Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals (Super Nintendo, 1996)

Lufia II, is one of the last SNES RPG games released during the end days of normal videogames. The in game, battle sprites is animated, however this is limited to sprites shifting a little up and down, and some animations. What is special about Lufia is the "Green Green" look it presents. Only in games like Dragon Quest this look has been attained. The game has a variety of things to do in it. Like go to the stores, journey into dungeons, and of course fight monsters. Outside of battle, the game features a mini pet game. This game defines the commercial theme used in the current Lufia series unincluding the next game after it. Lufia gives many other turn based RPG's a run for it's money. Lufia is also considered one the few "Throphies" or "Golden etc" in most peoples collection. Selling this game with others will indefinently get buyers. Being such a great game, it has been remade and ported to handheld consoles, including celluar phones. However no other version features the MOD sound and original graphics. Even if you don't like RPG's you will learn to enjoy them with Lufia.

Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistals is a timeless RPG that will undoubtedly be enjoyed for many years to come. Although the 2-dimensional top-down graphics may seem primitive compared to modern real-time 3-dimensional graphics, it has a unique and appealing visual style backed up by a superb story line and amazing game play. There are no random encounters in the dungeons, rather the enemies wander around the map either avoiding, chasing, or ignoring you. The monotony of combat is spiced up by the numerous puzzles throughout every single one of the game's dungeons. The dungeons themselves span various environments including caves, dungeons, temples, towers, mountains, and under-water environments.
The game has a unique combat system with the "IP system." Similar to systems such as "limit break" in the final fantasy games, when you take damage your IP bar fills up. Depending on how full it is you can unleash special moves that your items posses, allowing for a richer combat experience. Also, there are "capsule monsters" which fight along with you although you do not control their moves. There are several that you can collect and train, and they evolve depending on what you feed them.
There is one part of the game called the "Ancient Cave" which is almost an entire other game within Lufia II. When you enter the Cave all of your stats are reset and you embark on a journey through a 100 floor randomly created dungeon. This provides for a unique experience every time. There are numerous goals to accomplish, including finding blue treasure chests (whose items you get to keep when you leave the dungeon), finding all the Iris treasures, and ultimately defeating the challenging boss who awaits you on the 100th floor. And this is only one small part of the actual game!
Although the game is a prequel to the original Lufia game, it feels like an entirely new game. Sure, the characters and references are extremely similar, the game play is almost entirely different, along with the graphical style.

Overall, Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals is one of my favorite games of all time, and a must play for any RPG fan. What better way to play the game than in the original format it was intended? On the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Why should you buy this game ? Because it's a great RPG and it doesn't cost as much as Chrono Trigger or Secret of Mana. The graphics are beautiful and the game is very addictive ! You start out as Maxim who is a Monster slayer. First you learn the basic skills from a old men in a cave. When you head back to town, the villagers have some distressing news. There are monsters and they want you to defeat them. So the journey begins. The game has a lot of different enemy's, weapons, spells and such. After a time people start joining your party (4 max) and you can have one capsule monster as a 5th member of your party. The puzzles are challenging and the fights are very fun. Inside the game is a mini game called "The ancient cave" where you start from level 1 again and you have to complete 99 "randomly" dungeon levels.

Overall this is a great RPG which will keep you busy quit some time. A SNES RPG must have !

Everyone knows about Final Fantasy 2 and 3, Chrono Trigger, and Zelda, but Lufia 2 is hands down the best game on SNES. The graphics are the equal of the rest, the soudntrack amazing and the characters wonderful and endearing. The story is excellent also, and even though it is the second game in a series, it is a prequel and requires no knowledge of the previous game. The game play is heads and shoulders above the otehr games, as it offers tons of variety. You face random battles on the map screen, but you see the mobs before the fight in dungeons(like Chrono). There are tons of puzzles in this game, many of them ridiculously difficult, so you don't always just hack and slash. This game is one of the few must own games on the SNES.

This game series is odd and i never could figure out why Lufia one is the sequal to lufia two but overall this is a truely excelent game with challenging puzzles a fun battle system and a even better "capsule" monsters which you find along your way and use for a 5th character in battle.
OVERALL A+