Lunar series
Encyclopedia
Game Arts
is a Japanese video game software developer located in Tokyo, Japan. Originally established in 1985 as a computer software company, they have since expanded their enterprise to produce for a number of game console and handheld systems...
and published in the United States by Working Designs
Working Designs
Working Designs was an American video game publisher that specialized in the localization of Japanese console role-playing games, strategy video games and top-down shooters for various video game platforms. Though the company had published many 'cult hits', it was known best to fans as the...
, and later, Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
and Xseed Games
XSEED Games
XSEED redirects here. For the proposed supertall structure see X-Seed 4000.Xseed Games is a video game publisher and distributor founded by former members of Square Enix USA. Their goal is to bring high-quality interactive entertainment to the North American market...
, are a series of console RPGs. The original releases of The Silver Star and Eternal Blue, for Mega CD/Sega CD, were later remade for the Sega Saturn
Sega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
with considerable story, graphical, and musical changes; these remakes were later ported to the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
. The first game was also ported to the Microsoft Windows computer platform in Japan and Korea, and was later remade for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
. A side-story game, Lunar: Walking School for the Game Gear, was also remade for the Sega Saturn but has seen no North America release in any form. Backed by publisher Ubisoft, Game Arts created a new Lunar installment for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
, released in September 2005 in North America.
The Lunar series is noted for its high level of NPC
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
interaction, well composed music, and excellent characterization of the main protagonists. Much of the flavor of the English language versions of Lunar series games (the sense of humor, bubbly character voices, etc.) is thanks to the colorful translation job done by Working Designs
Working Designs
Working Designs was an American video game publisher that specialized in the localization of Japanese console role-playing games, strategy video games and top-down shooters for various video game platforms. Though the company had published many 'cult hits', it was known best to fans as the...
.
Overview
The Lunar stories take place on an inhabitable moon called Lunar, or "The Silver Star" that orbits an Earth-like planet known as "The Blue Star". Thousands of years ago, the Blue Star was infected with evil by a dark god named Zophar. His evil corrupted the hearts of people, turning some into monsters to do his bidding. The survivors cried out to the patron deity of the Blue Star, a goddess named Althena, for help. She confronted Zophar in an epic battle, and was only able to stop him by using her powers of creation to seal him in another dimension, destroying nearly all life on the planet in the process.Unable to restore the planet until several millennia had passed, Althena instead chose to transform the planet's moon into an Earthlike world, and transported the survivors there. These included not only humans but also a race of "beast-men", and another race of elf-like beings skilled in wielding magic. They would later come to be known as "The Vile Tribe" after they rejected Althena's teachings. She was forced to banish them to an area of Lunar called "The Frontier," a barren wasteland where even Althena's magical power could not reach. They became enemies of Althena and her followers for thousands of years.
To protect Lunar, Althena created four intelligent Dragons - a white one, a red one, a blue one, and a black one - that each shared a part of her divine power. There are only four Dragons at any given time, though they are replaced over time with younger ones. Strangely, during their infancy, these dragons resemble talking, winged cats, until they claim the power of their predecessor and ascend to adulthood. The Dragons spend most of their time sleeping underground until they are needed.
Althena also decreed that there would be a champion called The Dragonmaster to lead Lunar's heroes; this person would be anyone who managed to make their way to the hidden lairs of the Four Dragons, and pass their harrowing trials. There have been many Dragonmasters across the centuries, and many on Lunar have strived to achieve that title.
The people of Lunar became very devoted to Althena, though many remember Lunar's origins as only an old legend. The various Lunar games and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
cover different events in Lunar's history.
Lunar: The Silver Star
Released in Japan in June 1992 and later in North America the following year in December 1993, Lunar: The Silver Star was Game ArtsGame Arts
is a Japanese video game software developer located in Tokyo, Japan. Originally established in 1985 as a computer software company, they have since expanded their enterprise to produce for a number of game console and handheld systems...
' first true console RPG
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
. Utilizing the Mega CD's graphic capabilities, the game made use of animated cutscenes placed at specific points in the story. This would later become a trademark of the series.
This is the first game to tell the story of Alex, a boy who longs to become a Dragonmaster, servant of the Goddess Althena, and champion of justice.
Lunar: Eternal Blue
Game Arts' second game in the series was also released for the Mega CD in Japan in December 1994 and the Sega CD in North America in September 1995. This game saw improvements in both graphics and sound, as well as being a much longer game. Taking place 1,000 years after Lunar: The Silver Star, it told the story of Hiro, an adventurer who gets caught up in a quest to save the world from an ancient evil known as Zophar.Lunar: Walking School
This game was only released in Japan for the SegaSega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
Game Gear in March 1995. Though it deviates from the play style of the first two games (mostly due to the limitations of the Game Gear hardware), it takes place in the same world, and even though it was released after Lunar: The Silver Star, it takes places hundreds of years before it. In this game, the hero is a girl named Ellie who must solve the mystery of a magic school while stopping the resurrection of a great evil presence known only as "D".
Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Lunar: Silver Star Story was initially released for the Sega SaturnSega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
in Japan in October 1996. An enhancement of Lunar: Silver Star Story, now entitled Lunar: Silver Star Story -Complete- was released for the Sega Saturn in Japan in July 1997 and later ported to the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
in both Japan (May 1998) and North America (May 1999). This version benefited from having improved animated scenes, but also had new music composed by Two Five. The American release was renowned for its elaborate packaging, which included two bonus disks: a "Making of Lunar" disk and the soundtrack for the game. Also included was a cloth map of the Lunar world and a hard back manual with an excerpt from the official guide book. A North American release was planned for the Saturn version, but was scrapped due to controversy between Working Designs and Sega, and the Saturn's failing support in the US market. It was later followed by a PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
port
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
in both Japan (1998) and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
(1999).
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
Just as the original Lunar benefited from being remade on a new console, so did Lunar 2. Originally released for the Sega SaturnSega Saturn
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console that was first released by Sega on November 22, 1994 in Japan, May 11, 1995 in North America, and July 8, 1995 in Europe...
in July 1998 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
(still under the original title, Lunar: Eternal Blue), as well as a PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
port in Japan in the summer of 1999 and America in December 2000, Eternal Blue had its graphics, sound, and animation revamped. The American version was given gracious special packaging courtesy of Working Designs
Working Designs
Working Designs was an American video game publisher that specialized in the localization of Japanese console role-playing games, strategy video games and top-down shooters for various video game platforms. Though the company had published many 'cult hits', it was known best to fans as the...
which included two bonus disks: a "Making of Lunar 2" disk and the soundtrack for the game. Also included was a hard-back manual with an excerpt from the official guide book and an Omake box containing a map of the Lunar 2 world, character mini-standees, and a full-size replica of Lucia's pendant in a cloth pouch.
Magic School Lunar!
A remake of Lunar: Walking School released solely for the Sega Saturn in Japan in October 1997. Once again, the graphics and sound were upgraded, and the battle sequences were made to resemble the rest of the series. New animated scenes were also added where there had previously been none.Lunar Legend
A re-telling of the story of the first Lunar for the Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
released in April 2001 in Japan and in North America the following December. It was the first game to not be published by Working Designs, and was instead handled by Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
, which would explain its unique translation. Though many elements of Silver Star Story Complete are present, it adds new plot points while getting rid of others.
Lunar Genesis
Known as Lunar: Dragon Song when it was released in North America, Lunar Genesis is the first original Lunar game in nearly a decade. It also has the distinction of being the very first traditional role-playing game for the Nintendo DSNintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
. The story takes place 1,000 years before Lunar: The Silver Star, making it the earliest game in the series chronologically. It tells the story of a courier named Jian who is pulled into an adventure where he must save the people of Lunar from being overrun by the Vile Tribe, as well as helping to ease tensions between humans and beastmen.
Lunar 3
Since the release of the enhanced remakes of Lunar: Silver Star Story and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, rumors have come and gone concerning the development of a game known only as Lunar 3. In a 1998 interview, Victor Ireland, president of Working Designs, stated that Lunar 3 was "in development" and scheduled for release (at least in the U.S.) for PlayStation 2PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
. However, several delays later, no such game was ever revealed by Game Arts or Entertainment Software Publishing
Entertainment Software Publishing
Entertainment Software Publishing , or ESP, is a computer game publisher. It was created in 1997, primarily as a support company for the developer studios that made up GD-NET...
, the Japanese publisher of the series. It has been speculated that an English version Magic School Lunar! would be called "Lunar 3", but this has been proven false as well.
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony was announced in the May 15 issue of Weekly Famitsu magazine. According to 1up.com, the game is being developed by Game Arts and distributed by Gung Ho Works. The game was released in the U.S. on March 2, 2010 for the PSP. The game is another enhanced remake of Lunar: The Silver Star.Other media
The Lunar series has spawned a variety of other works in the setting, including a mangaManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series as well as novelizations of The Silver Star, Magic School Lunar! and Eternal Blue.