Esper Dream was an obscure and creative little action-RPG released by Konami back in 1987, for the Famicom Disk System. Though not quite exemplary, it held its own, well deserving of a spot in the classic ARPG pantheon. A sequel emerged five years later (an eternity in retro game time); Esper Dream 2 surprisingly continued to carry the 8-bit torch, appearing as a Famicom cartridge. Fan-translated in 2006, this particular sequel adheres to the unique gameplay mechanics established by the original, but is undoubtedly superior in every way imaginable.
The "dream world" plot is back. The game's protagonist, a young boy named by the player, initially emerges in the game's central hub: a library. From there he can access five discrete worlds: each contained within a magical bookshelf. What's immediately apparent is how much faster the game moves compared to its predecessor. The original Esper Dream progressed at a snail's pace, further punctuated by the inherent sluggishness of the floppy disk format. Esper Dream 2 is a smooth streamlined experience, with the cartridge format eliminating the necessity for load times and disk flips. But there's more: speed here is actually adjustable and can be slowed down or sped up at the player's convenience. This option is common in older RPGs, especially turn-based ones, but it generally just effects how quickly menus appear and vanish from the screen. The speed adjuster of Esper Dream 2 literally alters how quickly sprites move: heroes, enemies, gunfire, everything. It's a quirky mechanic: obviously the temptation is to crank everything up to move as fast as possible, but some critical boss battles (and even standard fights) can be rendered much easier by taking things slow.
Esper Dream 2 eschews the faux-non-linearity ("you can go here first, but you'll die instantly") seen in many classic JRPGs, instead preferring to steer the player in the proper direction. Each of the five "worlds" represents a thoroughly fantastic setting: meticulously detailed and memorable. While the worlds of the first game mostly consisted of narrow corridor "mazes" Esper Dream 2 showcases fully fleshed-out environments. I'm particularly partial to world one: a sleepy seaside village setting that gives way to the subaqueous exploration of sunken ships. World two takes place within several futuristic trains (and their respective stations), which are continually attacked by an evil bunny and his minions. The forth world is a multi-tiered sort of magnet factory, occupied by sentient life-size screws.
Then there's world three (yes, it's accessed after world four, I don't get it either). One of the strangest settings I can recall seeing in a video game, it's literally intended to represent the first Esper Dream, but since that game has already been beaten (presumably by the player who's now progressing through the sequel) there's nothing to do but say hello to a few choice NPCs and then leave. Utterly strange -- one has to wonder if more was planned but then subsequently cancelled, or if this indeed was some sort of joke by the developers. The game concludes with a mountainous ascension to heaven, where one must confront hostile Japanese gods before unveiling the true lair of the supreme evil.
Much of the game is spent vanquishing foes. The combat style is retained from the first Esper Dream: enemies are not integrated into the main gameplay screen but are instead faced in single-screen arenas. Battles themselves are triggered by coming into combat with "footprint" icons, those moving can be avoided while stationary icons signify mandatory skirmishes. The hero's weapon arsenal consists of mainly firearms, though there's an additional mine weapon that can be used to destroy enemy and scenery alike. Combat is fast-paced, frantic, and enjoyable. Surprisingly circumvented this time around too, as escaping from a given battle is generally just a matter of walking off-screen. Magic spells can be utilized, though the standard offensive and healing spells slice off way too much MP to be cast on a regular basis. There's a notable and oft-used teleportation spell that can both cease an ongoing fight and return to the player to the library.
In addition to the main hero, the game features four invincible AI allies, one per world (minus world three), who assist in battle and are integral to storyline development. Allies attack haphazardly, but are typically useful, especially in fights with large groups of enemies. There's the green-haired Lisa, whose songs double as a sleeping spell. Geriatric train conductor Aram is equipped with a similar ability, in the form of a whistle. The magnet world features Screwy, a particularly friendly screw-robot who flings himself around the screen, damaging foes in the process. And there's Starry, who looks like he walked straight out of a Kirby game and can ravage all onscreen foes with a "star rain" attack. Though periodically unassisted in combat, the hero is nevertheless joined by an adorable fairy who "controls" the game menus and provides information about item functionality. She feels like an inspiration for the great "Yomi" character of Terranigma, released three years later. The four companions (or the fairy if no one else is around) can also be conversed with outside of battle, should the player be in need of direction. All told, this type of assistance makes Esper Dream 2 much easier compared to both its predecessor and peers; a fair amount of leveling is still required but battles are so frequent and fleeting so it never feels like much of a chore.
The game's graphical style is rather idiosyncratic. Everything has a "soft" look to it, making use of a blue and pink "Easter egg" type of color palette. Animation is smooth, and some particular environments are straight-up gorgeous, like the mountain sunsets and seaside docks. There's also ample use of character portraits, both in menus and shops, featuring some fantastically nostalgic early-90s anime style artwork. Anyone who has seen a copy of Esper Dream 2 knows that this isn't just any old cartridge, but a thicc Fami cart housing a special VRC6 chip (Akumajou Densetsu and Mouryou Senki Madara also make use of this technology, for the record). The three extra sound channels greatly enhance the feel of the game's music, resulting in a rich robust aura. Of course it helps that these are also some of the most expertly composed tunes found on the Famicom. A couple of the "greatest hits" from the first game are even slyly inserted in select spots.
This isn't a flawless game. For what it is, it's a bit too long, by the magnitude of an hour or two. The difficulty is a somewhat unbalanced. Towards the end of the game enemies are a touch overpowered and since there's little reason to defeat them I found myself running from every fight (in fact, the "mountain" scene of this game is oddly reminiscent of that of Mother). There's a fetch quest (to find the mandatory "ultimate armor") which isn't particularly long or hard, but is still dull and this type of backtracking is always unwelcome. And the game can only be saved at a single spot (a specific library book), an antiquated throwback to the original Dragon Quest.
Small wrinkles aside, Esper Dream 2 stands tall. A late-stage 8-bit ARPG that finds itself on par with the 16-bit greats. One of the more unique artifacts of Konami's finest bygone hours.