Shenmue II

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Shenmue II
System(s): Dreamcast, Xbox
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega AM2
Genre: 3D Platformer

Shenmue II (シェンムー II) is an Adventure game for the Dreamcast and Xbox game consoles. It is the sequel to Shenmue, and was produced and directed by Yu Suzuki of AM2. Due to exclusivity rights obtained by Microsoft, the North American Dreamcast version was cancelled. Unlike the first game of the series, no English Dubbing was recorded for the Dreamcast version of Shenmue II, and the European release included subtitles. The later Xbox version included an English dub, and was not released in Japan. Shenmue II incorporates four chapters of the Shenmue saga.

Story

Shenmue II begins shortly after the first installment concluded. While Shenmue told the story of the 1st chapter of the saga, the second game tells the story of the third, fourth, and fifth chapters.

The second chapter happens between Shenmue and Shenmue II during Ryo Hazuki's trip from Yokosuka to Hong Kong and is just mentioned during the beginning of the game. It is available as a comic book as an extra in the Xbox version of the game.

The third chapter of the saga begins when Ryo, the main protagonist of the series, arrives in Hong Kong in order to locate Master Lishao Tao. After a difficult search, Ryo finally meets Master Lishao Tao, a woman named Xiuying; but she is unwilling to assist him in what she considers an immoral quest for vengeance. The two part ways, although Xiuying continues to monitor Ryo's progress and they continue to meet on occasion. Through his continued search, Ryo discovers another individual who may be able to assist him in locating Lan Di.

The fourth chapter of the saga takes place in Kowloon, as Ryo attempts to locate Yuanda Zhu; a martial arts expert who sent Iwao Hazuki a letter warning of his impending murder, a warning that arrived too late. At this juncture, several confrontations ensue between Ryo and his allies and the dangerous Yellowheads organization, who are aiming to kidnap Yuanda Zhu on behalf of Lan Di.

The fifth chapter takes place in Guilin. Shortly after arriving, Ryo encounters a young woman named Ling Shenhua. She had previously appeared to Ryo through several dreams throughout the first chapter of the series. As the two converse, it is revealed that the Shenhua family is connected with the legacy of the dragon and phoenix mirrors. Shenhua leads Ryo to a stone quarry on the outskirts of the village to meet with her father, but he is nowhere to be found. The episode comes to an ambiguous end when the pair discover a cryptic note and sword, which Ryo combines with the phoenix mirror and unwittingly sets off a device revealing a huge depiction of the two mirrors. At the game's cliffhanger ending, the sword is seen to float in mid-air.

Gameplay

Shenmue II features gameplay similar to that of its predecessor, Shenmue.

Sonic Cameo

In the Dreamcast version of Shenmue 2, all your items you obtained in Shenmue transferred over. This included the collectible Sonic figurines.

Production Credits

Producer/Director/Game Story: Yu Suzuki
Plotter: Masahiro Yoshimoto
Screenplay: Takao Yotsuji
Game Directors: Shinichi Yoshino, Yoshihiro Okabayashi
Scenario Director: Takao Yotsuji
Planning Director: Eigo Kasahara
Program Director: Makoto Wada
Design Director: Takehiko Mikami
Sound Director: Yasuhiro Takagi
Motion Capture Unit Director: Hiroaki Jinno
Real Time Movie Director: Kazuya Murata
Voice Recording Directors: Susumu Aketagawa, Takao Yotsuji
Promotion Director: Shigeru Ueda
Production Manager: Mitsuo Kashiwagi
Sound Production Manager: Tatsutoshi Narita
Scenario Supervisor: Yu Yamamoto
Total Advisers: Makoto Osaki, Hiroshi Kataoka
Associate Producer: Masanori Ohe

Scenario

Director: Takao Yotsuji
Plotter: Masahiro Yoshimoto
Free Scenario Managers: Junichi Yoshida, Makoto Goya
Free Scenario Writers: Yasushi Ohtake, Masatoshi Kurakata, Yoshijiroh Muramatsu, Hideyo Ikeda, Yoshihiro Miyashita, Kiyomi Mizushima
Free Scenario Checkers: Shu Hiratoh, Katsuyuki Sugano
Free Scenario Coordinator: Shin Ishikawa
Free Scenario Proofreader: Tadafumi Wagatsuma
Character Data Management: Yoshiyuki Fukushima, Yasushi Funakoshi
Main Dialogue Editor: Toshirou Sasaki
Dialogue Editors: Izumi Saito, Yasuyo Kudo
Scenario Section Assistants: Tomohide Takaiwa, Kikuo Shinomiya

Planning

Director: Eigo Kasahara
Scenario Flow Chief Editor: Shinichi Yoshino
Scenario Flow Editors: Masanobu Fukazawa, Daisuke Tazaki, Akira Uematsu
System Planning Chief Planner: Hideo Choumabayashi
System Planning Planners: Ken Odanaga, Masaaki Somaki, Yasuhiro Kondou
Event Planning Manager: Yoshihiro Okabayashi
Event Planning Chief Planner: Misako Hamada
Event Planning Planners: Satoru Tsuji, Takehiro Imai, Yuuichi Taniguchi, Makoto Suda, Yuji Sobue
Battle System Manager: Yoshihiro Okabayashi
Battle System Planners: Hiroyuki Matsumoto, Kentaro Arakawa
Map & Property Layout Chief Planner: Shin Ishikawa
Map & Property Layout Planner: Koumei Akazawa
Script Data Manager: Shin Ishikawa
Script Data Writers: Tatsuya Ohmachi, Kenji Ishikawa, Masayoshi Takatori, Nobuhiro Onodera
Script Data Minutes: Tadafumi Wagatsuma, Shinsuke Imai
Script Data Planning Section Assistants: Junya Kuroki, Hiroshi Nonaka

Software

Director: Makoto Wada
Chief System Programmers: Makoto Wada, Takayuki Iida
System Program Adviser: Takeshi Hirai (UGA)
System Programmers: Masayuki Sumi, Shigenobu Iga, Norimasa Yoshizawa, Satoru Takeshima, Yoshikazu Nagasawa, Yoshinori Isoda, Toshihiko Gouya, Tetsuya Ino, Souta Kageyama
Event System Chief Programmers: Takeshi Hisajima, Yusuke Shimizu, Takayuki Iida
Event System Programmers: Kouji Hanaoka, Takashi Yamaguchi, Takashi Suwa, Takeshi Machida, Shin Kuroiwa, Takayuki Ota, Tamio Munekata, Tomofumi Muramatsu
Life Control System Unit Chief Programmer: Takayuki Iida
Life Control System Unit Programmer: Kensaku Maeda
Life Control System Unit Data Management: Yusuke Matsuyama
Life Control System Unit Data Production: Hidetomo Hara, Hitoshi Kagawa, Junichi Yabuki
Battle System Chief Programmer: Hiroaki Shoji
Battle System Programmers: Norihiro Sekine, Yasutaka Igarashi, Hideaki Miyagushi
Real Time Movie Chief Programmer: Yoichi Ugajin
Real Time Movie Programmer: Kazuhiro Nomura
3D Library & Effect Chief Programmer: Takeyuki Ogura
3D Library & Effect Programmers: Kazunori Masuda, Junichi Komori, Susumu Morii
3D Library & Effect Hang On Porting: Masatoshi Hashimoto, Shinichirou Mukaigashira
3D Library & Effect Software Section Assistant: Naoko Kikuchi

Graphics Design

Supervisor: Masanori Ohe
Director: Takehiko Mikami
2D Graphics Design Main Designer: Kenji Miyawaki
2D Graphics Designers: Masaya Saida, Hiroshi Kandou, Erika Aihara
3D Character Design Main Designer: Tetsunari Iwasaki
3D Character Designers: Daisuke Satou, Keita Yoshino, Yumiko Sonoyama, Takeshi Ito, Miyuki Noda, Atsuo Takayasu, Rie Sakurai, Eiko Takahashi, Takahito Minei, Chizuka Tamehira, Takashi Yamaguchi, Kayo Yoshida, Hiroshi Hiraga
3D Background Design Managers: Takehiko Mikami, Takumi Matsui
3D Background Design Main Designers: Tatsuya Wakabayashi (Aberdeen), Masahiko Yagi (Wan Chai), Itsuki Watanabe (Wan Chai), Hiroyasu Tamura (Kowloon), Hiroshi Yamada (Kowloon), Masato Nishimura (Guilin), Hiroshi Sengoku (Property)
3D Background Designers: Shinya Inoue, Mami Abe, Hiromitsu Sasaki, Makoto Onuma, Haruhiko Miwa, Takahiko Kimura, Yoshimi Soshi, Wataru Sakomura, Norikazu Hirai
Motion Design Manager: Toshiya Inoue
Motion Design Main Designers: Hiroshi Kawasaki (Battle Motion), Masaya Kusunose (Life Motion), Shigemi Ohmori (Capture)
Motion Designers: Makiko Ishikawa, Masatoshi Murakami, Naoki Ito, Hideaki Fukai, Hiroshi Mitsuzuka, Takayuki Sorimachi, Shinya Shimada, Katsuhiro Fujita, Kazuyoshi Asami, Takashi Ohta, Takehisa Yoshimura
Real Time Movie Director: Kazuya Murata
Real Time Movie Chief Designers: Hiroya Eguchi, Hiroshi Noguchi
Real Time Movie Designers: Kazuya Murata, Daisuke Tachibana, Shungo Seki, Yuichi Uchida, Takeya Sekiguchi, Jinya Ito, Yoshihiko Suzuki, Eisuke Abe, Naoya Shiozaki, Takashi Furue
Chief Motion Camera Director: Kazuhiro Fushimi
Motion Camera Directors: Jun Nakamura, Akihiro Ishihara, Tomokuni Nishimine, Masataka Saito, Yoichi Kaiya
Motion Camera Design Technical Manager: Nobuyuki Matsuda
Motion Camera Design Section Assistant: Nozomi Watanabe

Motion Capture Unit

Director: Hiroaki Jinno
Action & Stunt Director: Sho Tagaya
Assistant Directors: Kazuhiro Tsuboy, Rei Kato, Genichirou Suzuki, Hitoshi Tawada, Yoko Aoyagi, Yufu Shiomi, Kunihiko Matsunaga
Research and Development: Hans Van Veenendaal
Unit Assistants: Tomoko Morikawa, Takeyuki Izumi, Daigo Iwatani
Cast: Hiroshi Fujioka (Iwao Hazuki), Masaya Matsukaze (Ryo Hazuki), Haduki Ishigaki (Shenhua Ling), Takumi Hagiwara (Wuying Ren)
Motion Actors/Actresses: Takakazu Tsukamoto, Takuya Tsukamoto, Mayumi Sato, Wataru Murakami, Tetsuhiro Ikeda, Chidori Hirano, Tonbou Horiguchi, Naoyuki Yoshihisa, Yumiko Watanabe
Action Actors/Actresses: Yuichi Aida, Yasuhiko Kashiwa, Yuko Watanabe
Action & Stunt Presents: Wild JP, Phoenix

Sound & Music

Director: Yasuhiro Takagi
Sound Section Assistants: Seiichi Hamada, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Music Composers: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, Yuzo Koshiro, Ryuji Iuchi, Takeshi Yanagawa, Satoshi Miyashita, Koji Sakurai, Masataka Nitta, Shinji Otsuka, Fumio Ito, Megumi Takano, Osamu Murata, Shinichi Goto
Erhu Performed By: Jia Peng-Fang, Yuiran Oyama
Sound Effects & Edit: Masataka Nitta, Shinji Otsuka, Masanori Miyamoto, Fumio Ito, Osamu Murata, Shinichi Goto, Seiichi Hamada
Sound Production Manager: Tatsutoshi Narita

Orchestration

Arranged By: Hayato Matsuo, Toshiyuki Watanabe
Album Production: Hiroki Horio, Hideyuki Fujii
Conducted By: Hiroshi Kumagai
Music Performed by: Kanagawa Philharmony Orchestra

Song of Shenhua

Performed By: Ioli
Written By: Yumi Asada
Composed By: Ryuji Iuchi
Orchestra Arranged By: Hayato Matsuo

Asamoya No Namioto

Composed & Orchestra Arranged By: Toshiyuki Watanabe

Joy

Vocal: Minoru Niihara
Bass: Sachio Ogawa
Guitar: Yasuo Yokozawa
Drums: Hisamitu Imai
Written By: Tomoaki Inoue
Composed By: Shinji Otsuka
Directed By: Tatsutoshi Narita

Development Support

Technical Research Dept. General Manager: Takashi Fujimura
Technical Research Dept. Associate General Manager: Kanji Omatsu
Technical Research Section Manager: Shigenobu Nakamura
Technical Research Section: Toshinobu Sakurai, Masaya Takeshige, Tatsuya Suizu, Takashi Tanaka, Takeharu Tanimura, Takeshi Ogawa
Motion Capture Section: Hans Van Veenendaal, Yaekko Okadaya, Takeo Iwata
Network Section Manager: Tohru Kobayashi
Network Section: Keishi Suzuki, Yoshitaka Higashiyama, Yasuyuki Komiya, Yuji Miyata, Takahiro Igarashi, Haruki Kubota
Clipper Tool Supervisor: Takashi Nozawa
Clipper Tool Programmer: Masao Oshimi

Debugging

Director: Shinichi Yoshino
Debug Management: Hiroshi Nishida, Kazuyoshi Terada
Debug Foremen: Motokazu Tsubono, Atsushi Miyamoto, Daisuke Hosogi, Yu Furukawa
Debuggers: Daisuke Yamaguchi, Kouji Ohno, Motoyo Ishikawa, Kei Terui, Shinichiro Inoue, Kanako Kuwabara, Yousuke Ito, Masaichi Taira, Makoto Tanaka, Jun Matsumoto, Kazutoshi Watanabe, Hiroyuki Natsume, Yasumoto Kanemaru, Takahiro Kodama, Takeshi Yokoyama, Manabu Sato, Shoji Uehara, Takehiro Suzuki, Kouji Nishiyama, Kouhei Imura, Mitsuaki Kato, Tomoko Ogura, Kazumi Suzuki, Hironobu Oka, Makoto Hosaka

Promotion & Publicity

Producer: Shigeru Ueda
Manager: Yasunobu Masahiro, Yasushi Nagumo
Coordinators: Junichiro Hirata, Takayoshi Ohuchi, Kazuhiro Asami
Marketing Producer: Nasanao Madea
Marketing Manager: Seurio Sannabe
Marketing Director: Yasushi Yamashita
Publicity Staff: Fumio Goto, Kenji Arui, Taku Kihara, Goro Iwasaki
Publicity Designers: Akira Yamanka, Kazunori Oii

Production

Managers: Mitsuo Kashiwagi, Yasushi Nakajima
Assistant Managers: Miki Komine, Takami Shibasaki, Sayaka Watanabe, Yukiko Hirano

Special Thanks To

Hakkyuku Ken Motions Supervisor: Master Gorenshi
Writer: Toshiyuki Tanka
Planners: Katsunori Yamaji, Shigeki Terajima, Isao Murayama, Akihito Ohta, Kenji Takei, Kenichi Oguchi, Masaki Harada, Yousuke Yamashita, Toshiaki Motozawa, Norihiro Sawada
Programmers: Keui Okayasu, Masashi Hayashida, Nobuyuki Sugano, Keiichi Yamamoto, Hiroyuki Tsuzuki, Manabu Matsumoto, Hajime Ikebe, Sumito Aso, Takatoshi Tatsumi, Kenichi Matsumura, Kennosuke Koga, Hirohiko Yoneda
Designers: Hideki Kawabata, Yasushi Kameda, Kentarou Nishimura, Hideyuki Ohi, Yumiko Dobashi, Mio Saito, Takehiro Izumo, Teruya Suzuki, Eui Tokumori, Fumiyo Tanaka, Tomotaka Shuroichi, Kentarou Hikita, Manabu Satou, Takahiro Matsumoto
Publicity Section: Ai Kotani, Akemi Shimizutani, Utako Okukawa, Ryoko Raita
Production Assistants: Sadako Hattori, Mio Oguchi

Promotional Material Production

R&D Dept.#2 Visual Editing Supervisor: Masanori Ohe
R&D Dept.#2 Visual Editing Manager: Makoto Ando
R&D Dept.#2 Visual Editors: Naonori Wantanabe, Mikako Suzuki, Takeya Sekiguchi
JAY FILM Executive Producer: Shuichi Kakesu
JAY FILM Producer: Koji Kobayashi
JAY FILM Assistant Producer: Soutaro Maeda

The Producer Wish To Thank The Following

Promotion: Libero, Polydor K.K
Acotors/Actresses & Extra: Phoenix, Wild Stunt Team, Himitsukiti
Voice: 81 Produce, Office C.A Planning, Magic Capsule Co. Ltd
Production: Advanced Technology & Information, Ancient, Arc System Works Co. Ltd, Avant Inc., Creek & River Co. Ltd, CSK Research Institute Corp., DigitalScape Co. Ltd, Garguyle Mechanics Inc., Media Desgin & Art Ltd., Media Entertainment, Junge Corp., Orental Light & Music Inc., Receuit Staffing Co. LTD., Sims Co. Ltd., Studio Limited Partership, Toshiba Emi, T's Music, Arewana, DDL Corporation, Dreams Co. Ltd., Rutubo Games, Shangrila Corporation, Studio Cilps
Marerial Offer: Amusement Vision Ltd., Hitmaker Co. Ltd, Overworks Ltd., Smilebit Corp., Sonic Team Ltd., WOW Entertaiment Inc.
Development Tools: ADX, MPEG Sofdec, ROFS
The Up With: Soft Drinks, Timex, Case Logic
Created By: Sega AM2
Presented by: Sega