LUNAR Remastered Collection Review: Two Classic RPGs Shine as One!?

Where does one even begin with the LUNAR games? The mere mention of them conjures memories in classic RPG lovers of dragon masters, magic and mysticism, beautiful ballads, cute characters, and, of course, love and relationships. For many, Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue are more than just games—they're an essential part of childhood. Conversely, for those who weren’t around for the original 1992 and 1994 releases, that magic may be lost on them. It’s not that these games were ever perfect; rather, they existed during a time when imaginations ran wild, fantasy was king, and we weren’t constantly looking down at our smartphones every two minutes because a notification popped up that a friend from over 20 years ago is getting married or the world is coming to an end. If you were there, you would get it. If you weren’t, then you might have visited these releases later in life and wondered what the fuss was all about. 

I’d be remiss not to mention this series’ revitalization attempt later in the ’90s—Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and Eternal Blue, respectively. Initially released for the Sega Saturn in 1996, the complete versions that MOST of you watching are probably more familiar with are the North American ports by Working Designs, the same company responsible for bringing the original games to the West. These versions went all out with beautiful physical packaging and collectibles, reworked visuals, new cutscenes, an improved story and cast, and other gameplay refinements. I stand by the fact that these are two of the greatest remakes of all time in terms of the sheer amount of effort and heart that went into them. 

Since that time, on the back of strong sales, even more revamps to these classic games have taken place. The last attempt at bringing Silver Star Story to a new audience was a 2010 release on the PSP called Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, which was well received by critics and audiences alike. This was a pretty late addition to the PlayStation Portable library, but it’s certainly more fondly remembered than Lunar: Dragon Song, a poorly made and critically panned DS release that would mark the last original release in the Lunar franchise. The game bombed, more or less marking the end for new Lunar games despite years of rumors circulating around a proper Lunar 3, which never came to be.

Ultimately, Working Designs shut down in 2005, a company that I can’t thank enough for bringing so many obscure Japanese role-playing games to the States that otherwise may have never made it. The company’s struggles to get approval on many PS2 games were the final nail in their coffin. Without the charming translations and the amount of love they poured into the Lunar series, it would never quite be the same in the States.

Or will it? Lunar is back—well, the old games are back again anyway—as today we are reviewing LUNAR Remastered Collection, further touched-up versions of Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue based on the PlayStation versions of the complete editions. But after playing these remasters, is there a hole within my soul? Or will two brilliantly shine as one? Let’s find out in our full review!

LUNAR Remastered Collection brings together both Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue into one convenient package. While the late ’90s complete editions of these games were celebrated for their beautiful, elaborate box art and packed-in trinkets, this version greets you with a new song from original composer Noriyuki Iwadare—a track that beautifully marries the two games. A physical version of this release will also be made available, and while I don’t have it in my hands, it appears rather barebones compared to my massive complete edition boxes, which I somehow still own.

While the initial wave of nostalgia hit me in the feels, just as it will you upon booting the game, my disappointment soon set in at just how featureless the main menu is. For games with such passionate fans and deep, storied histories, there is no celebration of that here. Players can choose between which game they want to play—either remastered in widescreen or preserved in their original formats—select a language, and that’s about it. You won’t find any galleries, developer interviews, artwork, zippo. This does feel a bit odd, not only because the Lunar games deserve to have their story told and shared, but because other more recent remasters have done it so much better. Take Croc for example, a wonderfully put together package full of artwork, music, video interviews, and more.

With the Lunar Remastered Collection, you’ll find no such effort, which is a bit disappointing.

Regardless, it’s hard to be overly upset when players are still ultimately getting two of the greatest RPGs created in a single collection, especially when considering that tracking down the original complete editions at a reasonable price is easier said than done. At a price of $49.99 in North America, you’ll be getting both of these games mostly as you remember them. I say mostly because there are some differences, but we’ll get into those in a moment.

Lunar: Silver Star Story tells the story of Alex, who dreams of being just like the hero he idolizes, Dragonmaster Dyne. Accompanied by his closest friends, Ramus, Luna, and the cat-like creature Nall, Alex becomes entrenched in a quest to travel the world and seek out the legendary dragons on his journey to becoming the next great dragonmaster himself. It’s a story full of heart and charm—a classic coming-of-age tale that still speaks to me all these years later. The relationship between Alex and Luna, in particular, has always resonated with me. It’s a game full of strong characters, lighthearted moments, and carries a powerful message throughout. The original translation mostly seemed intact here, though oddly, the text display is slightly altered from the PS1 version and, in my opinion, not quite as pleasing to look at. A minor complaint, mind you. 

What isn’t preserved are the original voice performances, now completely redone with mixed results. Most of the deliveries fit the tone of the game quite well, yet the nostalgic part of my brain struggled to let go of the past. Putting nostalgia aside, I’d still lean towards preferring the original takes on the characters, but the voices presented here could have been much worse and ultimately don’t detract from the experience very much at all. The voice actress for Luna, in particular, gives a valiant effort to recapture the glory of the ’90s in renditions of classic moments such as the boat song.

Eternal Blue gets a similar treatment, but I always considered it to have the more mature story between the two games, for better or worse. Taking place 1,000 years after the events of Silver Star, you control the curious adventurer Hiro, who ends up falling head over heels in love with Lucia, a traveler from the Blue Star on a quest to defeat the evil Zophar. Both stories follow similar themes, and while my heart always leans toward a preference for Silver Star, Eternal Blue still hits it out of the park with an endearing world and cast of characters.

Because picking between these two games is as difficult as choosing between my love for cats or dogs, let’s just call it what it is and say both of these games are classics. If I were reviewing them back when they were released, they would both be golden genie lamp recipients. Thus, this review is based on the quality of the remastering itself, as difficult as it is to put my reverence for the series aside.

In this regard, LUNAR Remastered Collection gets a lot right while also taking plenty of shortcuts. I already mentioned the lack of celebration for the series' history, but the widescreen support is also not exactly perfect. It’s commendable that a game not designed for widescreen support can be converted at all, but this conversion also leads to some blemishes. The visuals blown up to such a degree can look a bit fugly in spots, which, hey, fair—I was playing on a 77-inch screen—but the point stands: I generally preferred playing in the classic setting, which preserves the original format. There’s also no in-game toggle at the time of this review, meaning that I had to quit out of my game, trudge through the main menu, reset which version I wanted to play, and boot back in just for the changes to take shape.

This was cumbersome and feels nearly inexcusable in a modern-day remaster. Hopefully, a toggle will be patched in by the time you’re playing this to make switching between modern and classic more accessible. Now, with all of that said, the widescreen feature did scale better on my Steam Deck, where the game performed without issue during my brief testing. 

Let’s not dwell on the negative, though, as there are positive changes here too—my favorite being the option to speed up battles. Fans of the Lunar series know that the games' classic turn-based combat system, as fun and addicting as it can be, was often painfully slow. Here, you have three different speed options that, once used, are hard to shy away from. This makes leveling up a breeze and will suit those of you who are in this for a nostalgia run, myself included. Auto-battle is your friend as you mow down enemies quickly, taking out much of the tedium of the original releases.

I should touch on that combat too, as I am sure at least a few of you watching this video have never played either Lunar game before. It’s a traditional turn-based affair in both games, with your usual mix of spell-casting, item usage, and defending to be done. Characters can be pre-positioned, adding a bit of strategy, and there are also pre-defined formations and tactics for further ease of use. As a sucker for turn-based combat, I love the battles presented in both games. Though admittedly, even with some refinements, these battles are very much products of their time, with a basic leveling system implemented for growing stronger. I’d say overall that the combat refinements added to this edition of the game are welcome ones that enhance the experience for modern audiences. 

Town and dungeon exploration, however, remain the same as ever, with the game full of personable characters to interact with, weapons to purchase and equip, and a sprawling overworld map. This is still very much the games we know and love, warts and all. You’ll sometimes be confused about where you should go next or who you should talk to, you’ll hit difficulty spikes seemingly out of nowhere, and even speeding through battles, you’ll probably reach your threshold of how many encounters you can take before you’re tired of it all. As I told you, the Lunar games were never perfect, and that remains true today.

While the soundtrack remains as beautiful as ever across both games, players now have the option of using different languages. This means that if you aren’t a fan of the English voice acting, you’ll be able to toggle to Japanese. There’s even support for French and German languages, which is wonderful. Lunar’s compositions are legendary, with epic battle themes, soothing town melodies, and, oh yes, full-on vocal tracks such as the classic boat song! Regardless of how you feel about the new English voice performances, options are always a good thing.

Visually, while, as I mentioned, the widescreen feature could make things a little too pixelated in spots, the character portrait art, world map, and battles all still present as wonderfully as ever. New to this version are remastered cutscenes—though I use that term loosely, as it mostly looks like the old cutscenes were quickly run through an upscaler. The effect works, as the video presents cleaner, but almost too clean to the point of losing some of its charm. But overall, these charming-looking classics still look great all these years later. I didn’t encounter any major performance issues or bugs, and I was able to enjoy the game at up to 4K resolution.

If you love the Lunar games, then, well, let’s be honest—you were buying this collection regardless of what I tell you in this video. And look, it’s hard to argue with two stone-cold classics being packaged together at one low price. The actual remastering of these games isn’t drastic, and there’s a disappointing lack of respect paid to the series' roots, with no video documentaries or extras, but this is still ultimately Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue. Playing through those games again on modern platforms will be more than enough for most people out there. While this remaster doesn’t shine as brilliantly as I had hoped, the Lunar games still touch on that innocent youth in all of us.

GOOD