The moment the girls are swept into the world of Cefiro
Magic Knight Rayearth, created by the studio CLAMP, began as a manga series that debuted in 1993 and was later adapted into two anime series in 1994. In 1995, Sega developed and published the game, based on the first season of MKR, on the Saturn in Japan. Working Designs picked it up fairly immediately for North American localization, but due to a variety of reasons, the game stayed in localization hell until the studio finally released it in the latter half of 1998, making it the last official North American Sega Saturn release (sadly, no European release
Thus begins the adventure
for this title).
Patrick Traynor and Claire Sawyer have been playing the game on the Shiro! Anime Stream, and generally speaking, they really like the game. “If you enjoy (games such as) A Link to the Past, and LOVE anime, I’d definitely give it a shot!” raves Pat. Claire agrees. “I thought it would be (more like) Secret of Mana, and it turned out to be more… A Link to the Past. For JRPG fans who prefer more action than is offered by traditional, turn-based games, Magic Knight Rayearth is a great choice.”
In Magic Knight Rayearth, three eight-grade girls must negotiate their way through the fantastical land of Cefiro and rescue the captive Princess Emerald (Emeraude in the anime) from the evil clutches of the vile antagonist Zagat and his horde of minions. Despite there being three playable characters, this is a one-player game – the gamer controls one of the girls whilst the other two trail in a triangle formation. The player can switch between girls on the fly with the L or R buttons. Each of the girls has a different weapon and special attacks: Red-haired Hiraku uses a sword and has fire-based magic, Cool-as-ice Umi uses a rapier and specializes in water magic, and the reserved but heroic Fuu is a bow-wielding, wind and healing specialist. There are tangible gameplay differences when using each of the girls, so it definitely pays off to switch between characters on the fly.
“Umi is my favourite Magic Knight.” Claire confesses. “She’s refined, yet assertive, and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. I love her blue image color!”
Hikaru
Pat, on the other hand, prefers Fuu. “Definitely Fuu. She seems very timid and shy, much like I was (and to a point still am). But she does what is necessary for her friends.”
As for yours truly, it’s got to be Hikaru. She may be hot-headed, but her heart is always in the right place. She is never afraid of following her heart.
Working Designs had a very public fallout with Sega at the 1997 E3 – however, the company must be commended for not sparing any expenses for the ‘translocalization’ and the packaging – not to mention the disc art variants that they were (in)famous for! The manual is crafted of heavy, glossy stock with multicolored reflective foil highlights across all the cover artwork. The pages are all full-color as well, and the final page does include the ‘Translation Notes’ which the company included with each release. The manual also includes an attached, foldout sheet of stickers, with two of those being RAM cart stickers. The game itself comes in three CD label variations – profiles of each of the girls. We reached out to Victor Ireland (head of Working Designs) to inquire if any one variant was more rare or common – he confirmed that whilst yes, some WD variants were rarer than others, for Magic Knight Rayearth, the three discs were produced in equal volumes. Obviously only one disc is required to enjoy the game, but collectors will need to have all three. That includes Pat – “I’d love to one day, because this is one of my favorite Saturn RPGs!”
Colorful graphics
There is a hefty amount of spoken dialogue in the game, and 90s era English voiceovers were not known to be the best. “They are super cheesy 90s voice acting, clichés and all. I absolutely love it!” says Pat, whilst Claire has a slightly different opinion: “I appreciate the English voice-overs but prefer the Japanese ones. Panzer Dragoon Saga established my love for English subbed media – I almost always watch anime with Japanese voices and play undubs of JRPGs whenever possible. An undub of Magic Knight Rayearth exists, but it does have some leftover Japanese text and other minor issues. I still recommend it!” In the end, it does come down to personal taste.
The actual translation of the game is classic Working Designs, and there are heated opinions on whether this is a good thing. Claire explains: “The MKR English script might be better called a localization than a translation, like those of Working Designs’ other JRPGs of the era. This amount of creative liberty might not be well-received by everyone, but personally, I think it’s wonderful! It’s littered with pop culture references and mature humor that really pushed the limits of what was considered acceptable for games at that time. My favorite LOL moment? When Umi yells “SKANK!!!” at Alcyone!”. The amount of 90s pop-culture references enhances the nostalgia factor, adding to the charm. Purists, however, may not be impressed.
Visually, the game has aged gracefully. “2D always holds up the best compared to its counterpart 3D games on the Saturn (Cough… Mr. Bones). I felt MKR held up great and would be received well if released on virtual console. Heck, The Game Paradise (Sega Saturn Schmup) was recently remastered and released to great reception!” This from Pat, who secretly LOVES Mr. Bones but just isn’t ready to share this with the world just yet. The rich colors, hand-drawn locales, and 90s 2D effects really stand out for Claire. “I’m notoriously fond of dated graphics. Pat and I noted some silly-looking animations like the fire in Laye and the Magic Knights’ tendency to get stuck off-screen, but I find these quirks charming rather than something that detracts from the game.”
Working Designs’ translations were always bold
The Shiro! Anime Streams are a perfect way to get acquainted with the various anime-based games available on the Saturn, many of which were not available to Western audiences. “Absolutely not in the US.” Pat confirms. “In Japan however, there were a TON!”. Claire agrees: “There sure are a lot of titles I wish we would’ve seen in North America. Thankfully, our incredible Saturn community has picked up some of SEGA’s slack! My favorite anime, Revolutionary Girl Utena, has a game on the Saturn that received an English fan translation a few years ago. I was thrilled! I really hope to see more MKR-caliber anime games like Slayers Royal and Evangelion translated in the future.”
Folks, the Shiro! Anime Stream runs every Saturday at 2 p.m. EST, so be sure to join Pat and Claire as they tackle anime games for your viewing pleasure – including the conclusion to their epic Magic Knight Rayearth playthrough. Not sure if the game is worth dropping the cash for? Watch a stream to get a very intimate glimpse of what the game is all about, plus listen to Pat and Claire’s insights as they play. Be sure not to miss it!
With Partick Traynor and Claire Sawyer,
Peter Malek
Sega Saturn, Shiro!
A Saturn fan since the beginning, Peter plays Saturn almost exclusively. For Peter, Saturn represents a moment in time where 2D games were at their best, 3D was just rising, and fascinating gaming ‘firsts’ were commonplace. There are very few Saturn games that Peter cannot find some enjoyment in!
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