falling in love with each other. The small group from Burg has their dreams of adventure answered when a young, and brash magician by the name of Nash comes to the small and quiet town. Nash came to Burg in search of the White Dragon shrine, a shrine where supposedly a White Dragon still resides. Asking the town members if they were able to help him on his quest to find the shrine, everyone was in agreement that Alex was the only person in Burg who had enough intimate knowledge of Dyne and Dragonmasters to be able to help guide Nash to the Shrine. Alex accepted this duty, and with the help of his three best friends, they begin their adventure. The GBA version of Lunar is definitely a simplified version of the games found on the Sega CD system and the PlayStation. The battle system is simplistic, where you select attack, magic, or item and sit back and watch how the battle plays out. One of the new features in the GBA version of Lunar is the Arts Gage skill; this is a special ability specific for each the six characters. As you battle in Lunar, you have a Arts Gage bar that goes up during combat, when it becomes full you can unleash an devastating attack, or heal the members of your party, depending on which character you are using. Overall the combat system works quite well on the GBA version, however, old veterans of the Lunar RPGs of past will by turned off by the GBA version’s less strategic, more simplistic system. Other than the original battle system being stripped down, the animated cut scenes from the first Lunar are also mostly replaced with in-game characters. Something, which I felt actually tremendously helped the story come to life on the GBA; of course the occasional still frames from the original Lunar games are also used as well.

By and large, Lunar Legend is a must buy for RPG fans and people who have not played any of the Lunar games before. With a good number of hours of gameplay and a wonderful, deep, and vibrant story to follow, Lunar is well worth the purchase. For people that have played the original games and love the storyline, this is your chance to be able to enjoy this classic anywhere, anytime. However, if you were a fan of the series because of the deep battle system, I venture to say you might wind up disappointed with the GBA version of Lunar.