Development
Early in 1997, North American fans of the series started a petition on IGN's PSX Power for a Western release of the first two games of the series. Three years later in 2000, Working Designs hinted that they would be localizing all three of the Arc games for a North American release in a bundle called Arc the Lad Collection. On April 18, 2002, after a series of unmet release dates, the Arc the Lad Collection was released in North America. This was the first time North American gamers were able to play the extremely popular Japanese-exclusive series. The collection encompasses six discs and four games. Arc the Lad, which was released on June 30, 1995 in Japan, set the stage for the series and pioneered such features as computer generated videos and orchestrated music. The second game featured in the compilation is Arc the Lad II, released less than five months after Arc the Lad, on November 1, 1995. Originally both games were intended to be one, but due to time constraints and deadlines, the first game was released ahead of time. Both games were commercially successful in Japan.
Continuing the compilation is Arc Arena: Monster Tournament. This builds on the concept of data transfer and allows players to trade items and weapons with other players by importing their respective saved games. Monsters, who can be captured and controlled in Arc the Lad II, can also be used in this game to fight tournament-style matches. Arc the Lad III, which was released on October 28, 1999, is the last game featured in the collection. This game features an updated battle and graphics system, while using gameplay similar to that of the previous games.
The collection also features the documentary disc Making of Arc the Lad, which includes exclusive interviews with Victor Ireland, the president of Working Designs at that time. It comes with a leather-bound, 150-page, full-color instruction booklet. It also includes the Omake Box ("omake," pronounced "o-ma-keh," is Japanese for "extra"). The Omake Box features cardboard miniature standees of all 22 characters, four analog stick covers—one of Arc, one of Elc, one of Alec and one of the Arc the Lad emblem—and a memory card case featuring Arc's face.
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—Gail Sheehy (20th century)