★★★★★ 5
An interesting read for fans of the classic series.
Format: Hardcover
The Ultimania is a nice collection of background info and original artwork for the series, and this book details the first six entries that appeared on Nintendo systems between 1987 and 1994. For fans of the 8-bit era, you may be a bit disappointed to find their sections a bit light on content, but they do feature gorgeous artwork from Yoshitaka Amano, Akihiko Yoshida, and other artists who worked on the remakes for the Wonderswan and PSP versions. There is also some neat background info like notes and outlines from the titles early development.
The real meat of the book comes from the 16-bit era entries which detail some interesting info not usually seen, such as artwork of the characters by the staff, dungeon design details, and a few minor cut content. If you're a serious fan of the franchise and can't read Japanese making the 20th and 25th anniversary Japanese Ultimania books nothing more than an art book for you, then this is a great buy for super fans.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2019
