Ninku 2

"Another great game! But is it better than the first one?"

Well, the answer is yes, and no. Here's why.

Story 8/10
I was seriously disappointed with the story mode in this game. There is only 8 acts, which means 8 fights, and then the game is over. After every act obviously there is dialogue and the story goes on, but it's nothing like in the first game, where you were making your char move on the map everywhere and you could go in towns, talk to people etc etc. Well this also goes with the gameplay part, so I'll come back with it in gameplay. As for what the story is all about, I have no idea, since I don't read japanese.

Music/Sound 10/10
The musics are even better than in the first game, really good and entertaining. Sometimes I feel like replaying the game just because the music plays in my head. They fit so well with the mood of the fights. Sound effects are good too.

Graphics 10/10
That too has been improved over the first game. Nice crisp looking graphics, characters look beautiful, special moves look very good too. Backgrounds superb, heh, it's very nice.

Gameplay 9.5/10
Alright, for the fighting part of the game, better than in the first game. More special moves for every char, and now some of them are not listed in the instruction booklet. Now you only have one energy bar you have to charge for special moves, and every special move you do takes down a bit of your bar. You can charge it up by pressing buttons 1 and 2 at the sametime or when you get hit by the computer, it goes up. You can also double jump now, even though it is rarely used. Sadly though, because you can't fight random enemies like in the first game, there is also no level, therefore no training either. And the game is much much shorter than the first one... I was really disappointed by that, but I guess the fighting makes up a little bit for it. Another great point though is that you can play 2 players! But you need a link cable... and a friend that has a GG and this game... which can be hard to find.

Overall 9/10
So this game repairs flaws found in the first game, but makes up new ones. So really it evens out and I can't really say which game is better. Nonetheless, this game is amazing, just like the first one, and I highly recommend it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/28/03, Updated 05/28/03