“Join the Shining Force in their valiant struggle to defeat the power-mad King Iom and his invading army. Play up to 12 characters from 20 unique classes as they grow in strength and ability. This CD combines the best of the Shining Force series into four complete adventures with over fifty battles!”  – from the Shining Force CD box.

Shining Force CD features far better graphics and sound than it’s Game Gear counterparts (Shining Force Gaiden and Shining Force Gaiden II) – as one would expect.

The game takes place 20 years after the original Shining Force. Anri is now the Queen of Guardiana, and some of the original Force (or their relatives) still dwell nearby, although many have returned to their homes in other parts of Rune.

In the first adventure, you play the role of Nick, a young man whose true identity is unknown until later in the game. The Guardiana Shining Force must travel to the Kingdom of Cypress to rescue Queen Anri…

In the second adventure, Prince Nick and the Cypress Troops join forces with Guardiana after rescuing Anri, to prevent Iom’s evil plan.

I won’t spoil the other adventures, you’ll have to play to find out about them!

The one thing I really missed while playing Shining Force CD was “town roaming” sections – there aren’t any. All towns are the same and are more like the one in Shining in the Darkness than in Shining Force. A single shop, and HQ, that’s it. No roaming around plundering houses… the game is battle upon battle with some cut scenes of story inbetween. Still great fun though, and great for those who get tired of spending an hour in town trying to figure out what to do next.