There were many problems with the American release of this game, which was originally released in 1995 in Japan. Firstly, Taito translated the Japanese Estpolis 2 to the American Lufia 2, and everything seamed to be okay. But when the translation was complete they suddenly decided to shut down their American office. Now, of course, the release of the game was very questionable, but after a while Natsume decided to pick up the translation where Taito left. In the autumn of 1996 the game was released, and it's still one of the best rpgs ever made, after the FF-series of course. Natsume are planing to release Lufia 3 for Playstation in the late 1999, but as the Japanese publisher has gone bankrupt, I don't know if it will be released or not.

Story

Maxim is a monster hunter, who lives in the peaceful village of Elcid. One day there comes a guy telling the cave to Sundletan is full of monsters, and Maxim is the one who has to take care of it. After a few battles and a boss in the cave he so reaches Sundletan, where a quake just occurs. According to the people the source of these quakes lies in a deep cave in the northwest. As the hero he is, Maxim decides to help them, and once again he heads into a cave. Soon after that a girl named Tia joins him, and now the game really begins. Maxim will meat many new friends as he journeys, and lose some too. This game is very long and it takes place before the first Lufia. Because of that I suggest you to play Lufia 2 before the first one of the series.

Music

The music in both Lufia 1 and 2 is very good, at least better than most other games. The second part, however, has more instruments and therefor everything sounds more realistic. One of the best tunes of the game is the boss theme; it sounds like the one from FF6 in the beginning, but develops later on.

Graphics

I know some people that think the game's graphics are brilliant, but I tend to disagree. I'm not saying that it is bad or something, but for example FF6 has better. And don't forget that Lufia 2 was released two years later than FF6. However, the villages are wonderful and the battles are also quite good. Some mode 7 effects in the intro of the game also look nice.

Battles, menus, & gameplay

All the menus are totally redone since the first Lufia. Now they are much clearer and easier to navigate. The battles are the same as in Lufia 1, except the IP (Injury points) system. If you equip the right weapons you will gain special abilities, but only when a special IP bar is filled. As the enemies hit you, this bar will fill slowly. The special abilities can be everything from powerful magical attacks to usual protection, such as mirroring the enemies' attacks. The FF7 limits are very similar, so have in mind that Square didn't actually develop that system in the beginning. Another nice things that Taito has invented are the capsule monsters. When you've found these peaceful monsters they can help you with curing and such stuff during battle. All the dungeons have been greatly redone since the first Lufia. Now they are all filled with puzzles in every room, much like in the Zelda games. These puzzles, however, are much harder. Some of them can take hours to solve.