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By John on February 8th, 2002
Introduction Sega made a mistake. Yes, I’m sorry to admit it, but they did. Not bringing Shenmue II to USA Dreamcasts cost them supporters, those who were gonna stick with the DC for one last trip before the finish. Other than that, there was nothing else to look forward to? With the exception of NHL 2k2, it’s all over. Alas, all hope is not lost for us Dreamcast fans, for Shenmue II has been released to our friends across the Atlantic, and Sega Europe had the foresight to add the NTSC signal option for us yankees without PAL tv’s. So all you need is a gameshark or a boot disc to be able to experiance Shenmue II in all it’s subtitled glory. Why did we ever leave Britan’s control? If you’ve played Shenmue then you know what’s goin on for the sequal. If you have not played Shenmue than you should be strapped to a log and floated down river. Toward a huge waterfall. With sharp jaggy rocks at the bottom. Um, I mean, you should play it. For those in the latter group, here’s the story. Our hero’s name is Ryo Hazuki. One cold winter’s day in his hometown Yokusuka he comes home to find a strange black car parked in front of his house. Apon entering his dojo, he is restrained by two men in black suits. In the center of the room his father, Iwao, is confronted by a man named Lan Di, who demands "the mirror" from him. After a bit of fighting, Lan Di knocks Iwao to the ground, making Ryo pretty mad. After breaking free from the two suits, he trys to attack Lan Di, only to get a butt whoopin he’ll never forget. Lan Di makes Iwao choose between telling him where the mirror is, or the life of his son. So, like any good dad, he reveals it’s location. After asking Iwao if he remembers Chao Zunming, the man he killed years ago, Lan Di delivers a fatal blow to Iwao’s chest. What is this mirror with the dragon design? Who is Lan Di? Did Iwao really kill someone? Ryo starts out with these questions, and after meeting Master Chen he finds out Lan Di is a member of the Chinese cartel, and there is another mirror somewhere in his house! After finding the Phoenix mirror, he sets sail for Hong Kong to find Lan Di and get revenge!!!Presentation The game starts out with a beautiful fmv of Ryo sailing into Aberdeen abord the Genpu Maru, the boat he took from Yokusuka. As soon as you take control of Ryo, you’ll notice a few differences from good old Japan. Hong Kong is a strange place for Ryo, and he has to live on his own. The levels are roughly four times the size of those in the first, which gives you alot more places to explore and items to find. Unfortuneatly, unless you happen to have a European Shenmue 1 save you can’t carry over your items from the first game, which is a bummer if you had alot of Japan only toys from Shenmue. If you can convert your save, then you can sell your toys in one of the many pawn shops littered about Hong Kong, or use your converted yen to gamble in pachinko games or arm wrestling matches. Just don’t think you have it made if you had a load of money from the first, for shortly after arriving, Ryo gets his bag stolen, only to have it returned minus his hard earned money. Typical Hong Kong huh? Ryo will met alot of new people in Hong Kong such as, Ren, the leader of The Heavens, a gang that runs Aberdeen and the person who will be invalueable when the time comes to go to Kwoloon. Wong is a 12 year old kid who got mixed up with The Heavens when he was little, and now steals things for a living (like Ryo’s bag). His skills in lockpicking will be of great help. Also new to the story are Joy, Fangmei, Xiuying, and Shen Hua, who is the girl that will change Ryo’s life forever when he meets her in Gullin.Graphics & Sound Graphics have been much improved from the orignal, with almost three times as many npc’s on screen at one time. This has been made possable by some polygon clipping, and the removeal of mip mapping which leaves things a bit shimmery at some points. Rain and water effects are especially impressive, and the times of the day are represented perfectly by Shenmue II. Music is wonderful as it was in the first go round, with all of your favorites from the first game, and some new tracks with loads of Chinese flair in them. Gameplay If your new to playing Shenmue the control scheme goes like this. L-trigger is run, R-trigger is zoom in, Analog stick is look, D-pad is move, and A is talk or use item. In addition to those, you can now press Y to ask a npc about money related topics and X to open / close doors and drawers. Fighting in Shenmue II is exactly the same as in Shenmue with FREE battle being used the majority of the time to defeat your foes. QTE is still around however, and it’s added a new element, the command QTE. Every once in a while, the screen will freeze and you will have to imput the commands in a very short amount of time or Ryo will get knocked senceless. Lasting Appeal After playing this game once, you’ll want to play it again, because I’ll tell you right now you won’t be able to see it all in one go-round. There are many cut scenes and secrets that even I still haven’t seen on my third time through. It’s also fun to download a European file from the first, so you can carry over some nifty items that can be used in this game.Conclusion If you don’t mind running a boot disc every time you play, then this is a must import. Try your local EB game world or Funcoland, as they usually have copys in stock for us hardcore Sega fans. Unfortuneatly, much like the first Shenmue, this game ends in a cliffhanger, and we’ll have to wait until Shenmue 3 for the story to be resolved. Did I hear someone say X-box??? |
