The Evolution of Shining Force

We are back with Classic Fries! Every Saturday, we will pull something from The Museum and reprint it for those to enjoy! This gives those a chance who never got a chance to read it the first time a second chance, since the Museum itself is so large and its hard for anyone to decide where to begin.

Today, we dip back into 2D Gaming Central where I did a reasonable well cover of one of my favorite gaming series of all time, Shining Force!

Evolution - The Evolution of the Shining Series August 4, 2003

What can I say about the Shining series? Back in the days when I purchased a Genesis instead of a SNES, Role Playing Games for me were few and far between. However, one game came by the name of Shining Force was featured on the Sega Channel. I decided to give it a shot. Four minutes into the game, and I was absolutely hooked. The game mesmerized me with the game's unique personality. A few weeks later, and I had completed the game. It has been almost ten years, and I am still a fan of the Shining series.

So what is the Shining series? More importantly, what is Shining Force? It is really hard to sum what Shining is all about, but, technically, the Shining Series is a series of RPG first crafted by Camelot, and now by Sega. The Shining Force games are the strategy RPG entries into the series.

Shining in the Darkness (1991)

Not all is right in the kingdom of Thornwood. King Drake is worried because loyal knight Sir Mortred & the Princess of Thornwood, Jessa, are missing. Lord Dark Sol has revealed himself to be the mastermind behind it all when he storms into King Drake's castle. Now it is up to you (yes, you!), the son of Sir Mortred, to rescue them and save the world from the evil that is Lord Dark Sol.

This is where it all began. In 1991, Sonic Company (now known as Camelot) developed, and Sega published Shining in the Darkness for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. The game itself was classified as a old school first person view dungeon crawler. What set the game apart from other games that are in this genre was the terrific storytelling that only Camelot could do and the wonderful audio & visual aspects of the game. It may not have been the best game ever crafted, but it was a great start for the Shining series.

Shining Force - Legacy of Great Intention (1991)

1000 years ago, the ancients had sealed away the evil entity known as Dark Dragon. He had vowed to come back and rule the world once again. Lord Dark Sol and his minions are now trying to free Dark Dragon so they can take over the world. It is up to Max and the Shining Force to stop Lord Dark Sol from reviving Dark Dragon.

Shining Force was once again developed by Camelot and published by Sega. It was first released for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. The game itself was very unique for its time. It was one of the first "strategy Role Playing Games." What this meant was that the game was played very similar to chess. Each character has certain strengths and weaknesses. The main goal was to protect the leader of each party while taking out the other team. However, in this case, the leader, or in this case Max, couldn't become too weak or one will regret not using him. Another unique feature was the "promotion system" that was set in this game. Basically, after a player leveled their character up to a certain level, they could be promoted to a different class. What made this important was when they are promoted. If one promoted them too early, then they became weak. It just depended on the patience of the player. This game was "one of a kind" due to the fact that people from the company Camelot were the masters of telling medieval stories, while having excellent audio & visual in their games.

Shining Force has also been emulated in the "Sega Smash Pack 2" for the PC, and the "Sega Smash Pack, Volume One" for the Sega Dreamcast. Unfortunately, the Sega Dreamcast's version of the game's audio was very butchered. Although, wat is still a good find because Shining Force is very hard to come by these days.

Shining Force Gaiden (1992)

It was twenty years after the Shining Force had banished Dark Dragon. The Queen of Guardiana, Anri, has been captured by Cypress. It is now up the Nick & the new Shining Force to save Queen Anri.

This game was once again made by the same companies, Camelot & Sega. It was released for the Sega Game Gear, but unfortunately is still only available in Japan. However, the game was remade in the Shining Force CD package for the Sega CD.

The game played almost exactly like Shining Force with the Strategy RPG elements once again in place along with the infamous "promotion system." About the only problem most see with this entry in the series, that made it into the other Game Gear games, was the fact that there was no town exploration that was present in the Sega Genesis games. Instead, the towns were laid out similar to Shining in the Darkness. This was a great game for Sega Game Gear owners.

Shining Force Gaiden II - The Sword of Hajya (1994)

The Sword of Hajya has been stolen from the Kingdom of Cypress. Meanwhile, Warderer and his minions are trying to revive the evil Iom so they can take over the world. It is now up the mysterious Deanna and the Shining Force to take back the Sword of Hajya and defeat Warderer.

This game was also available for the Sega Game Gear, and was made by Camelot & Sega. It was also included in the Shining Force CD package for the Sega CD. Unlike the first Gaiden entry, this game was released in America.

The game used the exact same engine from Shining Force Gaiden. Other than the story and a few cosmetic differences, the game itself was almost the same. That, however, was a good thing. It iwa very addictive, and it was a great title for those who only speak English and want a good RPG for their Sega Game Gear.

Shining Force II (1994)

The inevitable has happened on Grans Island. A thief has stolen two jewels that had sealed away the King of the Devils, Zeon. Zeon is now reviving and has sent his Greater Devils to retrieve the Jewel of Evil and rule the world. To do this, they have captured Princess Ellis from the Kingdom of Granseal, and is holding her ransom for the Jewel of Evil. It is now up to Bowie and the Force to rescue Princess Ellis and save the world from complete and total annihilation.

Shining Force II was once again developed by the company now known as Camelot. The game was published by Sega for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive. It hasn't been remade or emulated for any other consoles.

This game was also a "Strategy RPG." In fact, the game took the engine that was present in Shining Force - Legacy of Great Intention and improved upon it in every way. The biggest change was the way the characters level up. It was balanced to where almost any character could become a great fighter. The other biggest change was that the first time in the Force games was there were no "chapters." Instead, the game was more of a "free roaming" experience to where the player could go anywhere, so that they could pick up whatever they missed previously. This was instead of just a select few like in the original Shining Force. Also, there were some cosmetic changes to the interface that made moving around much easier. This game was just as good as the original, and it was also considered to be a great classic for Sega Genesis owners.

Shining Force CD (1995)

Shining Force CD for the Sega CD/Mega CD featured two remakes of Force Gaiden & Shining Force Gaiden II - Sword of Hajya for the Sega Game Gear. This gave Shining Force fans a chance to play the original Shining Force Gaiden in English. The audio & visual were given big upgrades to take advantage of the Sega CD/Mega CD hardware. There were also two bonus chapters that could be unlocked that were exclusive to this version.

The game played exactly like the Game Gear versions. So that means that it was a "Strategy RPG" with it being similar to Chess. Unfortunately, it contained no "town roaming" in the game, instead with the towns laid out similar to Shining in the Darkness. The only other problem people had with this game is that it really required an extra RAM cart to save the game on. Other than those two very minor flaws, this game was a great reason to own the Sega CD/Mega CD.

Shining Force Gaiden III - Final Conflict (1995)

Shining Force Gaiden III - Final Conflict was developed by Camelot and was published by Sega for the Sega Game Gear. It was only made available in Japan, and still is till this day.

Shining Force Gaiden III - Final Conflict was rather interesting entry into the Shining series. It was once again played almost exactly like the other Shining Force Gaiden games for the Sega Game Gear. What made it interesting was the fact that it had served as a way of tying almost every loose end in the Shining Force series up till this point. There were a number of characters that were in Shining Force I & II that had made appearances in this game. This game is only worth getting for the hardcore fans of the Shining series, because of its availability and the fact it is only available in Japanese..

Shining Wisdom (1996)

The Princess of Odegan has been kidnapped by the evil Pazort. Pazort is trying to revive the evil "Dark Titan." It is now up to Mars, son of Jiles, to rescue the Princess and save the world from Pazort. To do so, Mars must acquire the four elemental orbs from their respective dungeons.

This game was considered to be the "Black Sheep" of the Shining Series due to the fact that this game was butchered in translation. The game was still developed by Camelot. However, in America, Working Designs handled the translation. It wasn't exactly their fault that the game was horribly translated. Sega had the rights to the characters in the Shining series, so Working Designs had to use their own variation of the names. For example, Bowie from Shining Force II was referred to in the game as "Puck," and Paramecia was called "Palacia."

The game itself was an Action RPG. Once the hardcore Shining fan got past the translation, it was a decent title. It can only be recommended for the Shining fan who owns a Saturn, and must have every game in the Shining series.

Shining the Holy Ark (1997)

This is the story according to a review from RPG Dreamer:

"The story starts off with 3 mercenaries (Arthur, Melody, and Forte) heading toward a cave to try and capture a renegade ninja by the name of Rodi. During the initial first fight between Rodi and the three mercenaries, a spaceship crash and knock everyone out. The occupants of the spaceship are spirit beings. One of the spirit however is an evil spirit which decided to repossess one of the human bodies. Forte is the human that was possess by the evil spirit. The new evil Forte takes off. The other three humans were badly injured so the remaining good spirits decided to possess their bodies too but give them free will. With the humans recovering their full health thanks to the good spirits, Rodi, Arthur, and Melody decided to set off to track down Forte to free him of the evil spirit that possess his body. So this is how your story quest begins."

Shining the Holy Ark was once again developed by the company now known as Camelot, and was published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. The game was considered to be very similar to Shining in the Darkness. In other words, it returned to its roots as a 1st person dungeon crawler. The game is highly recommended for Saturn owners and fans of the Shining series.

Shining Force III (1997)

Shining Force III telled the story of a war between Republic of Aspinia and the Destonian Empire. There were three different scenarios, and each scenario telled the story of the game from a different viewpoint. The game played just like the other Shining Force games, but with a whole new engine in 3-D! Everything was translated into the game very well, and there were even new elements added into the game such as a "buddy system" where characters who fought together became friends and worked with each other easier.

Unfortunately, only the 1st scenario was ever released outside of Japan. This was because it was released for the Sega Saturn when the console was pretty much on life support. Japan, however, received not only all three scenarios, but an extra Premium Disc as well. However, the 1st scenario is almost a game itself, and it is considered that every Sega Saturn owner should acquire this game.

Shining Soul (2002)

It had been almost five years since Sega decided to release a new Shining game. Camelot had departed from Sega, and is now making games for Nintendo. So Sega enlisted Salamander Factory to take over the new game in the Shining series, Shining Soul.

The game itself was a prequel to almost every Shining game. Shining Soul told the original story of when the ancients had sealed away Dark Dragon. The game was a Diablo style "hack n' slash RPG" for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. So far, Sega has only released it in Japan & Europe. Recently, Atlus acquired the rights to it and was releasing the game in America. Hopefully, the game won't turn out as butchered as Shining Wisdom was. 2-D Gaming Central promises more information on this game in the future.

Shining Soul II (2003)

This title was released in Japan in July of 2003. Unfortunately, as of August 4, 2003, not much information on the game was known because it has only been released in Japan thus far. What is known is that it returns to Shining Soul's "hack n' slash" RPG format. The game is expected to get released in Europe & America sometime. When more information is available, 2-D Gaming Central promises to cover this game & Shining Soul I in either "Evolution" or "T.W.I.G."

The Future of Shining

With Camelot out of the picture, the future for the Shining series is very uncertain. Many fans still hope for Shining Force 4, or at least some sort of revival of the series, similar to what Phantasy Star is currently receiving, to eventually come. At least Shining Soul & Shining Soul II is getting some attention, and those games will eventually come to America in some form or another. In the meantime, this old school Shining fan will still enjoy Shining Force I, II, and CD. I personally recommend that those who have never experience a Shining game before, to at least try out one of those three titles.

In the meantime, enjoy these highly recommended Shining links, and credit to some of the information in this article comes from these websites too:

-- Moogie's Shining Force Central --