The US version of Lunar the Silver Star Story has had quite a history of being delayed and moved around. After originally being announced by Working Designs for a release on the US Saturn. However, after countless delays, the Saturn version of Lunar was cancelled in the US and the game was to be released for Playstation where it was delayed multiple times and pushed back more than 6 months. After all of the waiting how does the final version of Lunar SSS stack up?

After having played the Sega CD version of Lunar: The Silver Star, I had VERY high expectations for the remake (as Lunar TSS is one of my all time favorite games) and it did indeed meet my expectations. Since I never extensively played any of the import versions of SSS (I borrowed the original Non MPEG version from a friend of mine several years ago but I didn't even get to Meribia) I wasn't really sure what all the changes to the game were. To my surprise, much less was changed in terms of storyline then I had been led to believe. The main strength of the original version of Lunar: The Silver Star over other RPGs was the great character development and intriguing plot, and the same quality character development and fantastic story was carried over in the remake.

Now on to the actual game itself the graphics are much sharper than the original Lunar: The Silver Star and are some of the sharpest 2D graphics on the Playstation. However, the main draw of Lunar's graphics is the fantastic anime cut scenes that are sprinkled throughout the game. The quality of the animation is absolutely incredible and the hard work and effort of the designers really shows. My only complaint about the animation is that it is not full screen. From what I have been told, the reason the animation in the US Playstation version of Lunar SSS is ¾ screen rather then full screen is because the movies could run at a higher frame rate at ¾ screen. Though I understand this decision I still prefer the full screen video like that seen in the Making of Lunar video which comes with the package.

The music in Lunar SSS is very good and it captures the feel of the game. While the music may not be as good as that of the Sega CD version of Lunar (due to lack of space on the disc and legal reasons which prevented some of the original tracks from being used) it still fits the game very nicely. Some of the music from the Sega CD version of Lunar TSS is back, but most of the music you will hear in the game is new to SSS. For those people like me who loved the original Lunar music, there are quite a few tracks on the Lunar music disc that comes in the package. I liked the music in the game and it really did fit the mood of the scenes.

While I am sure people will argue with me, I though Working Designs did a good job on the dubbing. All of the voices fit the characters and were well acted. I have heard a lot of complaints about Working Designs' dub jobs over the years and I really don't agree with them. Lunar has a great dub job and it is much better than a lot of other games on the market today. This is easily the best I have heard since Metal Gear Solid.

The game play has been changed quite a bit since the Sega CD version of Lunar. There are no longer random encounters nor are there battles in the overworld. All of the enemies are now in the dungeons and you can see and attempt to avoid them. One complaint I have about this is that you can not be touching an enemy and still be dragged into an encounter. This adds a certain level of frustration to an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable game. I still think that this system of being drawn into battles is far superior to the random encounters of most console RPGs.

As for the battles they are pretty standard. There isn't really a whole lot to go into about the battle system of Lunar, it is just the standard console RPG turn based battles.

The dungeons (when I say dungeons that means places where there are enemies) have also been redesigned from the original game and some new dungeons have been added while others were deleted. It seems to me that the dungeons in SSS are a little bit smaller than the ones in the original. There are also ways to use the enemies in the dungeon to open inaccessible areas and create shortcuts.

While the story in Lunar the Silver Star Story may sound like that of many other games, this isn't really the case. Lunar has excellent plot twists and great characters that kept me engaged in for hours on end. The story is about a boy named Alex who looks up to his hero, Dragonmaster Dyne. Alex would someday like to be an adventurer like his hero Dyne, and he and his friends Ramus and Luna go off to a cave that is believed to contain a Dragon. The story takes a little while to take off but once it does it really draws you in. All of the characters have their own personalities and, as I have mentioned before, the text translation is excellent. The dialogue is superbly written and is easily Working Designs' best translation yet (there are not too many jokes for all of the people who don't like Working Designs pop-culture references).

Now on to the extras the U.S. package. Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete comes with a cardboard box that has a diecut picture of Alex and folds out. The instruction manual is hardbound, is in full color, has descriptions of all the important characters, a small portion of the official Lunar Strategy guide, and several interviews with some of the games' creators. The game also comes with a Lunar music CD that has music from both the Playstation and Sega CD versions, as well as a small cloth map of the Lunar world. And finally my favorite extra is the Making of Lunar disc. The disc has interviews with people from Studio Alex, Two Five, Game Arts and, of course, Working Designs. It gives you a lot of insight on what went into making the game.

Overall, Lunar is a must have game for any Playstation owner. It is my favorite RPG for the system and I'm sure other people will agree with me. While the wait for Lunar has been long it has been well worth it.