Phantasy Star II

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Phantasy Star II
Also known as: Phantasy Star II: The End of the Lost Age (JP) Developer: Sega Publisher: Sega Platform: Genesis Released in JP: March 21, 1989 Released in US: February 1990 This game has unused enemies. This game has unused text. This game has regional differences. This game has a notes page This game has a prototype article

Phantasy Star 2 is a direct sequel to the first game, set 1,000 years later, and is the first of the classic series for the Sega Genesis. Gone are the monotonous first-person dungeons ... and in their place are monotonous third-person mazes. Hey, at least they gave you a map in the box.

Unused Enemies

Much like its successor, all non-boss enemies are stored in groups of three recolors of each enemy.

VANLEADR

The second member of the VAN - AEROTANK group, VANLEADR, exists in the game's code, but isn't used in any formations. All data appears to be complete for this enemy. In terms of stats, it fits approximately between the two members of its group, fitting the usual pattern. Given that all data exists and its name was even translated, its lack of use was likely just an oversight.

Dummied-out groups

To do: look at Japanese version names

Group 1 example

Group 2 example

Among the name-tables, there is evidence that two groups of enemies were removed entirely at some point. However, unlike VANLEADR, no name data exists beyond a single letter. Group 1 appears after the LEECHER-FANG-PYTHON group, and consists of "S", "K", and "H". Group 2 appears after the PUG HIT-PUG BRAT-PUG KILL group, and all enemies are named "S". (The name data in the rightward screenshots is incorrect due to being a hacked ROM) While data and palettes exist, the graphics appear to have been removed at some point, and the graphics for the Ant enemy are shown instead in both cases with incorrect layout.

Version Differences

Cut-off Line

The English translation truncates a line due to a programming error. When examining the entrance to Climatrol, Rolf's line of dialogue is truncated to just "The color of water around here certainly". The full line, which can be read in a hex editor, is "The color of water around here certainly seems different. It seems to be water coming out of the ground." The wrong control code is used after "certainly", causing the text box to close prematurely. This is not the case in the Japanese or Brazilian versions, where the line is displayed in full.

(Source: http://www.efkm.com/dezoris/pse_ps2.html)

Music

To do: Rip the samples and add some examples

The Japanese version used a very loud snare that was changed for the localizations.

Revision Differences

There are two revisions of the (UE) ROM, dated June 1989 and January 1990 in their respective headers. The only differences appears to be that the names of the KITEDRGN and FIRE EYE enemies are switched between the two.

Virtual Console

To do: Somehow apply and better document the patch changes.

The Virtual Console version of the game includes a plaintext ASM patch - complete with developer comments in Japanese - that is applied to the game in real-time. The patch changes the palette of the cross on the Hospitals, and for some reason, writes the ASCII string "GREEN CROSS FIX" to the ROM.