Who made Lunar?
A shooter studio, a two-room subsidiary, and a novelist who had never written a game.
Lunar was developed by Game Arts, a Tokyo studio known until then for action games (Thexder, Silpheed), in association with Studio Alex, a small planning-and-production company founded by Kazunari Tomi, formerly of Nihon Falcom. Game Arts producer Yoichi Miyaji oversaw both Mega-CD titles and returned to head the Saturn remake. The named company on the box is the least of it: Lunar's character comes from four hires.
THE FOUR HIRES
1990 to 1992Kei Shigema, the storyteller
A novelist recruited because Game Arts wanted a game with 'story-telling,' not just a story. Shigema supervised the scenario of both Mega-CD games, and his touch explains Lunar's unusual patience: villages with inner lives, jokes with setups, a world whose history is told in folklore rather than exposition dumps. He later novelized Silver Star Story himself.
Toshiyuki Kubooka, the face
An animator from the Gainax circle (Gunbuster, Nadia) doing his first character design for a game. He designed the cast, drew the packaging art, and planned the animated sequences; on the remake he is credited as Director of Event Movie.
Noriyuki Iwadare, the sound
One of four composers on the 1992 original (with Hiroshi Fujioka, Isao Mizoguchi, and Yoshiaki Kubodera), Iwadare became the series' musical identity and the only composer to return for the remake. His town themes and battle music are the part of Lunar fans hum unprompted.
Studio Alex, the room
Named after Lunar's hero before the game existed, Tomi's company handled planning and production out of a two-room (2DK) apartment where staff slept on site. Lunar was its first solid development credit; the studio's name is the series' founding joke and its founding fact.
THE SECOND TEAM
The remake and the WestJapan Art Media
The Saturn remake was co-developed with Japan Art Media under producer Miyaji, with Game Arts; Alfa System handled the PlayStation port (1998). The remake was an expensive production by design: the original's roughly ten minutes of internal animation became fifty minutes of new film.
Working Designs
The Redding, California publisher that localized every Lunar of the CD era and the PlayStation remakes, under president and head translator Victor Ireland. Their Lunar is a co-production in effect: gameplay tweaks, an added harp sequence, and packaging no Japanese release attempted.