It seemed the day would never come, but after a quarter of a century a beloved cult-classic RPG series has returned in Lunar Remastered Collection. Lunar: Silver Star Story and Lunar: Eternal Blue are reborn again in one definitive package.
After all these years, I still recall staring longingly at the advertisements for both games in magazines, with their plush, collector’s edition–worthy bundles. At the time, I only managed to play Eternal Blue, rented over one fateful March Break when I’d also been sick as a dog, and since then, both games have sat at the pinnacle of my retro gaming wish list. So just having both games playable on modern consoles is very exciting.
And luckily, the Lunar Remastered Collection is worthy of its lineage. Building off the PlayStation editions (rather than the Sega versions), both games have been updated visually for modern widescreen displays—a far cry from their meagre original resolutions. Their charming sprite graphics spring to life like never before, alongside updated animations and UIs. Remaster developer GungHo consulted with the original developers at Game Arts throughout the process, and the result blends old and new well.
The same effect extends to Lunar’s signature anime cutscenes. At first blush, they didn’t look quite as good as I’d hoped from a title in 2025, but after comparing them with the original versions, the difference is night and day. They’ve been cleaned up and extended to the new resolution without altering the spirit or content of the originals.
“Lunar Remastered Collection retains the heart that made these games special to so many players around the turn of the century.”
Luckily for longtime fans, Lunar Remastered Collection offers two modes for both games—Classic and Remastered—selectable from the main menu. Save data transfers between these modes for convenience, so players can swap between them as often as they like with a quick trip back to the launcher. It’s worth booting up the Classic mode at least once to see just how far the visual upgrade has come.
Granted, the remaster doesn’t shine as brightly in the audio department. The quality is improved, but not to the same level as, say, the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters, which received a complete reorchestration supervised by the original composer. It doesn’t help that the environmental score wasn’t the games’ strongest point, either. Themes are relatively short and often reused in various dungeons and towns, and even in Remastered mode, those themes restart after every battle, which grows a little stale.
One area of Lunar Remastered Collection will surely be divisive amongst fans: the all-new voice acting. There’s always disappointment when original actors get replaced, but the new cast has done an admirable job of honouring the spirit of the characters and the text, while also smoothing off some of the rougher edges. There are also some talented names amongst the role call—and without giving it away, Ghaleon’s new actor is a perfect, recognizable fit.
(One important thing to note here for the veterans: the new voices are included in the Classic mode as well, likely for crediting and technical reasons.)
“Lunar Remastered Collection doesn’t exactly sugarcoat itself for the modern palate.”
Both music and performance are especially important in Silver Star Story, and the Lunar Remastered Collection definitely stuck the landing with the new vocal performances. Less endearing are the repetitive in-battle quotes, however; the Remastered mode, at least, could have benefitted from having a couple more options. As much as I like Ghaleon’s new actor, hearing him rasp “time to die” 2-3 times per turn was getting excessive, as was Nash’s. (Eternal Blue suffers from this too, but at least there’s a little more variety, so that Ronfar’s Austin Powers impression isn’t heard every time he heals someone.)
Presentation-wise, both Silver Star Story and Eternal Blue benefit universally from the Lunar Remastered Collection‘s makeover (especially when compared to their very first iterations on the Sega CD and Saturn). It doesn’t quite stand shoulder-to-shoulder with flashier HD-2D remasters, but it was hard to go back to Classic mode for anything more than a comparison.
In terms of gameplay, the games are very similar yet distinct enough. Both could be called “linear” by today’s standards, with less side questing and free exploration. Even compared to other mid-90s RPGs there’s less free rein, with a beautiful world map that basically serves to funnel you from one destination to the next. Nor are characters customizable; the plot dictates who’s in the party when, and they learn certain skills at certain levels without player input.
While I don’t call this an inherently bad thing, I can see it being a sticking-point for younger RPG fans. Lunar Remastered Collection doesn’t exactly sugarcoat itself for the modern palate, and that’s fine; it preserves the original experience without incorporating today’s common remaster concessions like modifiable EXP rates or god modes. The most you get is a battle speed toggle to sprint through battles, and honestly, that does a lot to mitigate the grind. (Less repetitive audio would’ve been even more helpful.)
And yes, there is a bit of a grind. Players can try to dodge random battles, which appear on the map as different enemy sprites. More often than not, “the only way out is through” is the better approach, though. While you’re likely going to fight the majority of the monsters you pass, the games are balanced enough that you’re likely to be at the right level for bosses. Avoid too many random battles and you risk falling behind, but you don’t really need to spend a half hour grinding out a couple levels either… which is lucky since the overworld has no random encounters.
Of the Lunar Remastered Collection‘s two parts, it should be no surprise that Silver Star Story feels a little more dated; the original Sega CD version released in 1992, after all. Its tedious item management has an improved option in Remastered mode, though it’s still on the tedious side. There gets to be a rhythm of “new town, new dungeon slog, repeat” after a while. Treasure chests are sprinkled throughout, though their contents are generally underwhelming under late-game, and trapped chests suck the fun out.
Boss fights, however, pretty much boil down to one strategy: boost physical attackers’ strength and unleash their single-target attack, use whichever magic spells deal the most damage, and heal every turn until the boss is pulp. I can forgive a grindy dungeon, but bosses should be a little more inspiring.
(If the grind gets to you, auto-battling is still an option. The options have been fleshed out somewhat, but even with the option to customize the AI’s priorities, I still didn’t trust it to make the most efficient calls in even meaningless random battles. This is, essentially, the closest the remastered collection gets to the sort of quality-of-life boosts games get today, and it’s something the originals already had.)
Eternal Blue is, thankfully, a strong sequel and the true star of the Lunar Remastered Collection. Some of the same wooden conventions in story and gameplay return, but with the added benefit of seeing how the world has changed over the last thousand years. The plot has more momentum and the characters are more interesting overall.
Both games’ tones rest somewhere between cliche and subversive comedy, because it wouldn’t be Lunar without a peculiar sense of humour. The English edition has some additional, shall we say, character in the form of some dirty jokes or pop culture references. These range from dated (Austin Powers or Chris Farley references) to eye-rolling (a skill description says “Hiro lets it rip with a wind bomb”) to just bizarre (a late-game enemy called a Nipple Yanker?).
These localized additions are complemented by anime cliche gags like “oblivious woman walks in on a guy in a hot spring” or “gambling addict is a womanizer.” On the other side of the coin, there are some very good puns, like the enemy known as Ambush, a bush/plant monster that attacks unexpectedly. Localization giveth, and localization taketh away.
Beneath the handful of edgy jokes, Lunar Remastered Collection retains the heart that made these games special to so many players around the turn of the century. The stories are a little flat or contrived by modern standards but the love stories between cast members, and especially the leads, hold up today.
Then, as a whole, does the Lunar Remastered Collection warrant the attention of today’s gamers? I would say yes, at least for those who understand what they’re signing up for.
These are old-school JRPGs, predating the quantum leap that the genre saw on PS1 and then repackaged to compete with those shiny new polygonal epics on their own turf. The remaster doesn’t coddle like some other modern RPG remasters. Lunar is unequivocally itself, just with a shinier coat of paint and new voices. If you’re okay with that and want to give the series a go for the very first time, give it a shot and you just might find something very special here.
However, if you’re like me, and the Complete editions have been “the ones that got away” for the last 25 years, the Lunar Remastered Collection is the perfect time machine (and certainly preferable to those $300+ plus listings on eBay, even if the physical version is regretfully limited).
