Lost Classics: Lufia 2 (SNES)

In 1993, Taito published a Neverland-developed RPG known as Lufia and the Fortress of Doom. It told the story of a group of heroes and their battle against a group of demon-gods known as the Sinistrals. The game was noted as being an RPG game for beginners. While It wasn’t a terrible game by any means of the imagination, it didn’t do a whole lot to set itself apart from other RPGS of that period. In an era that would soon include Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy 6/3, Secret of Mana, and other heavyweights, this would quickly caused it to be overlooked. However, one good thing it did, was to open with a playable flashback sequence depicting the defeat of the Sinistrals 100 years earlier. In fact if you just bought the game brand new, it would start as soon as the game loaded up, and the title screen would show up after this sequence. In 1996, near the end of the SNES life cycle, Natsume would publish a sequel that would show the events leading up to that point.

While Lufia 2 still wasn’t the end-all of RPGS, it could hold it’s own with the last great RPG before it (Super Mario RPG) or the one before that (Chrono Trigger). It added in some weapons that were seemingly borrowed from Zelda (such as bombs, hookshot, and a bow) that were not used in battle per se, but for the new puzzle elements in the game. Also, the capsule-monster system allowed you to raise and evolve helper creatures a few years before Pokemon became popular. The game also had some pretty good music, interesting characters, and some classic storyline moments. A 99 level dungeon, the IP system (in which characters take damage to fill up a power meter, similar to Final Fantasy’s limit breaks), and a surprise ending also help this game rise up above other RPGS of the 16 bit era. It’s late 16 bit era release might have kept it from getting the recognition it deserves, but maybe a virtual console release will renew intrest in the game.