Magic Knight Rayearth

Magic Knight Rayearth was released for Saturn in Japan on August 25th, 1995, and on November 30th, 1998 in North America.

In this action RPG, you play as the titular Magic Knights: three girls from the real world who are summoned to the magical land of Cephiro to save Princess Emeraude.

The story mostly follows the plot of the first half of the anime. The heroines receive weapons and armor that evolve as they grow mentally stronger, with the objective of awakening the Mashin, three giant robots that hold the key to saving Emeraude. So the girls explore the world of Cephiro, searching for the Mashin, helping citizens along the way, and battling the lackeys of Zagato, the main villain.

This next part won't be news to fans of the anime or manga, but for anyone who thinks this is a straightforward "save the princess" story, the twists in the final act make it well worth experiencing.

If you've never read the original manga, the best way to do it is in Japanese. And with Negai Japan's proxy service, we buy it for you and ship it straight to your door.

Gameplay

Being an action RPG, you can tell this game drew a lot of inspiration from The Legend of Zelda. You walk around attacking enemies in real time; they may drop money and healing orbs, but there are no experience points. Instead, the characters raise their HP and MP through story progression and the occasional rare item found while exploring.

You only control one heroine at a time, but you can freely switch between them with the press of a button. Each girl has a different attack pattern and different spells, so you can pick whoever fits the situation best.

Even though this isn't a particularly difficult game, each knight has a small HP pool. Combined with a fairly short attack range, it's easy to take hits while trying to defeat enemies, and a few blows are enough to put them out of commission. Being smart about when to switch characters quickly becomes a necessity.

Attention to Detail

The core gameplay is already fun and polished enough to make this worth playing on its own. But what really caught my attention, and I'm sure it'll have the same effect on other fans of the series, is how much care went into the presentation.

There are multiple animated cutscenes, voiced dialogue for all the major plot moments, and varied animated portraits during conversations. But the feature I love most is the story recap option.

I usually skip story recaps in games, but here, as you progress, each girl writes her own diary entry from her own point of view, in her own speech patterns, with cute little hand-drawn illustrations in her own style. After every major story beat, I found myself checking the diary. Not to remember what happened, but just because revisiting events through their eyes was a genuine joy.

Short and Sweet

Some reviews criticize the game's length, calling it short at around 15 hours. After nearly five hours of play, I had only just freed the first Mashin, and the pacing felt good throughout, so I think how you feel about the length depends on your expectations. For me, 15 hours feels just right for this style of game.

For Japanese Learners

Since the original work was aimed at young teenagers, the Japanese used throughout the franchise, including this game, stays relatively accessible. There's no furigana, and the animated cutscenes don't have subtitles, but neither felt like a major obstacle, especially since those scenes are fairly short.

I'd recommend this game for learners moving out of the beginner phase and looking for something at an intermediate level.

Surprisingly High Production Value

Games based on anime, manga, and movies were often low-quality cash-ins, especially during the 16- and 32-bit era. This one is a genuine exception. The visuals are excellent, and the overall production quality is impressive.

I can wholeheartedly recommend Magic Knight Rayearth to anyone looking for a solid action RPG, even if you have no prior connection to the anime or manga.

Magic Knight Rayearth for Saturn deserves a spot in every collector's library. Head over to negaijapan.com and let us help you track down this and many other Japanese gems.