GamesJRPGNobody seems to know why it took 25 years to get the Lunar Remastered Collection, but it might go back to the beloved JRPG’s controversial localizationWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesJRPGNobody seems to know why it took 25 years to get the Lunar Remastered Collection, but it might go back to the beloved JRPG’s controversial localizationWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: GungHo)
The Lunar Remastered Collection was announced atPlayStation State of Playthis week, finally bringing a pair of beloved JRPGs back to modern audiences after a 25-year gap. Fans of the series had begun to give up hope that these games would ever get a modern remaster, and it all comes back to the controversial English localization that brought them to Western audiences in the first place.
Fans of Japanese obscurities tended to have a love-and-hate relationship with Working Designs in the ’90s. The studio picked up the torch for JRPGs in an era before they had become mainstream, and gave English translations to many notable games that may otherwise never have been localized. But those localizations were filled with pop culture references and various bits of crass humor. Much of it is now very dated, and there are a few bits that would definitely not fly in 2024.
Nonetheless, the Working Designs translation wasthetranslation of the original Lunar games, and after the company shut down in the ’00s, the rights to that localization appeared to wind up with former president Victor Ireland. Pretty much all we know about Ireland’s stewardship of those rights comes from rumors and a few posts he made on old gaming forms before he largely disappeared from the public eye.
What we do know is that the Working Designs versions of Lunar have never gotten a modern re-release. TheSega Genesis Mini 2, notably, included the Japanese Sega CD versions of the Lunar games, but not the English versions. In a review of the mini-console,YouTube channel Game Sack- a channel that tends to be pretty clued in on happenings in the retro game scene - reported that Ireland passed on giving Sega the rights to the Lunar translation because he felt they weren’t offering enough money.
Lunar Remastered Collection - Announce Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games - YouTubeWatch On
Lunar Remastered Collection - Announce Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games - YouTube
Lunar Remastered Collection - Announce Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games - YouTube
I’m not here to pass judgment on Ireland’s apparent holdout on releasing those rights - after all, any full-length, human-made translation represents something valuable, and the few details we have on the discussions between Ireland and Sega come down to hearsay. But these are the sorts of things Lunar fans have latched onto as the reasons why the original games have never gotten an English re-release.
The original Lunar did get two more remakes in the form of Lunar Legend and Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, both of which were released in English with all-new scripts that didn’t bear much similarity to the Working Designs version. But neither of these remakes were the original Lunar that fans really wanted to see on modern platforms.
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Getting English versions of the original Lunar and Lunar 2 on modern platforms would apparently mean either paying Ireland for the rights to the old translation or creating a new localization in-house, and up to this point no publisher has been willing to take on either expense for a straight remaster of the old games. Until, that is, GungHo announced the Lunar Remastered Collection at State of Play.
On thePlayStation blog, GungHo said the remaster collection features “all-new English voice acting,” but beyond that we don’t know the exact nature of this localization. The bits of dialog we hear in the translation sound similar to the Working Designs version, but there’s not enough of it to determine if it’s all one to one. The copyrights on theofficial sitecertainly make no reference to Working Designs, Ireland himself, or his modern company Gaijinworks.
Exactly what’s changed to make Lunar Remastered Collection a reality is still a mystery, but I doubt fans will be questioning thingstoohard when all it really means is that we’ve finally gotten a Lunar re-release 25 years overdue.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
5Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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Nightbitch review: “Amy Adams' disappointing dark comedy is all bark and no bite”
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
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4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5
Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”