
	Platform SNES Genre Role-Playing Developer Taito Publisher Taito Released 1993
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Lufia

and the Fortress of Doom

As one generation of consoles approaches its end and another generation begins, people wonder what kind of gaming era will come next. RPGs have certainly come a long way from when they first started as text-based adventures. In fact, the RPGs created during the SNES generation could be considered the stepping stones to the RPG era that Final Fantasy VII brought about. Games such as Square’s famous Final Fantasy series, Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire are just a few of the great RPGs that were released. Some games, however, have not faired so well against the test of time and have been looked over because of it. Lufia and the Fortress of Doom was Taito's entry into the RPG scene, and was one of the few RPGs to make it over to America at the time. Lufia received a lot of praise and was considered a rival to the Final Fantasy series by its fans.

The year was 1993, and the Japanese gaming industry was fresh off of its fifth installment of the Final Fantasy series. There was also talk of the first Breath of Fire game to be released within the year. Up until then, Squaresoft and Enix had created most of the RPGs for Nintendo and there had only been a handful of other developers attempting to create RPGs. Taito, famous for the Bubble Bobble game for the NES (Famicom in Japan) among others, stepped up to the plate with Estpolis which was released in the summer of 1993. Estpolis met with much success in Japan and was released in America during the holiday season of that same year, only the name was changed to Lufia and the Fortress of Doom. The game gained so much popularity that Taito even considered making a port to the Megadrive, better known as the Sega Genesis in America, but cancelled any plans for reasons unknown.

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The game begins on a dark day, when a large floating island with a huge castle in the center emerged from the clouds. This castle was where the Sinistrals resided as they planned to take over the world. Then, the four strongest warriors: Maxim, Selan, Artea and Guy went to the floating island in hopes of defeating the Sinistrals and stopping

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their evil plans. After an epic battle, the warriors emerge victorious, vanquishing the Sinistrals. However, all is not well as the castle begins to collapse. A bridge collapses, separating Artea and Guy from Maxim and Selan by a deep chasm. Regretfully, Artea and Guy teleport out of the castle as Maxim and Selan are left in the castle as it falls back to the earth. Ninety years passed by peacefully, but the story actually takes place ninety-nine years after the fight between the heroes and the Sinistrals, where we find a red-haired hero in his hometown. However, the hero quickly becomes involved in a struggle against the new Sinistrals. Can the hero come out victorious in the battle against evil, or will he fall against the new-found evil bent on world domination? Only you can decide our hero’s fate in Lufia and the Fortress of Doom.

Compared to other games of its time, Lufia is a pretty solid RPG. Lufia and the Fortress of Doom’s graphics look much better than a majority of the RPGs to grace the SNES earlier on, such as Final Fantasy IV. The story of Lufia is very solid, if a bit clichéd with the idea of young warriors fighting against a great evil bent on trying to take over the world. One of the coolest gameplay features in Lufia is that, in the prologue, you take control of the heroes who fight the Sinistrals ninety-nine years before the game takes place. The music is very well done, and for a change of pace, uses the MIDI song type for the musical score. As for its difficulty, Lufia is difficult enough where it might take a couple tries to beat a boss, but not difficult to the point of frustration. The game is pretty straight forward, so there are no frustrating and obscene “where do I go next?” rants while playing the game.

However, as with all games, there is a downside which might turn away some potential gamers. For one, when compared to games that came out the same year as Lufia, the graphics are less appealing. Also, the battle system in Lufia feels tacked on and just doesn’t seem to flow with the game. The battle system is placed on top of the map you are on, and considering what Square had done with the battle system of the Final Fantasy series, Taito could have tried to integrate their battle system a little better. The length of the game clocks in at about 15 hours, providing there is no farming for XP, and for a RPG, it is relatively short.

All in all, Lufia is a good attempt at an RPG in an era where Square and Enix dominated the genre. RPG buffs will enjoy this game for its clichéd story and the fact that it is one of a few RPGs to make it over to the SNES in America. Lufia can only be found in classic video game stores and on eBay, and the price can range anywhere from 15 to 25 dollars. Taito did release a sequel for the SNES called Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals, which is a prequel to the first game and deals with the heroes in the prologue of the first game and their quest to defeat the original Sinistrals. Lufia 2 is considered better than the original, but it is recommended that you play the first one so you understand a bit more of the story. Even if you don’t buy it, if you know someone who has this game, you should try this game, and experience for yourself one of the few non-Square and non-Enix games in the pre-Playstation era.

Marc Phillips

(July 5, 2006)

Above: Box Art for the Japanese Super Famicom version of Lufia, called Estpolis.