A new edition of Retro Corner Reviews is up, and I continue reviewing another JRPG called Breath of Fire. As mentioned, Breath of Fire released in a time where RPGs started gaining popularity. Before Final Fantasy VII made strides for the genre in many ways, these B titles were like the backbone of JRPGs. Sure, they weren’t the same quality we often saw in the Final Fantasy series, but it still retains a level of interest. It’s because this genre made people a fan of these games that even a mid-tier RPG will satisfy them. Are games like Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger and Phantasy Star IV the best of its genre? No doubt they are, but you can still enjoy others even when these get scored in the 7s and 8s ratings.
The original BoF was Capcom’s first attempt at producing a JRPG after Square and Enix found massive success. The company wasn’t exactly known for these types of games as they always dominated with Mega Man, Street Fighter and Disney licenses. The closet experience is Willow on the NES that had more role playing elements then adventure mechanics. Even then they mostly developed action style games like Demon’s Crest or Final Fight. It makes us wonder how Capcom goes into this without proper experience except knowing what the leading companies were doing. Its obvious Square is the studio they tried to emulate from as I noticed several gameplay mechanics from the Final Fantasy series. It’s rare for them to do this as the publisher mostly brings their own style to any title. With limited experience in developing role-play mechanics and level designs, they had to look somewhere for inspiration. Does the first Breath of Fire hold up today despite Capcom’s lacking experience? Breath of Fire (Super NES) Review
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On this edition of Monday Retro Corner Reviews, I have an old review from 2016 with Lufia and the Fortress of Doom. The first Lufia saw its development from a studio called Neverland and under the publisher Taito. If you are unfamiliar with Taito’s published games then they include Space Invaders, Bubble Bobble and Double Dragon. Lufia was the company's first attempt to take advantage of the RPG popularity from the early 90s. At the time Square Soft really made JRPGs popular in the west and a few years later other companies tried to cash in on the success. Taito’s first RPG was actually one of my early reviews I posted on this site two weeks after making it go live in May 2016. I know it is kind of odd for me to go over this game to begin with and not something like the first Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest. The original Lufia got released in 1993 and that was a year when most companies didn’t put a big title out. The only notable titles were either Super Mario All Stars or Secret of Mana, so Taito got a break that year. After playing this a couple of times, Lufia bears a resemblance to Dragon Quest more than Final Fantasy. From the layout to the gameplay is everything that series stood for in terms of a classic JRPG. With so many contenders in the genre, it’s hard to stack this game to others especially the major releases. Square Soft back then was the king of these games due to producing some of the best gameplay and graphics. Even Sega did a nice job with Phantasy Star while Capcom became second behind Square. So how well has Lufia aged since its 1993 release? Lufia and the Fortress of Doom (Super NES) Review |
Welcome to Retro CornerIn this section I review retro gaming hence my name and talk about what made the Golden Age so amazing. From the 8-bit era of the NES to the first 3D generation of PC and N64, no classic title will get overlooked. Archives
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