Shadow of the Beast II (Sega CD) Playthrough
315A playthrough of Psygnosis's 1994 action-adventure game for the Sega CD, Shadow of the Beast II.
This Sega CD title is an enhanced version of Shadow of the Beast II, a game originally released for the Amiga in 1990 and ported to the Sega Genesis in 1992. It is the sequel to Reflections and Psygnosis's monster 1989 hit, the original Shadow of the Beast, which saw ports to such consoles as the Genesis ( • Shadow of the Beast (Genesis) Playthrough ) and TurboGrafx-CD ( • Shadow of the Beast (TurboGrafx-CD) Playth... ).
A short while after Aarbron defeated the Zelek and reclaimed his humanity at the end of Shadow of the Beast, the titular Beast Mage rises again to kidnap and enslave his infant sister. Aarbron now has to travel to the far-off land of Karamoon to save her and finish Zelek for good.
Like the first game, Shadow of the Beast II is a small-scale, semi-linear action-platformer, but it places a heavier emphasis on puzzle-solving. Aarbron runs around bashing enemies with a morningstar flail (which on the Sega CD has been heavily nerfed and now resembles a ball-on-a-string), and spends much of his time gathering resources (keys, money, magic, etc.) and flipping switches in order to complete tasks for NPCs.
Also like the first game, Beast II is a short and difficult game that uses trial-and-error scenarios to extend playtime and atmosphere to keep players engaged. The controls are smoother and there's more substance, but those things come at the cost of even more dead-end situations and cheap hits. The presentation isn't as evocative or thematically consistent, but there's more variety between areas, and the prevalence of plot-driving NPCs kills the original's pervasive feeling of isolation.
The Sega CD version's gameplay is similar to earlier versions of the game, but it leverages the storage of the CD-ROM format to provide some snazzy new features. The dialogue sequences have been fleshed out and are now fully voiced, the soundtrack has been remixed for the Redbook format, area transitions and key story events are accompanied by prerendered CG cutscenes, you're given a wider array of weapons to use, some areas were given new background graphics, and the playfield now fills the entire screen. The colors are more garish than they were on the Amiga - the vivid red skies became pink, and the subdued shades of brown were replaced with stark greys and heavy oranges - but in most respects, the Sega CD is a marked improvement, and probably the best way to experience the game.
I don't think that Shadow of the Beast II benefitted from the shift in tone from the first game, but it still manages to carve a unique identity out of its distinct visual character, and it's fun in its own way.
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