Shining Force’s 30th anniversary is as good a time as any to release the series’ Japan-only games worldwide
Get the candles out; Sega’s legendary turn-based strategy RPG is 30 today! To celebrate, we think Sega should capitalize on the tactical RPG renaissance, led by Square Enix’s fantastic Triangle Strategy, do the right thing, and release everything in the series that’s currently Japan-only worldwide. Shining Force is a classic of its genre, and a long-running Sega franchise, but there are plenty of titles in the series across a variety of different genres that never made it outside of Japan, including a couple of key sequels.
As Shining Force is older than me, your humble writer. I have no shame in admitting that I never played the Genesis classic until it was released on Wii Virtual Console. I’ve been a fan of the turn-based strategy RPG genre since I played Fire Emblem on the GBA, but few have stuck with me as Shining Force has.
Shining Force was one of the first digital games I bought with my own money. I was taken in by the combination of Fire Emblem style battles coupled with the Final Fantasy-like exploration. Shining Force was the first game I played that took the more traditional elements of JRPGs and mixed them with tactical battles. It blew me away.
Where Shining Force, ahem, shines brightest is in its battles. There is no player turn and enemy turn like so many of its peers. Instead, turn order is based on each unit’s agility stat and, at times, random selection. It’s different, but makes the game stand out as unique in a heavy-populated genre.
The brilliant sprite art, the fantastic soundtrack, and memorable cast of characters all stick with you long after you’ve stopped that dastardly Kane and Dark Dragon. Shining Force tells a story that you’ve probably already played, but it does so with charm. The
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