Lunar Remastered Collection

Genre: Compilation / Turn-Based JRPG

Players: 1

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Review:

When the CD media format was invented, videogame creators knew it had amazing potential for the genre, but as with any new leap in technology, they weren’t quite sure how to best use that technology. Some imagined using it for interactive encyclopedias where encyclopedia entries could have video and audio files. Some pictured using it for interactive videos like the Dragon’s Lair series. Some merely enhanced existing games with higher-quality sound… at the expense of the massive loading times introduced by the CD format. And then you had some experimental games like Night Trap that… were not successful.

However, one use of this new technology that would continue on through to this very day was the use of this technology for fully animated and voiced “cutscenes” that would enhance a game’s storytelling. One of the first games to truly pursue this use of the technology was Lunar: The Silver Star, released on Sega CD in 1993 in the US, and its sequel Lunar: Eternal Blue, released on the Sega CD in 1995, with both games becoming some of the most beloved releases on that ill-fated platform.

Both games have received remakes over the years, with The Silver Star receiving three remakes. However, the most noteworthy of these would surely be Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete, originally released on Sega Saturn in Japan in 1996 but eventually brought to the West in a PlayStation release in 1998, and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete, coming to the West in a PlayStation release in 2000. These re-releases completely reworked the games’ visuals, updated some game mechanics, expanded greatly on the cutscenes with far more than were in the original games, made use of new voicework, and redid the soundtrack, including replacing the original game’s opening theme with an entirely new one.

There was some split in the audience when it came to these re-releases – some who had played the original games didn’t care for some of the changes that were made, and complained that the jokey tone of the new localization with references to pop culture stuff like Austin Powers and M&M ads would surely date the games. Other players complained that the quaint 2D visuals couldn’t compare to the polygonal 3D graphics of other RPGs releasing at that time like the Final Fantasy series. However, for the most part I think players were delighted with the Lunar games, and saw them as a polished version of two true classic JRPGs.

Zoom ahead to today, and the Lunar series has generally been left by the wayside. The last truly new game in the series was 2005’s Lunar: Dragon Song on Nintendo DS, and beyond a 2009 remake of the first game on PlayStation Portable, we have seen nothing since for this series. However, now in 2025 we’re finally seeing Lunar Remastered Collection releasing on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, ideally giving us a definitive version of this game and perhaps a starting point for future entries? Well, we’ll see…

The Lunar Remastered Collection uses the PlayStation “Complete” remakes as its source, for better or worse. This means that these releases use those games’ cutscenes and game mechanics, and mostly use that localization. Sorry, fans of the Sega CD release, you won’t be able to “Take heeeeeeed” in this remaster. But I suppose Austin Powers fans can relax – those dated references are apparently still here.

That’s not to say that there haven’t been changes made to this release. All of the English voices have been re-recorded (though the Japanese dub remains untouched from the original), and I have to say it’s a mixed bag. I like the new Alex from Lunar 1 and the new Hiro, Ruby, and Lucia from Lunar 2, but I’m not so keen on the new Nall and Luna from Lunar 1.

The vocal songs have all been re-recorded too, and I’m similarly mixed on these. They’re still great songs, but there’s something about the earnestness of the original versions that I prefer over the more performative vocals in the remastered release. To give you an idea what I mean, here are the remastered versions of Lunar 1’s Wings and Wind’s Nocturne, and here are the original versions.

Players are given the choice of both the remastered and original versions of the game to play, but playing the original versions still presents you with the re-recorded dialogue and music. The only difference when choosing the original version or remastered is the visuals – the original preserves the original resolution and aspect ratio, as well as the graphical quality that was present in the PlayStation versions, with a border around the edges to account for the different screen size. Meanwhile, the remastered release gives players upscaled visuals that remain faithful to the art style of the PlayStation games, as well as upscaled and remastered cutscenes that look much, much cleaner.

There are a few tweaks to the gameplay as well. The increased difficulty of the Western release of Lunar: The Silver Star Story Complete is removed, bringing it back to the original Japanese difficulty. There’s an option to play with updated inventory management that doesn’t force you to manually shuffle around inventory from one character to another and instead has them all pulling from a pooled inventory like in most modern RPGs. There’s also an option to speed up battles, which is much-appreciated.

That said, there are some areas where it feels like this remaster is too faithful to the original games, and might have benefitted from a bit more modernization. The character progression and combat is extremely old-fashioned and simple, and it isn’t going to thrill most modern players. And despite that the Nintendo Switch doesn’t use a disc-based format, the loading times here are still pretty atrocious at times.

That said, one thing that has aged extraordinarily well is the story, characters, and overall aesthetic of the games. To be fair, these are fairly simple and straightforward stories of heroes fighting over-the-top villains and rescuing kidnapped damsels, and I know that not everyone will appreciate that. But I think these being games from an era where that hadn’t become cliche and problematic absolves them for this, and they overall still have an earnest charm that is so often lacking in modern games.

Is Lunar Remastered Collection a definitive release of these two RPG classics? I’m sorry to say, no. The lack of the PlayStation English dubs and music, and the lack of the inclusion of content from the original Sega CD release (not to mention other features and content from more recent remakes) means that this is once again a release of the two Lunar games that not everyone will agree on. Plus, this release generally plays it safe with the games’ dated gameplay. However, while it’s not a perfect remaster, this is still an absolutely fine way to play these two RPG gems from a bygone era, and if you’ve never played them, now is the perfect time to give them a try.

tl;dr – Lunar Remastered Collection contains remastered releases of the PlayStation versions of two Turn-Based JRPG classics, Lunar: The Silver Star Story and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue. These releases contain updates and changes with some good and some bad, but mostly these are faithful to the PlayStation releases. And while the original games have aged poorly in some ways (like the simple gameplay), in other ways they’re as delightful as ever (such as the story and characters). If you’ve never played these wonderful classic RPGs, or are looking to get them on a modern platform, this is an overall good remaster.

Grade: B

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