The Lunar Debate

[Demonic Weasel]

In an attempt to get a little more discussion going here and in a further attempt to talk about RPG's, yes I know that I'm shameless, I thought that I'd hear opinions on the two Lunar games. Which one is better and why. I've beaten TSS and I'm working on EB these days. I know that EB is generally considered better, but I was just hoping for a few thought out opinions here.

[Joe Redifer]

I beat the Silver Star back when it was released. I thought it was pretty good. Nowhere near as fun as Ys 1 and 2 on the TurboGrafx in my opinion, especially in regard to the diluted soundtrack. I also liked all of the Phantasy Stars much, MUCH better. Then Eternal Blue came out and the graphics looked much worse, much more "tiled" and "patterned" so I didn't buy it. I rented it. No CD music at all. Then there was some sort of "pay-to-save" BS that then-dumbass Victor Ireland thought we'd enjoy. We didn't. Eternal Blue also seems to want to take up nearly ALL of my internal save memory. Why? What is it saving that takes up so much space? I did not care for Eternal Blue, but if I saw it complete and in good shape in a thrift store for $5, I'd pick it up.

[David J.]

I have the PSX versions in decent condition and in the future I am going to sell them. Maybe this summer I will.

[MegaDrive20XX]

Lunar Silver Star all the way, it was just utterly brilliant upon release and really pushed the Sega CD to the limit.

EB on the other hand, just really focused on the challenge imho. The enemies were a tad harder and put up a better fight. Lunar Silver Star, I felt you could raise levels easier compared to EB.

Yet the PSX remakes are gorgeous, nothing can really escape my mind then voice acting in that game was vastly improved compared to the cornball SCD classic. (Yet that's the charm it had back then)

I never never EVER get sick of hearing Quark the White Dragon talk...it's like hearing Yoda or Obi-Wan giving you advice...

http://puresquare.com/Lunar/Character%20Art/quark.gif

Look at that pic...I mean come on, how many games have a talking Dragon these days that are trying to help you and not attack you? It does not make sense! Now look at the monkey!

[Joe Redifer]

Lunar Silver Star all the way, it was just utterly brilliant upon release and really pushed the Sega CD to the limit.
How so? It seemed pretty bare-bones to me. It had some weak scaling when you started the game, but beyond that it wasn't anything that couldn't have been done on the TurboGrafx-16 CD.

[MegaDrive20XX]

How so? It seemed pretty bare-bones to me. It had some weak scaling when you started the game, but beyond that it wasn't anything that couldn't have been done on the TurboGrafx-16 CD.

True, heck anything is possible on a TG16CD, that puppy could haul ass.

I just felt it did, because Sega CD had the power to do these kind of things and our US Market abused that terribly. When a majority of early Sega CD games were nothing but FMV clips that were unbearable to watch by today's standards. Lunar came and pretty much said "Forget that, let's do our own thing" and did an amazing job to let people know that using sprites and fully rich CD soundtrack is not a bad idea after all.

Regardless of the scaling, it still looks good compared to most Sega CD games at that time being.

And when I say "Limit" I meant more like, possibilities of what the Sega CD could do. Just like it took Capcom to really bring out Final Fight to it's true form and Sega to make Sonic CD the best damn thing in Sonic history! :)

[Joe Redifer]

I agree that it was the US who abused the Sega CD the most with the FMV crap, but it was also the US that produced, by leaps and bounds, the best scaling out of the system. Batman Returns was phenomenal. Amazing. The Adventures of Batman and Robin looked really good and even Cliffhanger had its moments. Over in Japan the scaling was pretty rare. Taito did it with Night Striker but ended up using a resolution of 128x112, making everything look super blocky and pixely. I want a Sega-16 interview with the guy who wrote the Batman Returns engine, and I want to submit some of the questions!

[j_factor]

Some of the best scaling out of Sega CD was produced in the UK... the best scaling is arguably Soul Star, by Core Design.

[JAMMAPARTS]

Some of the best scaling out of Sega CD was produced in the UK... the best scaling is arguably Soul Star, by Core Design.

And don't forget Battlecorps...also by Core Design. I was just playing this game the other day and noticing how great the scaling (and the whole game really) was.

[Joe Redifer]

Soul Star was great and Battlecorps was OK (it only took up a 5th of the screen), but Batman Returns' scaling was better and quicker. Soul Star slowed down quite a bit. Either way Japan was dead last in the scaling race. It's usually the other way around. What the hell?

[MegaDrive20XX]

I agree that it was the US who abused the Sega CD the most with the FMV crap, but it was also the US that produced, by leaps and bounds, the best scaling out of the system. Batman Returns was phenomenal. Amazing. The Adventures of Batman and Robin looked really good and even Cliffhanger had its moments. Over in Japan the scaling was pretty rare. Taito did it with Night Striker but ended up using a resolution of 128x112, making everything look super blocky and pixely. I want a Sega-16 interview with the guy who wrote the Batman Returns engine, and I want to submit some of the questions!


I do agree on the Adventures of Batman and Robin, simply because the video quality was actually damn good during the cut scenes.

[Melf]

And don't forget Battlecorps...also by Core Design. I was just playing this game the other day and noticing how great the scaling (and the whole game really) was.

Heh, I just won a complete copy on eBay for a penny!


$8 shipping though. Lol!

[David J.]

Battlecorps is a great game.