Despite being true masterpieces of their time, there are many classic RPG gems shackled to ancient consoles with little hope of ever reaching a modern audience. GameArt's Grandia was one of these titles, until it finally received a lovingly crafted HD release back in 2019, leaving fans hopeful that the devs' other games would soon receive the same treatment. Finally, Lunar: The Silver Star and its sequel are getting their chance to shine, and boy, do they.
Lunar Remastered Collection features Lunar: Silver Star Story and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue with remastered visuals, updated graphics on all cutscenes, and quality-of-life enhancements to make them more palatable for the modern gamer. I've played primarily with my Switch OLED docked, and it's great to see the pixel graphics pop off the screen vibrantly, while the numerous gorgeously animated cutscenes induced nostalgia.
Now that I've spent a little time gushing over how much I'm enjoying the way this remastered collection looks, I should probably give you a little rundown on the games in case you're new to the series. In Silver Star Story, you play as Alex, who aspires to be a dragonmaster. Along the way, he meets a ragtag crew that helps him achieve his goals, before eventually taking on the big bad.
Eternal Blue is a sequel that takes place 1,000 years later and follows Hiro and his friends as they search for the Goddess Althena. Once again, you set out on an epic adventure, take on baddies, and eventually save the world from sure destruction. That's all I'm going to share with you for now, as I think the joy of playing some of the best RPGs comes from the twists and turns you encounter along the way, and I highly recommend you pick this collection up to experience Lunar yourself.
My personal favorite from the collection is definitely the first entry, as I was immediately enthralled while traversing the first town, interacting with cute animals, and meeting a huge, glorious dragon. However, it was a tough choice, as both of these games ooze charm and feature some unique turn-based combat that makes me miss the good ol' days.
Speaking of combat, it's fairly unique. You issue commands such as retreat, attack, and magic to each character, and the rounds play out in accordance with how fast everyone in battle is. It can be challenging at times, I'm looking at you, Water Dragon, but it's satisfying to pick the right moves and come out on top in the end. There's also an auto-battle option, which I didn't utilize all that much in boss battles, but it's definitely handy for any easy mobs you come across in your travels.
Moving on from combat, one thing I really love about Lunar is the fully voiced anime-style cutscenes that are much more frequent than I would expect from a game of this age. They make the world seem so much more alive, showing exactly how the characters should look when they're not pixel sprites bopping around your screen. Don't get me wrong, the sprites are also vibrant and look great, I just enjoy the mixture of styles and how well they're both done.
If you're a purist and want to experience the games as they were way back in the 90s, you also have the option to toggle between classic and remastered modes. I always think this is a neat feature and allows the youngsters out there to experience the games as we did in the past, while also being able to flick back and see how far we've come since then.
As I mentioned earlier, I played the game mostly docked on my Nintendo Switch OLED and never ran into any bugs, framerate drops, or crashes. It looks great on a big screen or in handheld mode and is undoubtedly the definitive way to play both titles.
I genuinely loved my time with Lunar Remastered Collection. The gorgeous, vibrant pixel art is some of the best I've seen from a remaster, and the stories from both games stand the test of time with fully voiced anime cutscenes and a goofy sense of humor. Pick this collection up if you want to experience the good ol' days of RPGs once again.
All I ask now is that maybe GungHo could take it one step further and remake Grandia next? If you're looking for even more recommendations, head over to our list of the best Switch games and find some new JRPGs to play, too.