Genre: Action RPG

Platform: Sega Saturn

Developer: Sega

Publisher: Working Designs

The last Saturn game to reach the shores of North America, Magic Knight Rayearth was a decent way to end the ill-fated life of the Saturn in North America. The game, based on a popular manga and anime of the same name and created the by all female team of CLAMP, was the subject of much delay, possibly the most a game has ever had the misfortune of experiencing. The game was released in 1996 in Japan and was scheduled for a release the following year in North America by conversion veterans, Working Designs. The game was plagued by massive delays as Victor Ireland, head of WD, and the Japanese copyright holders fought over the usage of the girls' original names in the North American version. Thankfully, the names were kept and the game was finally released as the last Saturn game in late 1998.

The game itself is a standard Action RPG, that is very lush and colourful and highlighted by 20 minutes of anime movies. You take control of Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu, in their quest as Magic Knights to save the crumbling world of Cefiro, whose pillar, Princess Emerald, has been taken prisoner by the Priest Zagat. The original manga was made with a very RPG feel to it, as the girls obtain evolved weapons and armor as the story progresses. The game is short and the world is small, and it feels very scripted especially since it mimics the original story save a few events and characters that are unique to the game. The graphics are old-school and feature sprite-based, super-deformed, characters. The various in-game effects, such as babbling brooks and trees swaying in the wind would have been a nice touch if not for the bit of slowdown that occurs when you pass these points. As far as asthetics go, this game is a winner, it looks very pretty. The musical score, is mostly comprised of remixed themes from the anime show, and the opening song done in english to the theme of the original Japanese opening, leaves much to be desired. The difficulty level is very low and doesn't offer a great deal of challenge to the experienced RPG player.

Working Designs also offers some extras to North American players...when obtaining all the Rainbow Crystals hidden throughout the game, you can gain access to not only Mokona's House (sound test area) but also outtakes from the english voice over, which was good but also had some really bad acting and characterizations (read: Ascot and Clef). The packaging is well done as is Working Designs norm, featuring a full colour manual as well as memory card stickers. All this is surprising, given Working Designs attitude towards Sega at that time, when Bernie Stolar ran Sega of America, but it just goes to show their commitment to their games and the gamers who play them.

All in all, Magic Knight Rayearth can be recommended certainly to fans of the manga or anime and only recommended to other players who have time to run through another standard-type RPG and don't care much for the innovation factor.

Graphics: 7

Gameplay: 8

Challenge: 5

Sound: 7

Story: 7

Overall: 7