Shenmue II/Development

Back to: Shenmue II.

Shenmue II development
Missed release date(s): 1999-12^[1]

As the Shenmue story was originally envisioned as one video game, development of Shenmue II ties directly with that of Shenmue I. The concept of a second part of Shenmue only came into fruition in early 1999, when the game was split in two, with the first chapter set to appear in August 1999^[2] and the second in December^[1]. For the US release, both halves would be distributed as the same package^[1], but as time went on, the first part was expanded, the second part delayed (into 2001), and further parts were planned.

Prior to the split, most of the development work which had occurred had focused on Ryo's adventures in Hong Kong, so when the game was unveiled at the Shenmue Seisaku Happyoukai in December 1998, almost all of the footage was that of locations that would be featured in Shenmue II rather than the first Shenmue. Characters such as Ren, Xiuying and Wong, neither of which appear in the first game (and Shenhua, whos appearances were fleeting), were shown in trailers and openly discussed, as were scenes of Wan Chai, Kowloon and Guiling.

Several quick time events from these areas were also discussed and demonstrated, as were mechanics such as part-time jobs and gambling, neither of which appear in the first game. By the middle of 1999, development on would become Shenmue II was paused in order to concentrate on releasing the first game, with Network Jungle II: Digitaliland (in May 1999) being one of the last trade events to discuss the wider Shenmue saga.

Work on Shenmue II is expected to have picked up again after the eventual release of the first game in December 1999, though new details did not become public until late 2000, after the first game's localisation (and the release of US Shenmue in Japan).

Prototype screenshots

Dreamcast version

Nine prototype screenshots of Shenmue appeared in issue #29 (June 2002) of Muecas^[3], Sega AM2's online Japanese Shenmue fan club. They depict Ryo riding a bicycle and a scrapped area of the game, both reportedly cut from Shenmue II either due to time restraints or not fitting in with the plot. These shots are sometimes erroneously marked as areas from Shenmue III.