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> Results: Lunar: Dragon Song
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Lunar: Dragon Song (Lunar DS) is the first role playing game to come to North America for the Nintendo DS, and is also the first all-new game in this series in a decade. As such, it carries the weight of high expectations. Unfortunately, while it's a game that many casual fans will enjoy, it won't live up to the hype for hardcore fans.
I don't claim to know much about game design, but it seems to me that if you are going to change two basic elements of an established genre when bringing it to a new platform, you should be very careful not to do things that make life more difficult for the player. Lunar: Dragon Song first changes how you move. You can run, but lose hit points for doing so. Not only that, but hit points don't regenerate, so running through the woods could be a deadly choice if you meet up with enemies. Speaking of enemies, while most games reward successful battles by granting the player experience and occasional items, this game's other fundamental change takes a different path. You choose a combat mode, which results in getting items and having enemies regenerate after a time, or gaining experience and having enemies die permanently provided you kill them all within a certain amount of time. In addition, the combat animations are very slow, making battles considerably longer than is necessary.  The remainder of this lengthy game is fairly standard fantasy role-playing stuff. It has a good story surrounding the main characters, and a number of folks that can be recruited into the adventuring party. There is a courier business the main character belongs to, and side quests that can be taken on in various areas. Travel in any area is cumbersome because only areas in close proximity are labeled or accessible, and within a town the same hit-point penalties apply as in combat areas. Combat becomes somewhat more rewarding as you increase your party's power, but the inability to direct specific attacks at specific enemies makes the combat system feel somewhat random. Lunar Dragon Song has a number of interesting elements as well as a lengthy quest. It is a good game hampered by flaws and a feeling of being padded for length. The game feels and plays like a Game Boy Advance title stretched for height and with minor adjustments for the touch screen. Despite the positives, it just doesn't live up to the standards of games for Nintendo's previous handheld systems.  
The content is similar to other fantasy role-playing games brought to handhelds such as Golden Sun or last year's Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls for the GameBoy Advance. However, there is a slightly older feel to the relationships and happenings in the game. It doesn't make any of it T-rated, but its enough where some situations might confuse very small children. Any child old enough to read through all of the dialogue and work through all of the scenarios is old enough to handle this game.
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