GAMES .: REVIEW
GAMEBOY COLOR

May 2002
by Q.Mulative

LUFIA - THE LEGEND RETURNS

The world of Estpolis is divided into four continents, Northland, Southland, Eastland, and Westland. Each has been terrorized by the evil Sinistrals over the past 300 years. In the first two Lufia games, Northland and Westland were the areas explored, and players sent characters with brilliantly coloured hair and personalities to match, adventuring across the continent in order to destroy the Sinistrals' evil plans. The third installment of this terrific R.P.G. series was originally planned for the Playstation 1, but was later moved to the Game Boy Color for the series' extreme popularity. (Apparently, it's still too good for non-gaming companies, as their previously announced PS2 project had been moved to the GBA as "Lufia: Gaiden." Sorry, Sony fans!)

Neverland Co.'s Lufia games are famous for their character development, rivalling the works of Game Arts' Grandia and Lunar games. Lufia 3 is no exception. With twelve playable characters, I thought that the personalities would be watered down. But other than the occasional typo or bad translation, the characters really shine, just as much as in the First Lufia games. Some changes have been made to work around the GBC's limitations, as the "speech-bubble" text box has been replaced with a standard text box at the bottom or top of the screen, and all the "puzzle items" like the Fire Arrow and the Hammer have been replaced with a "Spirit Wave" ability, but for the most part, the gameplay has remained intact. The menu is a little complicated to work through at first, but it's easy to learn with a little patience.

One of the biggest changes is the dungeons. They are all now randomly generated, and with a pretty simple algorithm. Basically, there are nine possible rooms, not counting secret rooms, and those that are generated are connected to each other by hallways. Although it is a simple algorithm, the placement of the stairs, secrets and treasures ensures that it won't be easy to find what you're looking for. This keeps the challenge and replay values high, and with the return of a now 200-level Ancient cave (with a brand new surprise at the bottom, too!), you'll be playing this game for a long time to come.

This game is a classic, and no player would be able to enjoy it on just a rental. If you buy this game, be sure to keep it in your collection.

IMAGE SOURCES
Screenshots are from Natsume's Official Product Site

Genre - RPG

Developer - Never-Land Company
Publisher - Natsume
Release - September 2001

Save - Battery

Also Known As -
Estopolis (Japan)

Alternative Choice -
Dragon Warrior III

Players - 1

EXTRA MEDIA
Lufia / Natsume E3 2001 Display

Official Wallpaper
1024x768

Artwork - 1
Artwork - 2
Artwork - 3
Artwork - 4

LINKS
Official Site

Never-Land Company's Estopolis Site

Binary Score

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