The original Skies of Arcadia stands as one of the finest games available for the Dreamcast. The game was developed by Overworks, best known for the Sakura Taisen series in Japan, and was released in November 2000 for the Dreamcast. The role-playing game offered an experience that captured the feel of the old-school classics many gamers grew up on, but with a nautical twist. When Sega announced its shift toward multiplatform development, Skies of Arcadia was named as one of the titles slated for release on the GameCube. Rather than just port the Dreamcast game, Overworks has gone ahead and expanded it for the GameCube edition, called Skies of Arcadia Legends. While the game hit Japan at the end of December, we got our hands on a previewable build of the US version, which is slated to hit at the end of January. Featuring solid graphics, an engaging story, and strong gameplay, Skies of Arcadia Legends is looking quite good.

Vyse and Fina kick some Valuan Empire tail in the game.

For those unfamiliar with the Dreamcast game on which it's based, Skies of Arcadia Legends is set in the fantasy world of Arcadia, a land that is made up of floating islands. The game's story follows the adventures of Vyse, a young air pirate who is a member of the noble Blue Rogues, not to be confused with the far more sinister Black Pirates. Unlike the Black Pirates, who take a stereotypical antisocial approach toward their pirating and engage in indiscriminate theft and assault, the Blue Rogues are a more selective bunch that rob from the rich and give to the poor. The Blue Rogues' philanthropic ways lead them to rescue a mysterious young girl named Fina from the Valuan Empire, the game's oppressive baddies. As you would expect, Fina's mysterious past and the mission she was on when the Valuans captured her end up involving Vyse and his friend Aika in a quest to get to the ancient relics, which could bring about the destruction of Arcadia, before the Valuan Empire gets to them. While the core story is essentially the same as the DC game, Overworks has thrown in some surprises to keep things interesting.

In terms of gameplay, Skies of Arcadia Legends stays true to the original game, which was rooted firmly in the classic turn-based RPG genre. Your time in the game will be split between exploration and combat. You'll find two types of exploration in the game: on foot and in an airship. When on foot you'll roam through towns, interact with nonplayer characters, and poke around dungeons, where you'll be required to solve puzzles and face off against bosses. When in the sky aboard an airship, you'll navigate your way to new destinations while keeping an eye out for archaeological discoveries and Black Pirates with bounties on their heads.

The same split between land- and sky-based adventuring applies to combat in the game as well. When exploring dungeons with your party, which can grow to be four strong, you'll engage in random turn-based battles. You'll choose from four types of attacks during a battle: normal, s-move, magic, and offensive items. Normal attacks are a standard physical attack that characters perform with their individual weapons. S-move will let you perform one of several moves that are unique to each character; while some are offensive, others can offer support to the entire party by healing them each turn or protecting against magic attacks. Magic is based on the experience level of the six elemental moonstones each member of the party carries. Although every character can learn roughly the same spells by leveling up their stones, it will be easier for characters to learn certain magic types depending on their affinity to the elements. Finally, you'll be able to use items to attack or heal the party during battle.

Cupil is cute and deadly.

While combat sounds fairly straightforward, there's actually quite a bit of strategy to it. One of the major components is spirit points, which are used for all actions during battle. The entire party draws from the same bar, which slowly fills during each turn. As a result, you'll be forced to plan your attacks carefully and make the best use of your party members and the available points. In addition, the six moonstones your characters will carry can be equipped to their weapons on the fly during combat. Switching the moonstone you have equipped is key to successfully completing battles, as the enemies you'll encounter in the game will be vulnerable to specific stones.

Combat in the air differs slightly from dungeon combat. While you'll encounter random battles that take place on the deck of your airship and that follow the same rules as ground-based combat, many air battles and boss fights will involve ship-to-ship fights. The core mechanics for the battles are roughly the same in that you'll have the same basic set of attacks available, but the turn-based element does work a bit differently. You'll plan out your attacks on a grid that features a color-coded bar across the top to let you keep track of the threat posed by your foe. Once you've settled on a set of moves, you sit back and watch things play out.