Shining Force II (Sega Genesis)

Shining Force II is a tactical RPG released in 1993 for the Sega Genesis. Though marketed as a sequel, it really isn't directly linked to the first game. To make it more confusing, this is really the 5th game in the series. Differences in the releases in Japan vs. North America account for the difference.

The plot involves a thief who as put the world in danger by stealing the jewels of Light and Darkness. This unsealed a demon named Zeon's prison and he escaped. Apparently, the thief didn't know the jewels were so important...oops. Meanwhile, the King has been attacked and the door to the Tower of Ancients has been unlocked and left open. Devils called "Gizmos" are waiting those that investigate. To make a long story short, as the leader of Shining Force, you must fix things (with the help of your team of course).

The game consists of a lot of turn based combat and exploration. It's interesting to look back and see that there were mixed reviews in the various magazines of the day. Gamepro complained about the turn based combat and that it made the game too slow. Other magazines like EGM didn't have a problem with this and ranted it much higher. It also tends to be ranked quite high in retrospective lists. At the end of the day, if you like tactical RPGs with turn-based combat then you should love this game. If you don't, then you won't.

Shining Force II has bee re-released a few times on more modern platforms so you may have options other than paying top dollar for an original cartridge. It was released for Nintendo's Virtual Console in 2008, for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as part of Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection in 2009, and for the PC via Steam in 2011. And of course, emulation is always an option. If you enjoy this style game and have never played this one then you should definitely give it a try.