The Sega Genesis was a little lacking in the RPG department when compared to the Super Nintendo. The latter had all of the third party developers known for this genre on their side. It was mostly left to Sega to make up the difference. This is why they created the Phantasy Star series. Then came the subject of this review; Shining Force. Strategy RPGs were just gaining their ground, and although it failed to set the sales charts on fire in Japan it was successful on a worldwide level. I didn’t have a chance to play this classic until the Sega Smash Pack was released. I was however such a big fan that I had to get a copy of the original cartridge. Today we’re going to take a look fresh off a new replay. This is Shining Force!
The story in Shining Force centers around a silent hero. There’s also an ancient dark dragon. That part is important because our journey begins as dark forces are striving to revive him to doom the world. It’s up to you, and the other members of the Shining Force to prevent that from happening. The story begins as a few skirmishes between armies, but eventually unfolds to hold the fate of the world in the balance. Unfortunately the narrative is not handled extremely well here. Dramatic sequences are laughably short, insignificant, and downright bad a times. It’s clear that the developers focused their efforts into gameplay. Such little effort was put into the story sequences you would almost think this was an 8-bit release. If you want an epic quest with an in depth scenario and charming characters then Shining Force isn’t going to fit the bill.
Shining Force is a mix of traditional RPG mechanics with the strategy elements. Standard gameplay has you traveling from place to place via a world map. This includes town areas wherein you purchase equipment/supplies and interact with NPCs and battlefields. Battles are entirely staged in that they occur in specific areas and points within the scenario. This can be either on the world map or within various locations contained within it. These skirmishes happen on large battlefields that are divided into grids. The action is purely turn based for both you and the enemy characters. Each party member (on both sides) can move a specific number of grids in their turn. This is based off of the terrain as well as their own capabilities. Placement is the key to strategy here.
What makes this game so interesting is the different types of characters that join the force. You have your basic knights and foot soldiers to begin with. You’ll also gain archers, winged knights, mages, clerics, etc. Many join as the story progresses, but others are hidden and you must seek them out or meet specific requirements to unlock them. What’s also interesting is the fact that, even characters of the same class, differ in stats. Ken and Mae are both centaurs, but the latter has significantly more defense and attack power. They are both useful in different respects. As you progress in the adventure you’ll unlock a base wherein you can switch units both in and out of play. Some of the characters that join are amazing, and others downright awful. There are those as well who have unique abilities or movement. The amount of strategy here is staggering.
Many members of the Shining Force belong to the same class but some are entirely unique in mechanics. I’m specifically talking about Domingo, a flying squid mage, who is incredibly useful and different from the others. Then there’s Bleu, a weak baby dragon, who eventually grows into the single most powerful character in the game. You also have the knight Kokichi who uses machinery to fly and is the only one among his rank that can void terrain. Once a character reaches level ten they can be promoted to a more powerful class (but are reverted back to level one). Not everyone can be promoted, but most of them are able to. Thirty characters are recruit-able in this game (the best ones are hidden), and you can only use twelve at once which makes party customization extremely addictive and rewarding.
The RPG elements are what push this game ahead of most other of its kind. Your characters can equip multiple types of weapons which are found in treasure chests or are purchased from stores. These include swords, lances, spears, bows and arrows, etc. Unlike in Fire Emblem your weapons do not break and can be used infinitely. With basic melee weapons you can only hit enemies that are in an adjacent grid. You are however given several ranged options as well. Bows can strike opponents from one grid away, and spears function the same. This depends a lot on which weapon you have equipped. There are times you will want to rely on a less powerful tool because it allows for ranged strikes. Again, the choice is up to you and there’s no wrong answer. It depends entirely on which tactics you choose to rely upon.
Then there are magic users. Mages rely almost entirely on their magic to battle foes,. Depending on the spell these too cane be ranged attacks. As the spells gain levels so do their attack power and range. Some even target more than one foe at a time. The same goes for healing magic. The aura spell in particular affects all friendly units in its range. It’s a pretty interesting mechanic for sure. You will find this leads you to put your magic users (both offensive and healing) to be just behind the front lines, but still in danger often. Part of the strategy is in including these weaker characters in battle (so that they gain experience points) but protecting them at the same time. Foes always target the members of the force with less hit points and defense. You can use this to your advantage however with luring them out.
Shining Force is a little rough graphically. Background elements that should be animated (water, fire) are static. It’s worth pointing out that many RPGs on the NES were more advanced than this. The tiles usually lack detail and some are filled with solid colors. The characters on the other hand are drawn with a little more care. The only impressive visual aspect of this game are the attack sequences. These take place on a separate screen that displays both your character and the enemy. Large sprites and simple animations do a lot of heavy lifting. The soundtrack is a little on the boring side. The overworld theme is drab and slow paced, as are the various town themes and even battle music. It’s all very low energy and a little uninspired. It’s nice however that promoted units have a different attack theme.
