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Platform: Nintendo
DS
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Lunar:
Dragon Song
Way
back in the days of the Sega Genesis, and SNES a game called Lunar came
out for the Sega CD. It
looked like a very cool game that could mop the floor with a lot of its
cartridge-based counterparts; it was just too bad that the game came on a
platform that was so expensive many who actually wanted the game would
never be able to afford it. Despite
the series making its debut on a prohibitively expensive peripheral, it
has somehow managed to keep on trucking, slowly bringing in more and
more fans over time. Now, the latest in the Lunar series is making its way onto a
refreshingly affordable system, the Nintendo DS, with Lunar: Dragon
Song.
Taking
place 1,000 years before the first game in the Lunar series, the world
of Lunar is in a happy place under the watchful eye of the planet’s
creator, and deity of choice, Althena.
However, this little piece of paradise is being threatened by a
malicious horde of demons gathering to lay waste to Lunar, and have
their way with the planet. Of
course, that sort of crap just doesn’t jive with the current status
quo in Lunar, so it’s up to a young chap named Jian, along with the
help of his chums, to figure out just what these demons’ beef with Althena is,
and find a way to stop them.
With Dragon Song, Game Arts are adding a number of features that haven’t been tried before in the Lunar series. First, there is the use of a Battle Card System, which allows players to collect various cards throughout the course of the game, each allowing character |
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stats to be modified differently. Players will also have to do their fair share of evildoer proselytizing, as they try to convert the demons of the game into beings of Light. Through the DS’s wireless LAN connection, players will also be able to trade rare and unique items with one another. One of the more interesting features being included to take advantage of the unique abilities of the Nintendo DS is voice command support in the game. Instead of simply choosing from commands on a menu in battles, one can simply bark their orders through the DS’ microphone. |
Advertisement
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While
the backwards compatibility of the DS has helped ensure that a large
number of older Gameboy RPGs have been available on the handheld since its
launch, there have been no new, original titles to speak of in the genre
since that time. Hopefully
Lunar: Dragon Song will do an admirable job of filling that void when it
hits the streets.
(August 23, 2005)
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