You can pick this up on the Genesis, Dreamcast Virtual Console or the (recommended) Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection 360/PS3 for around $20.00.

So, here’s a sleeper many of you may have never played, created by Hiroyuki Takahasi who went on to design such games as Golden sun and 3 other titles in the Shining series, the second in the Shining series and my personal favorite, Shining Force released for the Genesis/Mega Drive in 1992 in Japan and 1993 state side. And while yes there have been several other games in the Shining series spanning many different consoles, Shining Force was at the time only the second game I had played in the franchise. And it soon and forever was my favorite. Like many great RPG’s it was turned based, but it offered what I believe was a far more challenging take on the genre, with a grid style move system (similar to that in a game I’m certain many of you have played Final Fantasy Tactics), where you are allowed a set number of spaces one of your many characters could traverse. The game was strategically difficult all be it breakable with character grinding and the use of the Angle Wing. And unforgivingly hard if you decided to play through without them.

As the game begins with the main character Max under the watchful eye of his mentor and master, who soon sends young Max off to defend the land of Rune from the armies of Runefaust and their leaders Kane and Darksol, who hope to awaken the Dark Dragon from his 1000 year slumber. As the story progresses, you meet new characters who ultimately join your team and become the Shining Force. The secondary characters run the gamut from Wizards, Archers, Knights and Healers, to the more obscure like a Werewolf exile, a Ninja on a path of vengeance and even a Samurai lost in time. The story offers little in the way of originality and the only real twist is midway through the game you find out Kane Is your brother, which ultimately plays no real role in the way the story unfolds. The NPC’s do a good enough job of filling in the blanks about the history of Rune and where they will likely end up when the conflict is resolved. So, the narrative isn’t anything to write home about, but for 1992 it more than served its purpose and for the time had a level of depth rarely seen in games.

Gameplay: If you don’t like strategy RPG’s, there is a very good chance you won’t like this game. That said, if you have even the slightest interest in strategy RPGs. I’d say give this game a shot, because it is easily one of the better ones in the genre. The controls are as responsive as any RPG can be. The menus are straight forward and easy to navigate, the only drawback being weapon and armor select screens don’t give you a proper read out of your equipable items. Beyond that, the game has an in depth battle system that will leave you with a real sense of accomplishment upon completion of the games many battles, boss fights and 13 or so chapters. Much of what makes this game great is that no two encounters are the same and how you go about completing it is souly dependent the team you choose to build. And losing a battle is rarely an issue of being cheated by the game itself. Each character has two promotions he or she can be given to make them stronger, as well as armor, swords, knifes, axes, bows, staffs, a lance or accessories to give your team that often needed edge to take out your competition.

Audio: The sound effects do as good a job as any 16-bit console could have done, with the clanks and clashes of swords to the beeps and boops of what was to be dialog. The soundtrack is pretty good too, from the battle theme on the field to the many songs that accompany the various towns you visit. By the early 90’s standard, they were great and lent a lot to the atmosphere of the game.

Shining Force OST

Graphics: It’s a 16-bit Genesis game so it’s hard to say it was anything that amazing and certainly not the caliber of a Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI or Mario RPG. However it lent well enough to the story and is still nice to look back on today. It was about 1/3 of the way through the Genesis life cycle when released, so they were still learning what could and couldn’t be done on the hardware and a good indicator of were that generation of console was going. So, or a game released in 1992, it looked great and could hold its own when compared to the graphically superior SNES.

Replay Value: Unfortunately, not much. As was the case with many RPGs of it’s time, once you’d beaten the game there wasn’t much to do. After you beat the final boss the game offered no back tracking of any kind, it was either start a new game or turn it off. In a game released today that would be completely unacceptable, but in the early 90’s it happened alot and for games not in the platformer or sports genre it was expected. That said, the game offers a great 15 to 20 hour experience and back in the day that was a rarity.

Overall: If you’ve been reading up until this point you probably noticed I used the word great more than a couple of time and that I really like this game. So, it should come as no real surprise that I’d recommend this game to most anyone that likes RPG games. It’s extremely fun, difficult and was one of my favorite games growing up as a kid. This game harkens back to a simpler time when gameplay was key to delivering a stiller gaming experience. And is definitely worth a second glance and playthrough 20 years later.

The Shining Force series is seriously what got me into tactical RPG games. I loved every single one of them, particularily Shining Force CD.

Yet another great retro review. You're a pretty good writer.

That's my boy. Now go read my PM. lol

Lol PK.

I would suggest that when you write a review, do not break it down into parts like that. Just let it flow.

Lol PK.

I would suggest that when you write a review, do not break it down into parts like that. Just let it flow.

Yea, that's kind of what Kevin was saying. I'm just getting into a bit of a groove until I can write something a bit more palatable for Gamercide.

Check your PM's and we can all go over stuff with you!

I'd also be more than happy to assist you if you have any questions on format or style. Also, if it would make you feel more comfortable you don't have to publish it right away and I'd be more than happy to check out your rough draft copy.

Looking forward to reading more of your stuff dude.