Game #842: Lunar Knights

 Take me to the moon.

 Lunar Knights is yet another fun handheld Konami game, I mean, most of their GBA and DS games I played were pretty darn good and Lunar Knights is no exception.

 I liked the game's 2-D sprites, they are simple and undetailed but look neat. I hated Aaron's character design, however. Aaron and Lucian are pretty much Naruto and Sasuke rip offs. I know that Django, the Solar boy, used to be the protagonist, so I find it weird how Lucian, the moon dude, is more of a protagonist here. Oh, and in the original, Japanese version of the game, Aaron is called Django, but the localization just renamed everyone because why not.

 While I enjoyed the action and RPG elements of the game, I can't say I was any fond of the stealth sections. Thankfully, stealth is pretty much optional. I hate having to blow on the microphone to whistle and draw an enemy towards the sound. Oh, and falling down a bottomless pits is an instant game over, that sucks!!

 I liked the idea of playing as a duo of characters, but I stuck with Lucian most of the time since I liked his sword and simple Y 3-hit combo. I kept Aaron as a back-up, mostly, since he relies on guns and ranged combat, and can't attack if his energy meter is depleted, unlike Lucian. Thankfully, both characters earn experience points whenever you kill something. But, y'know what? The game offers an interesting variety of enemies that are better tackled with an specific hero, and as soon as both characters team up bosses start having gimmicks that revolve around switching characters.

 You may not know it from reading the title, but this is actually Solar Boy Django's fourth game, albeit it's more of a prequel. Was this game good enough to make me want to delve deeper into the franchise?.. I don't think so, not anytime soon. Plus, this game is pretty much self-contained.

 There's a surprisingly large amount of stuff to do! Beating a level is fine and dandy, but speaking to NPCs may sometimes unlock sidequests on previously explored stages. What's more, as you defeat bosses you unlock elemental spirits to coat your weapons with as well as the ability to visit a NPC and change the climate. Changing the climate may unlock alternate roads on stages towards goodies, while revisiting previously played stages with new elemental spirits may allow you to open up new roads, which might reward you with a few goodies... or entirely new dungeons. These optional dungeons is how you obtain Lucian's alternate weapons.

 There's quite a few things to like about Lunar Knights, and it's yet another fun handheld game by Konami. Man, Konami really had some golden franchises and solid titles back in the day, it makes it all the more depressing how they decided to shift their focus into Pachinko and Mobile.

 7.0