Live A Live
When Ifirst covered the rumorthat Square Enix was reaching well into its own past to dig up long-lost Super Famicom releaseLive A Live,I will admit that, despite being pleased with the preservation element, I didn’t really think that the endeavor would amount to much. After all, various ’90s classics have been resurrected time and again, only tofall short of their former gloriesor, in the worst cases,miss the point entirely.
ButLive A Livewas somethingdifferent.Live A Live, launched in 1994 at the tail-end of the 16-bit reign, was both ambitious and way ahead of its time. The unknown release featured a slew of characters and worlds, multiple backstories, and a fascinating chrono-conundrum set against the backdrop of eight different time periods — from prehistory and Imperial China, to the American Midwest and the far-flung future.
To build this complex story — complete with wildly different stylistic settings — for the humble Super Famicom was an incredible feat, and conceptually beyond anything available on the console at the time. A feat readily achieved by director Takashi Tokito (Parasite Eve, Chrono Trigger), designer Nobuyuki Inoue (Sword of Mana, Mother 3), composer Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts), and the rest of Square’s talented RPG sector known as Development Division 5.
Developed by Square’s Team Asano, and overseen by Tokita himself, theLive a Liveremake wisely avoids tampering with the original title too much, merely cleaning up the visuals, accurately translating the dialogue, and offering small tweaks to elements of its gameplay, control, and U.I to better present the title on modern technology to modern audiences. The delightful characters and worlds were redrawn by Naoki Ikushima, while Shimomura, having lost the master tapes, recomposed the entire soundtrack by ear — a task she admitted heldmomentousweight, given fans’ love of the game’s score.
Finally released in the summer of this year, theLive A Liveremake retains all of its power to capture and charm an audience’s imagination. Importantly, it finally cements over a large pothole in the history of developer Square Enix, and sees one of the most pioneering and ambitious RPG releasesever developedto players young and old, many of whom now have the opportunity to experience this fine adventure for the very first time.
It may have taken almost three decades, butLive A Livecanfinallybask in its long-deserved spotlight.
