The Tactical Console RPG was first created by Nintendo in the form of the hugely influential Fire Emblem - an unforgiving yet enjoyable game for the Famicom. Some years later Sega came along and did what they often do best: they took the Nintendo blueprints and injected their own sense of fun and greater accessibility into them. The Megadrive’s Shining Force was born.

Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention (to give it the full title) was co-developed by Climax and Sega’s Team Sonic. It was a TRPG that threw away the complicated menus and Arthurian themes and replaced them with simple controls and unique fantasy creatures. In 2004, Sega’s Amusement Vision brings us Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon - a Gameboy Advance remake that attempts to refine the formula into something even more fun and unique.

For the most part, Amusement Vision have done a fantastic job. Everything that made Shining Force fun back in 1992 remains intact. Battle commands are still assigned to the four points of the d-pad so that menus can be navigated quickly and easily. This means that less battle time is taken up by choosing attacks, magic and items so that priority can be given to deciding where to deploy characters and how best to make use of their abilities. Battle layout is also refreshingly different to the norm: the current trend is to have the enemy squad at one side of a map and the player squad deployed at the other (as in Final Fantasy Tactics). Shining Force, however, likes to mix things up a little. One battle, for example, sees the hero surrounded by zombies at the altar of a church whilst the rest of the team are situated at the entrance and must race to him before the zombies can kill him.

In Shining Force, every character has their own story and character traits, meaning that players will become attached to them and do everything they can to ensure their survival during combat. The playable combatants range from generic swordsmen, clerics and mages, through to more inventive characters such as birdmen and centaurs, to the rather unique Jogurt - an otter-like animal that wears a flying cap and goggles. This is the main reason why the Shining Force series is so compulsively playable: every character is so unique and interesting that the player will want to make use of each one and find all the secret characters, too. If you do not like the way your warriors look they can be promoted at level 10; this awards them a cosmetic change and slightly upgrades their statistics.

Several new faces have also been added to the mix. Non-playable characters such as the vagabond adventurer Boken from Shining Soul II make an appearance, as well as several new playable fighters. The most significant of these are Narsha, Zuika and Mawlock, who are used in newly-added side quests that take place as epilogues to the first three chapters, after which they join the main force for the remaining chapters. Narsha is a mace-wielding princess and Zuika a magic-using Ninja Grasshopper (!). Mawlock, meanwhile, is the most useful and interesting of the new crowd. The mysterious mask wearer cannot be equipped with any weapons or armour but instead wields the many collectible cards that can be found in the game’s environment. Each card depicts a particular character from the game, ranging from your own squad, enemy monsters and even the end-of-chapter bosses. Mawlock can use these to copy the abilities of the character on the card, double that warrior’s actions or even create a duplicate of some of them in order to bolster the team.

The card system is by far the most rewarding feature to turn up in this new version of Shining Force; the other additions being something of a mixed bag. The most obvious of these is the graphical update. The whole game has been given a brighter, more cartoon-like look that is well suited to the move from Megadrive to Gameboy Advance. Character sprites are rounder and more detailed whilst environments are afforded a greater variety of styles. Fans of the original game may complain that the dark and brooding atmosphere of the story is contradicted by the graphical appearance, but the overhaul is essential to the handheld format, especially if you play on the poorly lit GBA rather than an SP. It’s a shame, however, that AV did not include a higher resolution display option for the Gameboy Player - the style of play is a little more suited to prolonged sessions in front of the television set rather than five minutes on the bus.

The game’s script has also gone through a few minor alterations that may slightly contradict the Megadrive version, but is actually more closely modelled on the original Japanese script. The biggest change is that the main hero, Max, is given a speaking role where he once remained silent. This silent hero has long been a staple of the Shining series of games (which may well upset the more hardcore fan) but it does lend an emotional weight to the plot that was missing from the previous version.

The greatest problem with Shining Force is that RPG veterans will find it far too easy. Each battle can be finished first time around without too much effort and the modifications that AV have made only make them easier. The game does get progressively harder with each additional play through, but it is so linear that there really is no reason to do so other than to find all of the secret characters and collect all the cards.

Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon has been released in Europe a full three months before the Japanese and American versions, making this region's release a considerably worthwhile purchase. Ultimately though, Shining Force is only worth buying for those who like their RPG meals to be served in small helpings and without any fat. Those who are growing tired of the endless pages of stats and infinite battles that are currently in vogue will find a lot to enjoy here.