Phantasy Star II

"A sequel that lives up to the original in every way....wow."

Phantasy Star II was released by Sega in the beginning of 1990. The game starts with you--Rolf, an Agent of the town of Paseo--having a recurring nightmare about a young girl fighting a giant demon (Phantasy Star vets will recognize this battle). The morning after, you're told by your commander to retrieve a Recorder from the Biosystems Lab that will tell what is going wrong with the Mother Brain--the computer that essentially keeps Mota alive. Let's look at the ratings:

Graphics: 9/10- The Graphics basically pushed the Genesis to its first-generational limits. When walking around you got to see each of your characters in the party (Something you still don't get in Final Fantasy 8!), and the dungeons, being futuristic, had all sorts of ''weird stuff'' on the ceiling (I dunno, pipes or something) that, while sometimes getting in the way of your view of the characters, helped enhance the mood. The battle sequences are probably the best thing about the game though. You see large portraits of your enemies, and they actually attack you--you get to see the animations of your characters and the enemies as the battle plays out. One minor complaint I have, though, is with the characters with weapons in each hand. They attack with the same hand twice. Um...doesn't that defeat the purpose of my having spent twice the money on weapons? Why don't you just attack with the same hand twice in the first place? Also, the battles take place against a simple grid.

Sound: 10/10- Very nice, and unlike most Genesis games, the sound comes in ''Crisply'', clearer than most other Genesis games if you will. The score is very synthy, and is mostly upbeat, especially in (Of all things) the boss battles. The sound effects are pretty nice too, though sometimes I wonder what's up with the ''Bishoo! Bishoo! Bishoo!'' that plays when you take damage. Other than that, though, the sound is well done--the swords sound like swords, the claws like claws, etc. The only thing wrong is that if you briefly pause the game (And I mean very briefly), the bass will sometimes decide to take a vacation when you resume. This can be cured by pausing and unpausing the game a second time. Guess that's where I got my work ethic from. :P

Control: 8/10- Minor problems here. While it wasn't a big deal at the time of its release, the rate at which your characters move around in this game can seem a bit slow in comparison to the games of today, which have ''Run'' buttons or what have you. Also, the battle system is set up kind of strangely. Rather than controlling four characters, it feels like you control one unit--one button press sends you into battle, and you will stay in battle until you press the B button, at which point you regain control at the end of the current round of combat (The battle also ends if you or the enemy fall, obviously). There's a strategy option, and from there you order each character to do things, and can also run from battles. It takes some getting used to, but in the end it works (Though if you're not careful it can get you into trouble). The ''People statue'' problem from the first Phantasy Star, where the villagers just stood around waiting for you to walk in front of them, has, thankfully, been fixed.

Story: 10/10- Winner is Phantasy Star II! This is only the second 10 I've ever given in this category, and now I'll explain why. First off, you're not plunged immediately into ''Save the World from the Evil Meanie(tm)''. Sure, it becomes that, but at first you're sent merely to retrieve the Recorder from the Biosystems Lab in order to figure out what's wrong with the Mother Brain, which I mentioned earlier. And the way the game takes you to the long-overcliched plot is very nice, with various plot twists and turns. Also, veterans of the first Phantasy Star will notice many things different about this new world, though the plot does in fact tie in with the first one (Another reason the story's so great--it works on its own or as part of the Phantasy Star series as a whole). Oh yeah, and of course there's the ending. I won't give anything away, but suffice to say I still sit there mesmerized whenever I see it, even though I've seen it many times.

Challenge: 10/10- No doubt about it, this puppy is hard! The first-person dungeons from the first Phantasy Star have been taken out, but that doesn't make it any easier. In order to make up for it Sega took away the ability to save wherever you wanted (You can get this back with a certain item though), and the dungeons are still big enough that some form of mapping will likely be required. Also, you have a wide variety of characters to choose from, but you have to keep returning to your house to get them. One problem is that half these characters are basically useless anyway, though I suppose a skilled player could get around that. Some of the enemies are also difficult, and it's important to make sure you've built up enough to take the assault (This is about the only game I can think of where healing items are actually important). This game was tough enough that Sega included a free hintbook at the time of its release, and I just thank God that Bruplex had a copy. :P

Replay Value: 8/10- The ending alone makes it worth beating over and over again. You can also try--to an extent--to go through it with weaker levels, provided you have the correct set of characters in your party (Without one in particular you have to be freakishly strong in order to beat it). The 8 different characters also give you some Replay Value. There's very little in terms of secrets (Especially if you have the hintbook), but the game is fun enough that you won't really care.

Overall: 10/10- When this game came out, it cost something like $60. This was because it was a long awaited sequel, and it was bigger (A then-colossal 6 megs) than any other console game on the market at the time. I would pay $60 for this game even now. It moves kind of slowly, but the graphics and sound were superb for the time (The soundtrack holds up well even today), and the plot is one of the best in video games to date. Suffice to say that this is one of the few sequels to an ultra-cool game that stands up on its own. If you can find this game, and you like RPGs, get it today.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/02/00, Updated 05/02/00