Retro Gaming- Shining The Holy Ark: (1996)

When it comes down to RPG titles of the 90’s the Shining Force series was really popular during that time period.  As cool as Shining The Holy Ark was back in the mid 90’s for the Sega Saturn some might argue that the game itself did not get the type of recognition that it deserved.   One of the cool things about Shining The Holy Ark was the fact that it looked like a high quality Sony PlayStation game.  The gameplay and graphics for Shining The Holy Ark looked great for its time and had also included a generic but interesting plot that was included twists as players progressed throughout the game.  The main characters of the game included mercenaries such as Arthur, Forte and Melody who are charged with the task of retrieving a rouge ninja named Rodi.  Unlike some of the preceding Shining Force titles for the Sega Genesis right before “The Holy Ark” this game reverts back to the dungeon crawler RPG format that was utilized in Shining in the Darkness which was released in 1991.

Along with being an exciting dungeon crawler RPG there are various features about Shining The Holy Ark that are interesting including the first person gameplay along with the overworld map feature which looked very impressive.   Shining The Holy Ark was one of those games that could be considered a hidden gem for the Sega Saturn.   When it comes down to RPG titles Camelot Software Planning has produced some pretty cool games such as Golden Sun series which was featured mainly on Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS.  Without a doubt the Shining Force series is considered to be legendary on the older Sega consoles of the  90’s while “The Holy Ark” is arguably considered to be one of best games for the Sega Saturn.  As good as Shining The Holy Ark was during its time some people would argue that it deserved some type of re-release or HD Remake.  Even though, many gamers of today’s generation probably have no idea on what the Shining series is about old school players who were into gaming back in the 90’s would probably enjoy a possible re-release of this 3D classic by Camelot Software Planning.