Alundra 2

"I refuse to acknowledge this as a sequel"

Intro
After I played the first Alundra, I hoped and dreamed for Alundra 2 so I could see what happened to Alundra after the events in Inoa. I found out that Alundra 2 was in development and soon found that it would be hitting the states. Finally, I got the game... but... WHAT!?!?! It's called Alundra 2 and Alundra isn't even in it? What kind of moron thought this up!?!? I just as soon thought, ''Oh well...'' and played on. While it did seem a bit fun with challenging puzzles as the first had, it lacked almost everywhere else.

Bah... We Want Alundra! We Want Alundra!
In Alundra 2, you sadly play as Flint and not Alundra. Flint is supposed to be a great swordsman (albeit the fact that he's very young) and a pirate hunter. He is given an assignment to help a princess whose country has been taken. He is sadly caught up in a ridiculous story with annoying characters with barely mediocre gameplay with the exception of the puzzles.

What a Ghastly Adventure!
This game is different from the original. Rather than just executing one basic attack and a charge attack like the original, you now have combo attacks. Even with that added, the game isn't as fun as the first one. The game is just a mediocre action/adventure game. Run around and hack up enemies. The game also added some summon spells which is beyond me why you would want summons in an action/adventure game anyway. Instead of collecting gilded falcons, you collect puzzle pieces in this one. Well, there is one plus over the first: in this one, there are multiple towns.

Graphics
I hated the graphics to a certain extent, but they still shined in one area. For starters, they were way too blocky, the character designs especially. Yes, everyone looked worse than Mega Man Legends! Combine that with the pixilation and you have quite ugly graphics! They look quite dated, too! On the flip side, the graphics do have a good use of colors. They put just the right tone of colors in just the right areas they were needed. Honestly, I think they should've kept it a 2D game like the first Alundra. I think 2D befits games like this a whole lot more than what they used in this game. I also remember reading that they added a ''special opening movie'' to the US version. Ugh, how special I must feel! There was nothing remotely special about that opening! It was just a book with some narrator talking while they showed different cut scenes from the game. Big whoop!

Sounds
I'll say one thing! The music was fairly good. It fit the game's theme and atmosphere (what little their was) perfectly. Well, almost perfectly. They really didn't have much idiotic music, which really would've fit the game. I hated what few voices they had on this. The voice acting was really corny! I would almost say it sounds like a Troma movie, except that Troma movies are actually watchable to an extent unlike the cut scenes in this game! The one voice I absolutely HATED was the one during the dart throw mini-game. Any time you missed, you'd hear ''Zero! Zero! Too bad! Zero! Too bad!'' or something to that effect. After about the 10,000th time, I got absolutely sick of it which brought about 1 of 2 behaviors in me. For one, to avoid the aversive stimulus within the damn voice, I tried my hardest not to fail. For another, anytime I did fail, I muted the volume. Good lord, I don't think I can ever take that voice again!

Controls
The controls seems a bit complex as compared to the original. I recommend tweaking them a bit before playing. Other than that, they aren't bad, but not as good working as the original.

Final Word
Activision... You had the ball and quite frankly, you dropped it. Hard, I might add. It almost seemed as though you guys spiked the ball with the way this game was made. Look at the first Alundra. Look hard at the ending. Can you see it? I bet you can even smell and taste it! What am I talking about? Potential! The game had potential for making an epic series! You had a great chance to capitalize and continue the story of Alundra, taking him to new lands and giving new storylines with new characters and villains to defeat. Instead, we have to settle for ''The Adventures of Some Red-Haired Jabroni Named Flint.'' I think the first place this game went wrong was making this an unofficial sequel with an official name. The graphics would be a distant second, followed by the plot, then the controls. There wasn't much stacking in favor of this game! The puzzles and the mini-games were about the only real savers.

I think it's sad to see good games get sorry sequels. I know of quite a few examples. Parasite Eve would be one. I can't stand PE2. Another would probably be SaGa Frontier, which got an insidious crap sequel SaGa Frontier 2. Contra: Legacy of War would be another example of an add-on that was best left unreleased. Unfortunately, people think they can still make money off just the name (I don't think Square really expected to make much of SF2 out here after the first one really didn't do good in the States). Personally, I think the original developers of Alundra should've made a sequel and then let Working Design release it here as they did the first one. Such a shame. I was psyched for this sequel and all I got was a disappointment.

FINAL JUDGMENT
Graphics: Just too blocky. Beautiful colors though... 5/10
Sounds: Not all good, but not totally bad 7/10
Controls: They really should've worked on that a bit 6/10
Plot/Storyline: Summed up in two words: Weak and stupid 5/10
Gameplay: The puzzles and minigames made this game worth playing 6/10
All Together: 5/10

Perks
*Okay music
*Good puzzles
*Good mini-games

Downers
*Crappy graphics
*Lame plot
*Characters you just want to strangle... or drown
*Where's Alundra?
*Unoriginal

Recommendations
I really recommend renting before buying this game. It isn't horrible, but for that matter, it isn't good either.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 02/04/01, Updated 11/03/01