Lufia is a traditional menu-based RPG with some puzzle elements. While most games start at the beginning of the series, the Fortress of Doom starts 100 years after the second game in the series. It’s kind of confusing, the second game in the series is a prequel to this one.

It starts with a group of warriors led by a dude with the stupid name of Maxim. The other members of your party are Selan, Artea (both decent names) and Guy (did they run out of ideas?). Pretty much the game starts right before the end boss battles from the second game. After defeating the Sinistrals (another stupid name) the real game begins (well, 99 years later).

The story is about the Sinistrals rising and the player has to stop them. Simple enough.

Yes, but not only yours.

I may not think much about the character names, but this game was one of my favorite SNES RPGs. I liked it because it was one of the first RPGs I played that had a story that drew me in. Another thing I liked were the puzzles. Most RPGs, you just go from point A to point B and kill things. The dungeons in Lufia are full of puzzles like those in the Zelda series. Some rooms may not let you pass until you answer a riddle or find the hidden door. Other rooms you may need to arrange things in a particular order for the door to the next room to unlock.

I know I said this is a traditional menu-based RPG, but that’s not very accurate. In battle, they have a cross with the battle commands. Center is attack, up is magic,  left is items, etc.

Some Screenshots