Review: Shining Force (GBA)

After garnering a cult following on Sega's Megadrive and progressing to a variety of other formats, Shining Force finally makes its debut on Nintendo's ubiquitous handheld. However, in a manner that GBA owners will be more than familiar with, this isn't a new game. Rather, AV have dusted down the original game, given it a polish and shine and sent it out into the GBA's crowded strategy-RPG market.

So, can a spruced-up title over a decade old see off such fierce competition as Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance? Taking on the mantle of a lost amnesiac swordsman (aren't they all?) named Max, you must gather a band of companions and foil the evil intentions of the nation of Runefaust, preventing them from unleashing a terrible evil upon the world, whilst at the same time piecing together your own shattered memory. Could it be that the two are connected? And that's it. Of course, this being RPG territory, the odd twist is thrown in, but the plot, it seems, is still stuck firmly in 1992. In fact, Max is the only character in your team who has a proper back-story, with the other characters being as 2-dimensional as they look.

Progression through the game is via a series of chapters, each featuring a handful of battles interspersed with town-based exploration sequences. Everything is viewed in an isometric top down perspective, with clashes between your team and the enemy causing a switch to a side-on view (think Fire Emblem). The battles are generally well implemented and feel more epic in scale than some of Shining Force's contemporaries due to the number of adversaries involved. Once you have recruited enough companions you can field up to 12 warriors in any battle and you will fight as many, or even more, enemies (contrast this with being able to field a positively stingy 6 warriors in FFTA).

Transferring Shining Force to the GBA should have been a great opportunity to iron out any niggles and flaws, but it seems that AV have simply put out a lazy port of the Megadrive game, warts and all. There are very few stats included in the game and those that are available are badly presented. The menus are annoying to use and the presentation of the game as a whole feels distinctly low rent. The in-game music consists largely of two main themes repeated until they make you want to weep and the sound effects mostly appear to be farting noises. The graphics are bright and colourful, but the characters have been treated to all of 5 or 6 frames of animation each and the backgrounds are bland and repetitive to say the least. That said, AV have treated GBA owners to three (count 'em!) brand new characters, introduced by a nifty subplot, and there are now cards hidden throughout the game which when collected can be used as a weapon by one of the new characters.

Special mention must go to the AI: Gamestyle was struck by the stupidity of the enemy at times; they will often head straight for Max meaning that he will level up at a phenomenal rate. Failing that, enemies will often attack the nearest character, even if there is a better target slightly further away. It's also far too easy to work out how close you have to get to enemies before they become active and start attacking. This means that you can bypass some enemies entirely, as long as you don't stray too close. However, there are two flaws that Gamestyle thinks loom larger than all the rest. Firstly, Shining Force is far too linear. There's no map to explore, the player is just shunted from town to battle to town. Once you're in a town, all the game requires is that you locate and speak to the one character who will trigger the next sequence of events leading to a battle.

The chapter system employed to progress the story also prevents you from going back; so if you don't locate all the items or characters in any given section, there's no returning later on to get them. Furthermore, the characters you can recruit all have predetermined jobs and, whilst you can promote a character within their profession, there is no option to change jobs at all. You can only upgrade the weapons your character holds, not their armour, and this basically equates to a 'get-to-a-new-town, buy-a-slightly-stronger-weapon' scenario. Secondly - and this is perhaps Shining Force's biggest weakness - it's far too easy. The game doesn't penalise you for being weak strategically; instead characters are merely knocked out and can be revived by a priest in the next town once battle has ended. Even if Max is unfortunate enough to meet with the sharp end of a sword, you'll only be sent back as far last town you visited.

It is also possible to raise huge amounts of cash and experience simply by replaying each battle ad nauseam So is a lick of new paint enough to see Shining Force ahead of its competitors? To put it bluntly, no. Shining Force isn't devoid of merit and there is certainly fun to be had here. Hardcore S-RPG fans looking for their next fix will enjoy this title. Also, for those new to the genre, this game offers a suitable introduction for would-be tacticians and adventurers. Ultimately though, Shining Force is too flawed, lightweight and dated. It might be the granddaddy of them all, but on the GBA it fails to deliver anything that hasn't already been done bigger and better somewhere else.

Rating: 6 / 10

Words by Andy Lucas