"A good RPG that's bogged down by far too much levelling up"

Nobody can deny that Phantasy Star II is a classic RPG that takes all that made 1980s Console RPGs successful and adds a little extra to bring them into the 1990s. The graphics are razor sharp, the music is catchy and well-composed, the story line is intriguing, and the dungeons are well-designed. It's a shame the game is so darn frustrating and so darn monotonous.

Graphics: (8.5) As hard as it is to believe when one looks at the graphics, this game WAS made in 1989. The towns have a cool, somewhat sci-fi look to them, and in terms graphical quality, they are somewhere between the towns in Phantasy star 1 and Phantasy Star 4. The character design is very similar, though slightly inferior, to what is found in Phantasy Star 4 and each character has decent, albeit rather rather, cut scenes and there are some cool looking character pictures that appear next to dialogue boxes. The world map is well done, but is nowhere near as good as PS4 or even PS3's map.

The battle graphics are good and the enemy design is nearly as high in quality as PS4's. The enemies are even animated, something that was not seen in the Final Fantasy series until the 7th installment, which was released for the 32-Bit Sony Playstation! The attack animations are fairly good, although the weapons could have been designed better. Oh well, at least they were better than PS3's. Overall, Phantasy Star 2 went above and beyond all other first generation Genesis games to offer a phenomenal graphical experience.

Sound/Music: (7.5) Phntasy Star 2 features a catchy, high energy soundtrack that serves as an excellent stepping stone to the masterpiece of a soundtrack that Bo and Ippo composed in PS4. The town themes are relaxing yet up beat, the dungeon songs exude a powerful, adventurous aura to them that makes one wonder what lurks around the next corner. The world map themes are typical journey music, but like in PS1, PS3, and PS4, are extremely well done.

The battle theme, however, is merely average, and somewhat annoying. The sound effects are off the wall, but in a way that detracts from, rather than adding to the experience like they do in Phantasy Star 4. Overall, the sound is below average and the music is very good but, when compared to PS4 and pretty much anything produced by Uematsu or Iwadare, could be a little better.

Gameplay: (7) Phantasy Star 4 offers good gameplay, but there are many RPGs that have more to offer. The menu interface is alright, but is greatly improved in Phantasy Star 4. The dungeons, however, are damn cool! They vary greatly in design, and they are HUGE and complex. Often times, however, their vastness is taken to the extreme and it becomes too easy to get lost without the maps contained in the strategy guide that was distributed with the game when Sega first released it.

The battle system is similar to what most RPGs offer in the late 1980s, but unfortunately, it is slightly cumbersome. During a battle, there's three options. One option allows for the characters to repeat the attacks or techniques used on the previous turn, another allows the characters to change their attacks, and yet another allows the characters to attack in an endless loop until the battle ends or until the gamer hits a button to end the loop. Games like Phantasy Star 4, Earthbound, Dragon Warrior, and Final Fantasy offer equally effective and far less cumbersome battle systems. Levelling up also takes an excruciatingly long amount of timee, but is absolutely necessary, as the enemies are merciless. This, however, is also an attribute, as the ruthlessness of the game keeps gamers on their toes.

Overall, Phantasy Star 2 does offer good gameplay, and was the best console RPG available during 1989 when considering Dragon Warrior 1 was trash, FF1 was not yet released in North America, and too few people owned a Master System to make Phantasy Star 1 the success it should have been. Unfortunately, its shortcomings make it impossible for PS2 to earn a score higher than 7.

Challenge: (10) Can you say hard? Phantasy Star 2 requires hours of level building just to survive and succeed in the insanely huge dungeons, and the ruthlessly tough enemies require just the right combination of swordplay, technology, and sorcery to take down. Even the first dungeon is many times harder than anything found PS4 or PS3 and needless to say, dungeons found later in the game have maze-like tendencies that are on the insane side.

Overall, it's nice to see a challenging RPG, and Phantasy Star 2 definitely doesn't take it easy on even the most hardcore of gamers. Fortunately, however, those who are frustrated easily will undoubtedly appreciate the hintbook included with the game along with the multitude of walkthroughs and maps that can be found online.

Story: (9.5) Like every Phantasy Star except the fourth installment, which did feature an outstanding translation, Phantasy Star 2's story is good but the translation could be a bit better. There are two English versions of Phantasy Star 2 that exist. The first version is the official Sega of America translation, and it is loaded with errors and with uninspiring dialogue. This version can be found in either cartridge or ROM form. The second translation is Naflign's fan translation (found at naflign.simplenet.com), which is much truer to the original script, much more interesting to read, and contauuns virtally no errors. This version exixts only in ROM form.

The story itself begins with Rolf (Usis in Naflign's version) having nightmares of a young woman fighting against Dark Force. After waking up from the dream, Rolf is called to Paseo's Control Tower, and is given a simple mission from the Governor of Mota. Little does he know, however, that this relatively mundane task will lead Rolf and Nei, a young numan woman he encountered 6 months before the game, on a vast adventure that spans two worlds and allows them to encounter powerful allies and vile villains, overcome tragedy, become hunted criminals by the Motavian government, fly into the space, and ultimately meet their destiny as protectors of the Algo solar system. Overall, a magnificent sequel that more than does the first game justice and does a outstanding job of setting the stage for the third and forth installments of the series.

Repaly: (5) Phantasy Star 2 is worth replaying, as it is a great game, and the story is worth experiecing a second time; however, all the levelling up can be somewhat monotonous, and the game is hard and takes a LONG time to finish. More likely than not, only diehard phanatics will bother to replay PS2, and those who are easily frustrated may not even manage to get through it the first time around

Overall: (8) Although Phantasy Star 2 is meant more for the hardcore RPGer than it is for those who have been weened on the likes of Final Fantasy 7 and other less than challenging RPGs of the past five years, it is nevertheless, a great game for anyone to play if only to experience a true milestone in the evolution of the console role-playing game. Overall, a great choice for anyone's library or ROM collection.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/31/00, Updated 02/22/01