The Sword of Hope II

1992 video game

JP: September 4, 1992
NA: September 1996

Selection I & II

JP: May 1, 1998

3DS Virtual Console

NA: July 12, 2012
JP: June 13, 2012
EU: August 9, 2012

Genre(s)Role-playing video gameMode(s)Single-player

The Sword of Hope II,^[1] known in Japan as Selection II: Ankoku no Fuuin (セレクションII 暗黒の封印), is a 1992 role-playing video game developed and published by Kemco for the Game Boy.

It is the sequel to the 1989 The Sword of Hope. In 1998, these two games were rereleased in Japan as a single Game Boy cartridge, Selection I & II. The Sword of Hope II was released for the 3DS Virtual Console in 2012.

A "dungeon crawler"-type game, the player must retrieve the Sword of Hope, which has been stolen, and find the evil Zakdos who has been set free after being imprisoned.

Reception

The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly were mostly dissatisfied by the game, with their main complaint being that the battles are much too slow and time-consuming, making combat and travel a chore rather than a pleasure. Crispin Boyer and Sushi-X, however, found that it was still a decent enough game for those who liked the first game in the series or simply wanted a portable RPG. They scored it a 5.25 out of 10.^[2] GamePro gave it a negative review, citing the generic, slow, overly frequent, and repetitive battles.^[3]

Notes

^ Packaging refers to the game as "Sword of Hope II". The 3DS Virtual Console release is going by the game itself and so ignores this.
^ "Review Crew: Sword of Hope II". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 86. Ziff Davis. September 1996. p. 30.
^ "Sword of Hope II". GamePro. No. 100. IDG. January 1997. p. 45.