A few years ago, GameArts released the RPG, Lunar: Eternal Blue, for the Sega CD. It received critical acclaim, but was not very financially successful due to the fact that it was released for a dying system. Now, GameArts has released an enhanced version of Lunar: Eternal Blue for the Sega Saturn, and though it probably won't receive the economic success it deserves due to the fact that the Saturn, like the Sega CD, is a dying system, it should receive as much praise as the Sega CD original. Lunar: Eternal Blue is a superb game.

The elements that made the original so beloved have remained relatively unchanged in the enhanced version. The excellent plot and character development of the original have returned with few changes - a couple extra minor scenes; nothing major like the Lunar: Silver Star Story remake - and they are as wonderful as they were when the game was first released. The fantastic soundtrack of the original has gotten a few new songs and some remixes and benefits greatly from the Saturn's improved (compared to the Sega CD) sound capabilities. Lunar: Eternal Blue is one of the few games where I find myself pausing the action just so I can focus on the music; the musicians at Two-Five should be commended for a stunning job.

The elements that were lacking in the original Sega CD version have been fixed. The "good for Genesis, bad for anything else" graphics of the original have been redone, and although the new graphics are not going to set any new standards, they are nothing to be ashamed of either. The battle backgrounds and numerous character portraits are definitely the highpoints of the game's graphics. The game's FMV has also received a major upgrade and is some of the best anime style FMV I've ever seen, although it does suffer from blurriness at times. Possibly the best thing about the FMV is the fact that GameArts had hidden a movie viewer in the game for the best players to find (a feature that was woefully absent in the Sega CD version).

The gameplay of Lunar: Eternal Blue has been drastically changed for the better as well. The random encounters have been replaced with enemies that can be seen before they attack (ala Grandia), a welcome change. The magic system has received numerous changes and works better than the original. Battles are more strategic than before with a heavy emphasis on finding the enemies' weak points. Some new ideas have been added to the game such as dungeons that influence the power of different types of magic and medals that can be equipped and combined to give players additional abilities, increased stats, and new spells. Menus are simpler, control is tighter, and loading times are shorter. All in all, the gameplay, which was only decent in the original, is now excellent.

Lunar: Eternal Blue does have its share of problems but they are relatively minor. The volume level between gameplay and story sequences seems to be noticeably different making it difficult to hear dialogue unless you manually adjust the volume. The game takes up a good chunk of memory (about half of the Saturn's internal storage space) since it allocates memory for all three save spots regardless of how many you actually use. And the game didn't have as much FMV as the Sega CD version did (many short sequences were removed).

No game is perfect, but Lunar: Eternal Blue is much closer to perfection than most games. Lunar: Eternal Blue is highly recommended to all RPG fans who enjoy dramatic stories, memorable characters, beautiful music, and intelligent gameplay. An English translation is fairly probable (for the PSX anyway) so hopefully US gamers will have the experience to experience this RPG classic.

Robert Boyd