Between the two major consoles of the 16-bit era, the Sega Genesis falls far behind the superior SNES in terms of quality role-playing games. For every Phantasy Star on the Genesis, the SNES had a Final Fantasy. However, not all is lost for Genesis role-playing fans, because Shining Force is one of the best role-playing games of the 16-bit era--and it's a Sega exclusive. Shining Force is a strategy role-playing game starring a silent hero named Max, who shows up injured and suffering from amnesia in the kingdom of Guardiana. He is trained to be a soldier by Varios, a veteran centaur warrior and captain in the King's army. Shortly after you're introduced to Max, you learn that monsters are appearing and you have to go investigate, which conveniently means you get to try out your new fighting abilities. When you get back from battle the town is destroyed and you set out on an adventure to investigate the attacks. Eventually you find out that an evil, power-hungry warlord named Dark Sol is planning to revive the ancient Dark Dragon. If this happens, it means certain death for everyone in Guardiana. For some reason the military is completely inept in this kingdom, so the fate of the world depends upon a pubescent boy and his motley group of inexperienced friends. As you play through the game you'll meet dozens of other unique characters who will join your party to help you in the fight to defeat Dark Sol before he resurrects Dark Dragon. Although they are categorized by class, each character has a unique personality and set of skills. You'll get to use characters ranging from bitter old dwarves, to magic-using centaurs, to robots and wizard jellyfishes. The only bad part about the characters is that you can only have 12 in your party at a time. Once you have your party set, you are ready for battle. Shining Force features a primitive but extremely fun and satisfying turn-based strategy battle system. Characters take turns based on initiative, and each character can move a number of spaces designated on a grid. There are also land effects, so for instance a centaur will only be able to move a couple spaces when in the mountains, while dwarves and flying creatures won't be restricted at all. Once in position you can choose to attack an enemy, use an item, or heal your allies. There are ranged attacks with arrows, close-range attacks with axes or swords, and attacks that can be used at both long- and short-range, such as magic spells or throwable spears. The battlefields in the game are quite large, and they are often designed with deliberate choke-points to concentrate the action on the battlefield. In each battle, you can win by defeating all the enemies, or by moving your main character to your destination (usually another town). Enemies range from goblins and zombies, to humans and dwarves, to futuristic beam-shooting laser-eyes that can wipe out your entire party in one shot. There are a few boss battles in the game as well, and the final boss battle is particularly memorable. The graphics in Shining Force are bright and colorful, with big character portraits accompanying dialogue sequences, and large, two-or-three-frame attack animations in battle. The characters have a cute, super-deformed look except during the battle animations, when they are shown full-size. The environments are varied, but standard role-playing fare, including plenty of forests, castles, dank caverns, and ancient temples. Shining Force sounds about average for a Genesis game. The beat of the battle music is enough to drive you mad. It's pretty good music, but it gets stuck in your head and never leaves. The sound effects are pretty minimal. There's some emotive mumbling noises when characters speak (high-pitched for girls, low-pitched for boys, of course), and there are some crashes and clanks in battle, but nothing too notable. Shining Force features a simple, addictive battle system and vibrant, endearing characters. It's a great introduction to strategy role-playing games, and role-playing in general, as it's accessible but fun even for veteran players.
Other Helpful Reviews for Shining Force: Kamigami no Isan
Shining Force was far and away the best turn based strategy role-playing game on the Genesis, and is considered by many to be the greatest SRPG of all time. That title has been well earned considering how well this gam... Read Full Review
The shining force series on the genesis were the best option when it came to RPGs, beside Phantasy Star II, which is another 16-bit classic but Shining force has that little something, it is a really addictive game, you... Read Full Review
