Magic Knight Rayearth is an action/adventure video game that was made and published by Sega for the Sega Saturn. It is based on the anime series of the same name (Magic Knight Rayearth). The game was released in North America by the now defunct Working Designs; it was the last Saturn game released in the US region. Because of its late release in the US, it was not localized in Europe. Working Designs was based in Redding, California, and all the voice actors they used were local, as was their standard. Key voice actors such as Paul Howell and T. Owen Smith voiced the evil characters of the game.
Gameplay
Throughout the game, the player controls a party of three characters. However, only one character can battle at a time; though the other two characters will follow behind the active character, they cannot attack and are unaffected by all enemy attacks and even environmental hazards. The player can instantly change the active character at any time. In essence, the three characters confront the enemies, puzzles, and assorted threats of the game in a tag team fashion.
Unlike most RPGs, character upgrades and magic spells are mostly acquired upon progressing to certain points in the game, rather than by independent accomplishments. (The exceptions are maximum HP and maximum MP, which are increased by finding special items.) This is much like the Saturn's first RPG, Virtual Hydlide, with the important difference that weapons and armor in Magic Knight Rayearth are upgraded as part of general level ups and do not exist as distinct gameplay elements.
While the anime and manga both have the Magic Knights using color-coordinated swords, in the game only Hikaru uses a sword, while Umi uses a foil and Fuu a bow and arrow. Each of the three weapons has its own advantages and disadvantages. For instance, the bow works long range but requires precise aim, whereas the sword slices with broad strokes that make it easy to hit enemies but is short range only. The need to aim the bow is mostly removed once it is upgraded, since Fuu can then charge the weapon to make it "lock on" to the nearest target. However, unlike the sword and foil, the bow's attack power does not increase when it is charged up.
Source: Wikipedia, "Magic Knight Rayearth (video game)", available under the CC-BY-SA License.
Translated box back (Japanese Saturn version):Save this world…
You legendary magic knights…
Added to the anime story, is an original story line for the Sega Saturn!!
To be enjoyed both by Rayearth fans and those who do not yet know about the Rayearth world.
A next generation role playing game
trivia note: The US release of this game was the last release for the Saturn in the States** (from Japanese Wikipedia)