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The PlayStation 1 era marked a golden age for Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs), showcasing monumental titles like Final Fantasy VII, which achieved sales exceeding 15 million copies. Alongside this, franchises such as Namco’s Tales of and Konami’s Suikoden emerged as significant players on the scene. In the midst of this renaissance, Game Arts’ Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete debuted, earning widespread critical praise.
Lunar: Silver Star Story originally launched on the Sega Saturn but truly thrived upon its PlayStation 1 release, becoming the second top-selling RPG on the console in 1999. It wasn’t merely a commercial hit; it was a trailblazing game that instantly established itself as a top-tier JRPG, earning a perfect score from many.
The legacy of the Lunar series began well before the PS1’s time. The series made its debut on the Sega CD in 1992 under the title Lunar: The Silver Star. From its inception, it was evident that Lunar was striving to innovate beyond the conventional confines of typical JRPGs.
Lunar: Silver Star Story Debuted Before The PS1
GameArts’ Lunar series got its start before the PS1 was even a thing. Originally, the title was released for the Sega CD back in 1992 as Lunar: The Silver Star. From the beginning, it was clear Lunar was trying to be something different than the average JRPG.
At the time, most JRPGs were trying to take after Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, but Lunar went in a different direction. Since it was launching on CD and had plenty of extra memory to work with, Game Arts and Studio Alex designed Lunar: The Silver Star to feature not just anime cutscenes as full motion video, but with ample amounts of voice acting.
Combine that with artist Toshiyuki Kubooka’s character designs, and the result was a title that felt like it was a playable anime. The game told the story of Alex, a young boy from the town of Burg who just wanted to grow up to be like his idol, Dragonmaster Dyne, who had protected the world and the Goddess Athena from evil wizards in the past.
Though barely in his teens, Alex sets out on a journey to meet the legendary White Dragon. With the help of his allies Luna, Ramus, and Nall, Alex’s journey results in him being chosen to take on the trials to become a Dragonmaster. What seems like a fun adventure at first, though, turns serious when some of the threats of the last generation resurface once again.
Still, it wasn’t until the title was updated in a remake that it really began to shine. Game Arts sought to remake the title and took advantage of the more powerful hardware of the 32-bit era to do so. With the new hardware, they aimed for higher-quality animation and made some changes to the game’s story.
The PS1 remake of Lunar also vastly increased the amount of anime cutscenes by relying on Studio Gonzo, which was already well-known for creating some high-quality anime series. With all those improvements and more, Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete was born, launching on both the Sega Saturn and PS1 in 1997.
Lunar Is The Greatest Fantasy JRPG Of All Time
Every part of Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete comes together to make a masterpiece of a game. What starts as a straightforward adventure quickly spirals out of control, as Alex loses his best friend Luna and suddenly has to work not only to get her back but also to continue his journey to become the Dragonmaster.
Every time the player thinks they understand the story, they’re thrown yet another twist to keep things fresh and keep them invested in the narrative. At the same time, Lunar has some of the best companions in JRPGs.
Whether it’s the over-confident Nash, the soft-spoken Nia, or the outlandish priestess Jessica, Game Arts manages to create a cast that makes an impression on the player almost instantly. Better yet, in the game’s remake, Game Arts went out of their way to improve on the character writing, making all of them feel more well-rounded and making them all more notable.
Speaking of characters, there’s one more element Lunar has over most JRPGs. While most of them are just about a character’s quest to save the world, Lunar offers something more with its story: romance. While the mention of romance in most games these days inspires thoughts of all the BioWare games, Lunar tells a true love story.
There’s no potential for harem or multiple people vying for the lead’s affection here. Alex and Luna’s quest to reconnect with each other is a beautiful story about two young kids deeply in love with each other. By the end of The Silver Star Story, it really feels like a love for the ages, and all without the game beating the player over the head with it.
If the game has any weakness, it’s that some of its areas and levels can feel rather common to anyone who’s played a ton of JRPGs. There’s a city in the skies, a swamp level, and a handful of other places that are bound to be familiar to the JRPG hardcore. That said, Lunar predates many games that made those elements feel played out.
More importantly, Lunar’s anime art style makes everything feel fresh. It’s hard to feel like the settings aren’t up to the standard of other 10/10 JRPGs when they all look like they came from the golden era of animation.
Lunar Is A JRPG That Works In Every Era
Image via Game Arts
Lunar: Silver Star Story does have a sequel, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, but it didn’t spawn a major franchise the way PS1 JRPGs like Persona did. That said, the game’s story feels complete, and while there’s potential for more tales, like the complete story of Dragonmaster Dyne and the other Four Heroes, it doesn’t feel like anything’s missing.
Due to a falling out between Game Arts and Studio Alex, Lunar 3 may never happen, but Lunar: Silver Star Story has endured in spite of that. It’s seen multiple ports and remasters over the years, and in 2002, Ubisoft brought Lunar Legend to the Game Boy Advance, offering a different version of the classic game.
While Lunar Legend received mixed reviews and wasn’t on par with the PS1 version, the game eventually received a proper remake in 2009, when Lunar: Silver Star Harmony was released on the PSP.
Due to the limitations of the Game Boy Advance, Lunar Legend had to pare back the original game, but Silver Star Harmony was able to expand on it, adding more voice acting, remixed music, and a new prologue that told the last part of the Four Heroes’ story to save the Goddess Althena.
Most recently, GungHo Online Entertainment released Lunar Remastered Collection, porting both the PS1 classic version of the game and its sequel to modern consoles and PC. Including new graphics and music, Lunar Remastered Collection received strong reviews and impressive sales, even selling out of physical copies.
Despite being decades old, Lunar’s ability to get ported to so many different consoles in different eras is a reminder that great games never get old, and fans should absolutely make it a point to check the game out now that it’s available on every major console.
