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Shadow of the Beast II

From Sega Retro

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ShadowOfTheBeastII MDTitleScreen.png
Shadow of the Beast II
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Sega Mega-CD
Publisher:
Sega Mega Drive
Electronic Arts
Sega Mega-CD
Psygnosis
Sega Mega-CD
Victor Musical Industries (JP)
Developer:
Original system(s): Amiga
Publisher(s) of original games: Psygnosis
Developer(s) of original games: Reflections Interactive
Sound driver:
Sega Mega Drive
Sound Images v1.2
Genre: Action[1][2]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
US 		$49.9549.95[4] 716401
Sega Mega Drive
EU 		E107SMXI
Sega Mega-CD
JP 		¥8,800 (9,064)8,800e[8] T-60034
Sega Mega-CD
US 		T-113045
Videogame Rating Council: MA-13
Sega Mega-CD
EU 		T-113045-50
ELSPA: 11+ OK
Sega Mega-CD
UK 		£34.9934.99[10] T-113045-50
ELSPA: 11+ OK

Shadow of the Beast II (シャドー・オブ・ザ・ビーストII 獣神の呪縛) is a 1992 action game by Psygnosis, originally released for the Commodore Amiga before being ported to the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Mega-CD, and also the Atari ST and FM-Towns computers. It is the sequel to the original Shadow of the Beast and the second game in the Shadow of the Beast trilogy (the third game was an Amiga exclusive, though it was also going to be released for the Mega Drive).

Story

At the end of the first game, you manage to free yourself from a life of serving the Beast Lord, only to find your baby sister has been kidnapped by Zelek to take your place as a Beast Messenger. Infuriated, you set out to find your sister and destroy Zelek.

Gameplay

The controls are simple: A jumps, B fires, C selects a weapon to fire. A flail replaces the punches from the first game. Items can be offered to certain characters by pausing the game, Gimmick sections from the first game have been removed. The game is now even more open-worlded and non-linear. Due to this openness, limited hints and the failed puzzles not killing the player, it's possible to get stuck easily.

TODO

Versions

  • Around a quarter of the screen of the Sega Mega Drive is covered by a black bar that serves no purpose. Reasons for this are unknow, although it can be assumed this is due to the Sega Mega Drive version running at a higher resolution than the Amiga original and the developers not compensation this.
  • The Sega Mega-CD and Sega Mega Drive version are largely different, with the Sega Mega-CD having more content, additional weapons, optimized graphics, slightly altered gameplay, cutscenes, extra dialogue options, more characters to interact with etc. It's generally considered to be the definite version of the game.
  • Compared to the Amiga original, both versions feature a different player sprite, with the Sega Mega-CD's hero being slightly armored, and the Sega Mega Drive's hero only wearing pants.
  • For the Sega Mega Drive version, cutscenes and background graphics were removed.

Production credits

Mega Drive version

  • Original Game: Reflections
  • MegaDrive Conversion: WJS Design
  • Programming: Rob Povey
  • Music and Sound Effects: Tony Williams
  • Graphics: Lee Carus Westcott, Nicky Carus Westcott
  • Bits N Pieces: Noel Hines
  • Others Involved: Wayne Smithson, John White, Mike Simpson
  • Thanks To: Leo Skirenko, Philip Watts

Mega-CD version

  • Amiga Original: Reflections
  • Sega Conversion By: Digital Developments
  • Written By: Tim Swan, Andrew Bond
  • Graphics: Andrew Bond, Lee Doyle
  • FM Towns Graphics: Nicky and Lee Carus Westcott
  • Sound Effects: Tim Swan, Kavin Collier
  • Music: Derek Austin, Jimmy Jaketh
  • Guitar: Ray Deefholts
  • Music Produced By: Derek Austin, Bob Butterworth
  • Recorded In: Roland RSS Stereo at Boxmead Studios UK
  • Character Speech By: Tim Bentinck
  • Quality Control: Pat Russell, Paul Euason, Graeme Love
  • Story and Documentation: Nick Wild
  • Project Management: John White, Mike Simpson, Tony Parkes, Steve Cain
Copyright 1994 Psygnosis Ltd

Magazine articles

Main article: Shadow of the Beast II/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

EGM US 052.pdfEGM US 052.pdf

PDF
Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #52: "November 1993" (1993-xx-xx)
also published in:

SegaVisions US 16.pdfSegaVisions US 16.pdf

PDF
Print advert in Sega Visions (US) #16: "December/January 1993/1994" (1993-xx-xx)

BeepMD JP 1994-03.pdf

PDF
Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1994-03: "March 1994" (1994-02-08)

BeepMD JP 1994-06.pdfBeepMD JP 1994-06.pdf

PDF
Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1994-06: "June 1994" (1994-05-07)

BeepMD JP 1994-09.pdf

PDF
Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1994-09: "September 1994" (1994-08-08)

MegaPower UK 12.pdfMegaPower UK 12.pdf

PDF
Print advert in Mega Power (UK) #12: "July 1994" (1994-06-xx)

Artwork

  • SotB2 MCD Art Cover.jpg

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
76 [7]
88 [13]
86
85 [14]
86 [15]
60 №6, p28-31
70 [16]
59 №13, p40/41
58 [17]
82 [18]
98
51 №39, p50
78 №16, p53
78 №18, p67
79 №2, p44/45
68 [19]
45 №18, p75
Sega Mega Drive
 73
Based on
17 reviews

Mega Drive, US
SotB2 MD US Box.jpg
Cover
SotB2 md us cart.jpg
Cart
Shadow Of The Beast II MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
SotB2 MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
SotB2 md us cart.jpg
Cart
Mega Drive, SE (Rental)

Mega-CD version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
60 [20]
89 [21]
34 [22]
60 №19, p84/85
70
40 №294, p40
63
58 [9]
83 №10, p26-28
20 [23]
70 [24]
62 №7, p78
65 №55, p36/37
59 №32, p56/57
Sega Mega-CD
 60
Based on
14 reviews

Mega-CD, JP
SotB2 MCD JP Box Back.jpgSotB2 MCD JP Box Front.jpg
Cover
ShadowoftheBeastII MCD JP Spinecard.JPG
Spinecard
SotB2 MCD JP Disc.jpg
Disc
Mega-CD, US
SotB2 MCD US Box Back.jpgSotB2 MCD US Box Front.jpg
Cover
SotB2 MCD US Disc.jpg
Disc
Sotb2 mcd us manual.pdf
Manual
Mega-CD, EU
SotB2 MCD EU Box Back.jpgSotB2 MCD EU Box Front.jpg
Cover
SotB2 MCD EU disc.jpg
Disc

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega-CD
 ?
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
456,043,392 CD (EU) T-113045-50
Sega Mega-CD
✔
CRC32
MD5
SHA-1
606,827,760 CD (JP) T-60034

References

  1. ↑ File:SotB2 MCD JP Box Back.jpg
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://sega.jp/fb/segahard/mcd/soft_licensee.html (archived: 2019-06-10 17:56)
  3. ↑ Sega Visions, "November/December 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 93
  4. ↑ GamePro, "March 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 48
  5. ↑ Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-xx-xx), page 11
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Sega Zone, "November 1992" (UK; 1992-10-28), page 8
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Computer & Video Games, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-15), page 76
  8. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "March 1994" (JP; 1994-02-08), page 9
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Mega, "June 1994" (UK; 1994-05-19), page 39
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Mega Power, "February 1994" (UK; 1994-01-20), page 28
  11. ↑ Game Players, "Vol. 6 No. 12 December 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 152
  12. ↑ GamePro, "January 1994" (US; 199x-xx-xx), page 188
  13. ↑ GamePro, "March 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 46 (48)
  14. ↑ Joypad, "Décembre 1992" (FR; 1992-xx-xx), page 98/99 (98)
  15. ↑ Joystick, "Janvier 1993" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 237
  16. ↑ Mega, "January 1993" (UK; 1992-12-17), page 56
  17. ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "January 1993" (UK; 1992-12-28), page 58/59 (58)
  18. ↑ Player One, "Janvier/Février 1993" (FR; 1993-01-10), page 94/95 (90)
  19. ↑ Sega Force, "February 1993" (UK; 1993-01-14), page 78/79 (78)
  20. ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "August 1994" (JP; 1994-07-08), page 20 (22)
  21. ↑ Consoles +, "Avril 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 130/131 (130)
  22. ↑ Computer & Video Games, "August 1994" (UK; 1994-07-15), page 67
  23. ↑ Next Generation, "April 1995" (US; 1995-03-21), page 94 (96)
  24. ↑ Player One, "Mars 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 114
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