Shining Force

If you're a fan of tactics-based RPG's, you owe it to yourself to track down and play Shining Force. There were two entries on the Genesis, as well as one for the Sega CD (which was a compilation/ upgrade of the ones for the Game Gear). There was also Shining Force III for the Saturn, though the USA got hosed on that deal. The game was actually released in three parts, and each part told the story from the viewpoint of a different main character. Throughout the game these individuals crossed paths, but also branched off onto separate quests as they all fought towards the same goal. The complete trilogy of games told the entire tale, but we only got the first part on these shores. While still a complete game in its own right, fans couldn't help but feel a little (read: a lot) jealous of the Japanese on this one.

The original Shining Force was remade on the Gameboy Advance as Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon. Mostly intact from the original, with just the addition of some lame card-collecting thing.

Shining Force was a lot of fun. In towns and on the world map it was similar to any role-player, but when you got into battle (all the fights were at preset points through the story, there was no random battling), it was a strategy/RPG. You also, as you travelled, could recruit a large number of characters into your force, but could only command twelve at a time. What was cool was, in battle, when you chose an action like an attack or spell, the view shifted to a faux-3D scene in which you watched your action take place. So, if you attacked an enemy, instead of your tiny sprite waving around, you got to watch a reasonably detailed brief cutscene of the strike.

There have been many offshoots in the Shining series. Shining in the Darkness (for the Genesis, and actually came before the Force games) and Shining the Holy Ark (Saturn) were dungeon crawls, while Shining Wisdom (Saturn), Shining Tears (PS2), and the Shining Soul series for the GBA were action-RPG's. Recently, though, for the PS2, the Shining Force series itself has come back, as Shining Force NEO and Shining Force EXA.

I was pretty excited about the release of these games, right up until they came out and were nothing more than mediocre action-RPGs. Gone was the deep tactics of the original games. I have no problems with offshoots in the Shining canon, and have played pretty much all of them, but if it says Shining Force I expect it to play like the old ones. I'm not sure which suit at Sega decided that the entire basis of the series had to be scrapped, but they should be fired. As a harcore fan of the Force games, it would have been faster to just come to my house and kick me in the nads.

I think I just made my point with this one, and actually it's the relevant point that pervades all of the franchises mentioned herein. Stop guessing at what you think gamers want to play, stop slapping the names onto any old product just to dupe fans into shelling out their money. Look at the reasons these games have fans in the first place, and do right by them. Look at Nintendo. Mario, Zelda, and Metroid have stood the test of time due to the care the company gives them.

Like I said before, Sega still has some great games out there, and there are still more coming out that are probably going to be all sorts of awesome. Some games, though, the ones that fans stick by and still play, need to be handled with much more care than they've been given. I'm a huge Shining fan, and haven't even bought EXA just because I don't think I care about the direction the series has taken.

I was giddy with anticipation for the 360 Sonic, but played it for about four minutes before I apologized to my console, and I couldn't get into the Wii version just because of the crappy controls, so I'm looking at any future Sonic releases with trepidation. I play PSU regularly, but know that I'm just trying to relive the glory days on PSO, and the second something better comes along I'll probably jump ship.

I'm a serious Sega fan, have been since the Genesis days. I have all the consoles, including all the add-ons. I wear a Sonic the Hedgehog watch and a PSU T-shirt, and have the Dreamcast swirl incorporated into a tattoo on my arm. I've stood by them for a long time. I just don't think they care about me anymore, or care about the titles that made me such a hardcore fanboy in the first place.