1. Antarctic Adventure (Famicom)
2. Nuts & Milk (Famicom)
3. Commando (Atari 2600)
4. Binary Land (Famicom)
5. Devil World (Famicom)
6. Disney's Aladdin (SNES)
7. Popeye (NES)
8. Super Mario Land (Game Boy)
9. Ys: The Vanished Omens (Sega Master System)
10 Ys II: Ancient Ys Vanished - The Final Chapter (Famicom)lol @ "The Final Chapter."
Ys Famicom was a disaster.
Ys Master System was quite good, albeit slow and a clunky.
Ys II Famicom, sticking closely to the PC-88 original, is absolutely phenomenal. Sorry Sega fans, no comparable Master System port this time around. In fact, this game never made it to the North American NES either, though a competent fan translation has existed for almost two decades now. This is the only standalone version of
Ys II for home consoles, as it usually comes bundled with the first game.
This is what's referred to as a "mission-pack sequel."
Ys II picks up directly where the first game leaves off. After the defeat of Dark Fact, Adol ends up on the floating isle of Ys. A mysterious young woman, Lilia, nurses him to health, and he sets forth to rid Ys and Esteria of evil. The Books of Ys, gathered in the first game, are part of Adol's initial inventory in this one: a nice touch.
Compared to its immediate console predecessor(s), what's most notable about
Ys II is how
fast it is. Adol zips around like a lightning bolt, and the game is rife with enemy hordes. Combat still centers around the glorious bump system, and is one hundred times more satisfying in this installment. Level and money grinding is no longer a chore; in fact things may be skewed too far in the opposite direction. With a small amount of effort, Adol can be transformed into a Herculean millionaire early on reducing the majority of his journey to a cakewalk. Not that I'm complaining.
An important addition to
Ys II is that of a magic system. Most useful is the fire spell: a projectile attack that Adol obtains early on. In addition to the mega-leveling opportunities, this spell has the potential to break the game even further. Stock enemies continue to be aimless goons, and all are completely defenseless against the flames. Said fire is also the weapon of choice for the majority of boss battles. This eliminates the wonky hit detection issues from the first game, as these skirmishes now see Adol bobbing around and shooting from a distance in a proto-shmup sort of manner. Bosses themselves are now apt to use projectiles as well. Even so, they aren't quite as freakish and memorable as anything from the first
Ys, and a good number can be taken down in under ten seconds.
But the coolest spell in the game is "telepathy" (more accurately referred to as "transform" in other ports). This allows Adol to shapeshift into a "demon" -- in actuality a cute little anime kangaroo. In this form he's impervious to enemy attacks and can even converse with his foes. While it provides a fine opportunity to goof off, the spell is required in several areas of the game. Adol must periodically eavesdrop on the bad guys' plans, sneak into an enemy fortress, and so on. It's also fun to talk to the human townsfolk in demon form, as most will revolt in disgust and horror. Additionally, there's a subplot about Adol battling interspecies discrimination, as he comes to befriend a demon named Keith. Awesome name for a demon in a fantasy video game -- wonder if he's friends with Jim from
Hydlide.
What sets
Ys II apart from its contemporaries, and is the primary source of its utter brilliance, is the design and flow of the game itself. While most retro ARPGs contain an overworld and a series of "pop in and out" dungeons,
Ys II is a seamless string of interconnected complexes. Upon exiting Rance Village, Adol's first labor is to conquer the ruins, which itself is a large multi-tiered structure complete with a crumbling stone outer façade, subterranean priest shrines, and labyrinthine mine corridors. Immediately after leaving the ruins, Adol is thrust into the Ice Ridge of Nolta, followed up by the flaming Moat of Burnedbless, another town stopover, and finally the enormous Solomon Shrine.
While most of these areas are rather tricky to successfully navigate, they're well-designed and rarely contain any capricious time-wasting maze sections. Sure, the game has its share of MacGuffins (an "ice orb" is needed to cross one random chasm, for instance), but the majority of acquired items are cleverly integrated into the dungeon completion process. A leaf functions as an antidote in a poisonous tract of land. "Whisper earrings" are used to communicate to a boy trapped by a rock slide and, later, to decipher the murmurs of demons lurking behind a locked door. A particular pair of shoes is needed to ascend icy slopes. Early in the game Adol is forced to
surrender the Books of Ys to well-hidden priests in order to proceed.
Ys II features a great, logical quest progression, as well as some surprisingly good hints dropped by NPCs.
Solomon Shrine is this game's version of Darm Tower. Except not boring. A massive chunk of the game is spent here, as it's a huge expanse of interlocking temples and underground sewers, not to mention a bell tower and goddess palace. The atmosphere of this entire area palpable, though it's also a smidge frustrating as the layered catwalks make it difficult to map. One of the most memorable "dungeons" in all of retro gaming.
Graphics are a small step above those found in
The Vanished Omens. Once again, the environments are impressive but the sprites (especially the enemies) leave something to be desired. Key NPCs receive the full body treatment, and this time they look "more anime" than ever before. A couple of beautiful cutscenes (sequences of anime stills) bookend the whole experience.
Aurally, this is absolutely stunning. Some of the best music to appear on the Famicom. Plenty of slow ambient and emotional pieces interlaced with the occasional upbeat track tailor-made for carnage. I'd even venture to say that certain cuts sound better here than they do on the PC Engine CD's
Ys Book I & II, as I was never crazy about how some of the best chiptune pieces were remixed into "rockin' out" guitar-noodlers.
Any flaws? Yes, if one is to nitpick. All of the challenge is dumped into the game's front and back. Adol is too frail until he hits level three or so, overly prone to death by one-hit. As for the final boss: he's exponentially harder than anything else Adol encounters on his journey. A classic video game "prank." Some of the menus are a bit ugly and clunky, especially the save/load menu. And the credit-less ending comes off as a bit bizarre and rushed.
It's a shame this brilliant rendition of
Ys II has been overshadowed by so many subsequent ports. It's probably the strongest "true" ARPG to be found on the Famicom. It's just as good as
The Legend of Zelda, which is about the highest praise I can possible summon.