Lufia & the Fortress of Doom (Super Nintendo)

This is more or less your typical save-the-world RPG, with a bit of a romance theme mixed in on the side between the protaganist and Lufia. Early on in the game, the two promise they'll "never leave" eachother, and a bit after that, a woman who knows Artea tells Lufia that her support towards him is "more important than any sword or armor!"

The random battles can get annoying, but that's easily solved by carrying around Sweet Water that more or less stops all encounters for roughly a minute. On the other hand, if you want to level up your characters fast (for example, if you're in a dungeon next to an HP/MP restore point) you can use a Foul Water to get into an encounter every step you take for roughly ten steps.

The translation is pretty good, and there are only a couple of errors here and there. The dialog is also not too bad, and while it is a bit predictable, it fits all the characters well and each has their share of funny little scenes.

The graphics look dated for an SNES RPG, but the few frames of animation that each character has are good enough to not make you feel like you're missing anything, and the spell effects are actually very good.

Sound is above average, and actually not annoying. Boss battles and normal encounters are catchy and even shops have their own little jingle when you visit them.

Anyway, while Lufia II is graphically better than this game, it doesn't stop me from loving this game. I've beat it once already probably five years ago and I'm going on a second play-through now!

(Oh, and the ending song is actually sad-sounding and fitting for some of the last scenes, but the very last part of the ending doesn't dissapoint for this romance/save-the-world RPG!)

If you're considering trying a RPG game, Lufia is great to start with in my opinion. It's text commando based so it's like for example Final Fantasy. I started of with Secret of Mana and wanted to move on to something else after going through that, but I didn't feel like starting on something as big as Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger etc.. I was then advised to try Lufia as a beginning so that I could get to know the basics of RPG games. The game was great for that and it helped me to understand the other games a little better. I can only recommend this game to anyone who likes RPG games. The story is great, the music is lovely and the characters are fun.

Lufia, was one of the first RPG's ive ever played, great game, amazing story line, dialogue, and gameplay. lengthy game which will keep you occupied for hours of entertainment. recommended to casual or hardcore rpg fanatics.


5/5

sequel to the great game "Lufia - the rise of the sinistrals" (which is a prequel). obviously the grafics are very dated and sound cannot compare to anything from this age, the storyline is great and if you milk the game for what it's worth, you can get a solid 60 hours out of it. the old cave alone can have you re-entering again and again and again.

Lufia & the Fortress of Doom is one of the first adventure quest games for home play. In it's day the graphics were extraordinary. I can still remember the excitement I felt as a teenager when I first opened the box. I wasn't disappointed then, nor am I now by the in-depth, yet straightforward nature of the game. I might be wrong, but I think the Final Fantasy series was directly influenced by Lufia. Even the little tune you hear after winning a battle sounds almost identical. True, the dialog can be cheesy at times, but it was aimed at kids, right? Nonetheless, I find myself playing it now nearly as much as I did then. If you like nostalgia and loved Final Fantasy, then you'll fall in love with Lufia. Rolling your eyes? Don't believe me? Well then go buy yourself a copy and play it for a week. You won't be sorry.

Lufia is an RPG that had a battle system that was a bit more personal, unlike Final Fantasy at the time where the character takes a step forward and swings a sword as the enemy he's attacking flashes with a number above him. Although, it still isn't that much different. Dungeons this time around aren't just littered with monsters, but with puzzles too. You'll have to salve them all in order to make your way through the entire dungeon and defeat it's keeper.

Lufia starts you off in the past where you control 4 warriors who are about to battle the Sinestrals. This is how the game draws you in. Instead of giving you a lot of text to tell the backstory, you actually live it yourself.

The game plays out like a typical console-rpg. Random encounters every few steps and leveling up in a predetermined fashion.

Where the game excels is the great plot, and soundtrack.

This game has its own style and feel which distinguishes it from the more popular games of the time. When compared to Final Fantasy III(US) as most 16-bit RPGs are, Lufia's graphics and character cinematics don't reach up to the same caliber of sophistication, though do not let the title "Not the best game ever" deter you from giving this game a round of play.

One of Lufia's strongest elements is the musical score, which noticeably captures the mood, pace, and characterization presented by the game. A quick search on YouTube, and we can easily see that the music from this game has 'struck a chord' with many of the game's fans.

The story line is typical, save the world, though the situation is not. Instead of 1 evil force, you are challenged by four, each being more dangerous than the next. The game also begins 100 years prior to the main storyline, which is memorable purely because it was, and probably still does, remain an uncommon plot device in video game RPGs.

The gameplay is turn-based combat, which may deter most players due to lack of any sort of battle action, though for those who do enjoy this method of combat, the basics are easy to pickup and soon you'll be vanquishing foes without much hesitation in your actions. Random encounters seem to be a bit on the high side for an RPG, which is possibly why the game takes as long to beat as it does. Some battles will leave you frustrated as you try to figure why everybody just died, while other battles just seem like time fillers between story arcs.

If you loved Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy I-VI(JP), Dragon Warrior, even the Zelda games, Secret of Mana(or Evermore), Earthbound, Super Mario RPG, and felt like you need more games in your life, then you should without a doubt be playing the Lufia series. If you hit on guys who sound like girls playing Halo 3 on Xbox Live, you'll be bored to tears.

What I liked about this Lufia title (other than briefly playing Rise of the Sinistrals, I wouldn't say I have a good or complete knowledge of the series as a whole)was that its basically an old-school rpg for the SNES. If you like 2d graphics and care more about gameplay than stimulating visuals, than this might be a role-playing experience you won't want to miss. For me it was distracting when during or at the beginning of a random battle the view of the characters on the screen didn't really change at all. The only block-building annoyance after that was that the stat-increase of each character while remaining class specific was altogether random. If your character is about to gain a level, save first-- then pass it. Do this until you are satisfied with the level gain. It is time consuming (or can be) but its well worth it. Unlike most other rpgs that I have played, progessing the story line was a strong motivation for a sense of having fun while playing this game. I wouldn't strongly reccomend this particular title for someone just discovering the genre. But if your wanting to get back to your roots, perhaps this is the game for you.

This is an awesome game! Deffinately one that true RPG fans can get into. I would recommend to anyone who is up for an epic adventure.I know I was and am completely satisfied with this purchase. Can't wait to get the next one after it.

I decided to purchase this game because i once played this game at a friend's house a long time ago. I remember it was one of the best RPG's i have ever played. I really enjoyed the in-depth storyline and simple puzzles. I would recommend this game to anyone who loves playing RPG's and old systems. It is a little expensive but really worth it.

It's great--works as should my brother in law asked me to get this for him. he says it plays as should it was very fast shipping and reasonable

the game is rare and is a classic rpg game. really good game play. but way too many battles throughout the game. quite annoying. should of been less battles. but besides that the story line is really good and a well worth it game to play.

Came very fast and wrapped very well. Had the first one and needed the number 2 of this game. Very pleased with this game. Would buy from this seller again.Works great.

This is a classic SNES RPG, SNES was THE system for RPG lovers, and if you loved the SNES final fantasy and squaresoft games, you need to check out Enix's games such as Lufia and Lufia II as well. Also, Illusion of Gaia is another fantastic Enix game.