SaGa (Sa・Ga, サガ) is a series of console role-playing games produced by Square, now Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the brainchild of Akitoshi Kawazu. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the PlayStation 2. Among Square games, SaGa is second only to the Final Fantasy series in terms of the number of installments: as of 2007, nine games have been released in Japan in the series, seven of which released overseas.
The SaGa series follows the more traditional model of western role-playing games established by the Ultima series; its open-ended plot and free style of character development separate it from the more linear Final Fantasy series. Like the Final Fantasy series, however, the story in each SaGa game is independent of its counterparts. The early games in the series also feature some common gameplay elements and themes first established in Final Fantasy, such as random enemy encounters, but most of these disappear with the Romancing SaGa games, providing a unique gameplay experience. It also features a similar turn-based battle system, where a character's prowess is driven by numerical values called "statistics;" statistics, in turn, increase with combat experience. Given the open-ended aspect of gameplay and the ability to play through multiple character scenarios, heavy emphasis is placed upon the replay value of SaGa games.
Although they're all independent, the nine games from the SaGa series can be split into three distinct groups: the Final Fantasy Legend group, the Romancing SaGa trilogy, and the SaGa Frontier games (which include Unlimited SaGa).
The first installment in the SaGa series was released in Japan in December 1989 as Makai Tōshi Sa•Ga, which roughly translates as "SaGa: Tower of the Demon Realm." Not only was it the Game Boy's debut role-playing game, but it marked the first appearance of an RPG on any handheld video game console. The game retained many elements of Final Fantasy, such as random enemy encounters, but introduced new systems of developing characters. The game released in North America less than a year later as The Final Fantasy Legend, presumably to boost sales on the strength of Final Fantasy's name. An enhanced remake of the game released exclusively in Japan in 2002 for the Wonderswan Color, sporting more advanced graphics than displayed by the Game Boy's four-color set.
The first successor in the SaGa series was released in Japan in December 1990 as SaGa 2: Hihou Densetsu and in North America in November 1991 as Final Fantasy Legend II. The game retained the same character classes used in its predecessor, but introduced a fifth ally that often helps the player's party in combat. The game's story is more developed than the first SaGa game, with a journey that spans across more than a dozen worlds. GameSpot's "History of Console RPGs" touts Final Fantasy Legend II as the best of the Game Boy SaGa games, calling it a "portable gaming classic".[1]
The third game in the series, SaGa 3: Jikuu no Hasha, was released in Japan in December 1991. When it was released in North America in 1993, it retained the monikers of its predecessors as Final Fantasy Legend III. The game eliminated the class system of the previous two installments, instead emulating the style of Final Fantasy games and introducing four human characters with predetermined backgrounds.
All of the Final Fantasy Legend games were re-released in North America in 1998 and distributed by Sunsoft. The games remained exactly the same except that the Sunsoft logo replaced Square's logo.
The second set of SaGa games were all released exclusively in Japan on the Super Famicom (known internationally as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System). Efforts have been made by fans to unofficially translate the games.
The first Romancing SaGa game allows players to choose from one of eight character scenarios to follow. An enhanced remake of the game was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2, which was released outside Japan. The game bears the title Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song.
Romancing SaGa 2, the second installment of the Romancing SaGa series and the fifth in the SaGa series in general, places a greater emphasis on storyline than its predecessors. The game's story plays out across generations, so players cannot keep one party of warriors throughout the game.
The third Romancing SaGa game, Romancing SaGa 3, featured a battle system similar to that of Final Fantasy II and the first two SaGa games, where character development is determined by the player's commands in battle. If the player commands a character to cast magic spells frequently, for example, then that character will grow in magical power.
SaGa Frontier was both the first SaGa game to be released in North America since Final Fantasy Legend III in 1993 and the first of the series to be released in North America as a SaGa game. Similar in style to the earlier games in the series, SaGa Frontier allows players to choose from multiple characters, each with his or her own unique storyline and scenario. SaGa Frontier 2 released in Japan in 1999 and was one of Square's last RPGs produced for the PlayStation. The game shunned 3D graphics in favor traditional 2D hand-painted watercolor sprites. The game featured two separate storylines spanning across three generations. The final game in the series, Unlimited Saga, was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2002.
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Tracks 1-15 are from "SaGa-Warrior in the Tower of the Spirit World" (Legend), and tracks 16-34 are from "SaGa 2-The Treasure Legend" (Legend 2).
Tracks 1-20 are from "SaGa 3-The Ruler of Time and Space" (Legend 3), and track 21 is from "SaGa-Arrange Version".
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