Live A Live is a role-playing game that Square released for the Super Famicom in Japan on 2 September 1994. It was Takashi Tokita's first game as director, and its score was Yoko Shimomura's first large-scale project after joining Square. The game was a joint project with the publisher Shogakukan: seven manga artists, including Gosho Aoyama, Yoshinori Kobayashi and Yumi Tamura, each designed the hero of one chapter.
The seven main scenarios jump between Prehistory, Imperial China, Twilight of Edo Japan, the Wild West, the Present Day, the Near Future and the Distant Future. Finishing them unlocks The Middle Ages and a final chapter that ties the stories together. Even the logo plays a game: the second LIVE is mirrored so that it reads as EVIL.
With 270,000 units sold, the original was considered a failure, and it stayed in Japan for decades. Western players knew it through a fan translation by Aeon Genesis until a worldwide HD-2D remake arrived in 2022.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JP | ライブ・ア・ライブRaibu A RaibuSuper Famicom original; Japan only until 2022 | SNES | Sep 2, 1994 | Square | 1 |
| JP | ライブ・ア・ライブRaibu A RaibuVirtual Console; English Wikipedia gives 17 June 2015, Japanese Wikipedia 24 June 2015 | Wii U | June 2015 | Square Enix | 2 |
| JP | ライブ・ア・ライブRaibu A RaibuNew Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console | Nintendo 3DS | Nov 28, 2016 | Square Enix | 2 |
Also known as: ライブ・ア・ライブ JP2Raibu A Raibu JP2LIVE A LIVE JP2
Box art by region
JP ライブ・ア・ライブ
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Translations
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English Fan
Aeon GenesisSNES · Japanese versionReleased
The fan translation group Aeon Genesis made an unofficial English translation of the Super Famicom game.1
Best version
The original Super Famicom game was released only in Japanese and was sold legally only on the Japanese Virtual Console. The 2022 HD-2D remake for Switch (2023 on PS4, PS5 and Windows) is a separate game.1
Reception
With 270,000 units sold, the original release was considered a failure, partly because it came out alongside entries in established series. It was praised for its unusual gameplay and story structure, while its short length was criticized.1
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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