Phantasy Star II

Phantasy Star II, known as Phantasy Star II: At the End of the Restoration (ファンタシースターII 還らざる時の終わりに) in Japan, is a role-playing game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis. It was released in Japan in 1989, and in North America and Europe in 1990. It was later ported to a variety of different platforms. An updated remake, Phantasy Star Generation 2, was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2005 in Japan.

Phantasy Star II is the second installment in Sega's acclaimed Phantasy Star series and serves as a sequel to the original Phantasy Star for the Master System. Phantasy Star II takes place 1,000 years after the events of its predecessor and follows the journey of a government agent named Rolf and his friends, who are on a mission to discover why the protector of the planet Mota, Mother Brain, has started malfunctioning.

Gameplay is similar to the original Phantasy Star. Its battle system is turn-based as well as menu-based, allowing the player to choose commands for their party of up to four characters. Each of the eight characters has a different set of preferred weapons and armor, as well as techniques, suited to the character's job. The player must defeat enemies in the overworld and in dungeons to advance in the game.

Phantasy Star II was the first video game to use a 6 mega-bit cartridge, making it the biggest video game on a console at the time. The game abandoned the first-person view that the first game used for dungeons and battles. Phantasy Star II instead uses a top-down perspective for exploration and a third-person view in battles. Since its release Phantasy Star II has been the subject of critical acclaim.

Story
The Algo star system, comprised of the planets Palma, Mota, and Dezo, was ruled by the cruel dictator Lassic. He was toppled by the heroic efforts of a young woman named Alis Landale and her companions. One thousand years later, the Algo system is experiencing a golden age due to a supercomputer named Mother Brain housed on Mota. Mother Brain completely terraformed Mota, transforming it from a desert planet into a temperate paradise like its sister planet, Palma. Mother Brain directs human agents to enforce the peace, and controls systems such as the Biosystems Lab, which genetically engineers plant and animal species for human use, and Climatrol, which regulates Mota's normally harsh climate to something more temperate.

However, recently there have been problems. The Biosystems Lab has begun to create hostile genetic aberrants instead of useful species, and rivers and lakes have been drying up. Desperately seeking answers, the Commander of Mota, a duly-appointed agent of the Mother Brain, assigns his most trusted agent, Rolf, to investigate.

Localization changes

 * Lutz, a refugee Esper who lives in the Esper Mansion on Dezo, aids Rolf and friends in their mission. He is supposed to be the same Esper who accompanies Alis in Phantasy Star, but due to the English version of Phantasy Star naming said Esper "Noah," this point is lost.
 * In the Japanese version, Ustvestia, a musician who teaches the characters the Musik technique, is openly gay; when requested to teach a male character the Musik technique, he comments, "He looks cute", and charges less than he would for teaching female characters. Any obvious references to this were removed from the American release; he instead comments, "He looks smart" – and still charges less for teaching the male characters.
 * While the tracks in the soundtrack are the same for both versions, the snare drums are much louder in the Japanese version.
 * In the Japanese version the game is set 942 years after the events of Phantasy Star I.

Ports
Phantasy Star II was re-released as a port in two different forms for the Sega Saturn and Game Boy Advance as part of Phantasy Star Collection. It was also released on the Sega Smash Pack Volume 1 for the Dreamcast. It is also part of the Sega Genesis Collection for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The game is available in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The game was made available through Nintendo's Virtual Console service in 2008. On June 10, 2009, it was released on Xbox Live Arcade under the Sega Vintage Collection banner. On August 26, 2010, an iPhone port of the game was released. The port later became available on the iPad and iPod touch as well. On June 22, 2017, Sega made the game available for free through both iTunes and Android.