Episode 9: Shining Force: Here, Have A Jogurt Ring

Episode 9:  Shining Force—Here, Have A Jogurt Ring

Platform: Sega Genesis

Release Date: 

  Japan: March 20, 1992

  USA & Europe: July 1993

Difficulty: Moderate

Pricing:  

  Steam, $2.99. 

  Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection,  $14.96 (PS3), $16.49 (Xbox). 

  Cartridge $18.95 used.

Podcast: Download, iTunes, PodOmatic

Terra’s Review

Put on some pants, Max.

The Good

• Tao, Anri, and Domingo: The mages kick ass in this game and will burn/freeze/electrocute everything in sight.
• Tactical gameplay that is simple enough to be able to figure out quickly, but challenging enough to keep the game interesting. You also get a variety of characters with different types of attacks and movement and can build a party based on the enemies you’re fighting and the type of terrain.
• The game has a sense of humor and doesn't take itself too seriously, with scenes such as Max getting turned into a chicken, a King running his town’s shops, and shopkeepers who are a little too happy to buy items from you—“It’s mine, all mine!”
• Although there’s basically no character development, all the party members have names and are distinctive from each other in some way.

The Bad

• Clunky, clunky menus: You can only buy one item at a time, characters can only hold a max of four items—including their weapon and any accessories, and figuring who can be equipped with what can be a guessing game.
• Fighting the same battle multiple times is the only way to level up.
• If Max dies, it’s Game Over and back to the last town to fight that battle all over again. Which means being very cautious about using one of the most powerful characters in the game, especially in boss battles.

The Ugly

• Jogurt.
• Max’s lack of pants.
• Kane’s floppy boner.

Behold the beauty of the floppy boner.

The lowdown:  This game was a lot of fun to play, even if some of that fun came from mocking Max’s lack of pants. Even though the storyline is thin and the characters barely have personalities, the game is still engaging and the battles are challenging enough to keep things interesting.  If you’re looking for something light, not too involved/complicated, and fairly quick to finish, Shining Force is the game for you.

Music Credits:

RPG Roundup Theme Song: "Video Game Theme," J. Arthur Keenes Band. Creative Commons Attribution License.

Shining Force Soundtrack