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ニュートピアII
©1991 Hudson Soft / Vol.43
Release : 1991-09-27 (¥7200)
HuCard (6 Mbits) HC91047
RAM Backup
Adventure game
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Released in America as
NEUTOPIA II
( TGX060078 )
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Neutopia II is an action/adventure game by Hudson Soft and
takes place several years after the first episode originally released in 1989.
The evil Dirth has returned (see Neutopia) and Jazeta,
hero of the first Neutopia, is once again on his way to defeat him.
But he hasn't returned and his son, his brave descendant,
decides to embark on a long journey to save him.
His adventure will take him to the four corners of the land of Neutopia
and to battle countless monsters and ultimately confront the emperor of darkness himself.
Neutopia II plays identically to
the first episode - Jazeta's son starts his journey with a fairly
weak sword and can collect all kind of new weapons and items as the game progresses,
from bombs (which can be used to reveal hidden rooms and passageways),
to the boomerang, the hook as well as magic staffs that
allow him to unleash powerful fire, wind or lightning attacks onto his enemies.
Dungeons (called labyrinths) are scattered around the world and feature all kind of deadly traps
and each climax with a gruesome boss encounter.
Neutopia II is a vast adventure game and is single player only.
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Teaser text from the American version:
In the previous edition of Neutopia, Jazeta brought peace
back to the land. But as long as evil and fear live in the
human heart, the dreaded Dirth, Emperor of Darkness, will
be plotting his return. The Emperor is stirring under the
peaceful surface of Neutopia, bringing suffering to its
people. Who will save them ? Jazeta, the hero, is lost in a
labyrinth in a foreign land. Can his son withstand the
powers of the Emperor of Darkness to rescue the good
people of Neutopia from fear and despair?
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Game Staff (Copied from the American version's end credits) :
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NEUTOPIA II STAFF
Directed by
Shigeki Fujiwara
Game Designer
Shigeki Fujiwara
Chief Programmer
Kouji Kaneta
Sub Programmer
Masato Tobisawa
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Character Designer
Fumie Takaoka
Background Graphic Designer
Yutaka Sato
Image Character Designer
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Music & Sound Effects
Keita Hoshi
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Public Relations
Kazuhiko Kitade
Thanks to
Eiji Aoyama
Masanori Wake
Produced by
Hudson Soft
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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Game tips:
The white wings transport you to the last saved position.
The magic rings transform all monsters into weaker ones.
In dungeons, don't hesitate to use your bombs to blast random walls! There are literally tons of
hidden rooms in the game.
It seems that there are always save points before each dungeon. Make sure you
find them! Although the monks there won't refill your life... Finally,
you will find the grappling hook later in the game - although it is a fairly good
weapon and allows you to collect items from afar, it comes with a big catch! It will consume
10 gold coins each time you use it!
Alternate Hero Character:
Start a new game and enter こあら as the player's name. You
will get to play as a weird looking and goofy character (picture on the right). You also start
the game with a full
health potion in your inventory. In the American version, enter "KOALA" as the player's name for
the same effect.
Special Passwords:
There are a few special passwords that unlock debug menus and screens. To activate them, start the game
and select the continue option. In the case of the Japanese version, these passwords can be tricky to enter -
in the case of a diacritic Kana (such as the dakuten " or handakuten °) you first have to enter the full Kana, then go back
and enter the corresponding diacritics which are located on the right hand side of the character screen.
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Enemy Screen Password:
In the Japanese version of the game, enter ざっつえんたていめんとにゅうとぴあ as a password.
This will activate the enemy screen where you can see each monster in the game in action (picture on the right).
In the American version, enter "Thats Entertainment Neutopia".
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Sound Test Screen Password:
In the Japanese version of the game, enter みゅうじっくふろむにゅうとぴあ as a password.
This will activate the sound test screen where you can listen to any music and sound
effects in the game (picture on the right). In the American version, enter "Music From Neutopia".
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Weird Play Mode Password:
In the Japanese version of the game, enter
せどてすろするむ るまげきけんこへ とずのづらわそし るかわばぬだゆひ ぞやぢんもちりの だもんへざぐどぞ as a password.
This will activate an alternate play mode with a weird looking hero character (picture on the right).
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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The first Neutopia was obviously inspired by Nintendo's classic Zelda.
This second episode dramatically improves on its predecessor - Jazeta's son
can move and attack in eight different directions which gives the game
incredibly intuitive and satisfying controls. The world is also
overall a lot more interesting and cohesive. Neutopia II
reminds me of Zelda A Link to the Past, which is really surprising
as this sequel was actually released two months before Nintendo's
masterpiece! However Neutopia II doesn't have as much
depth as Nintendo's classic and the adventure ends
up being very repetitive in places. Dungeons often use the same
gameplay mechanics (move blocks to unlock doors or blast hidden passageways with your bombs) and
the game is overall not as tight.
Additionally, if you happen to play the original Japanese version, be aware that
language can be a problem this time around. The first opus was
really forgiving but this one requires you to figure out a few things
that may be tricky for non-Japanese speakers - for instance, I didn't know about the lantern
that you have to retrieve later in the game and ended up trying to
find my way around in the dark... I would also advise to use the
Backup RAM, the Japanese passwords can be really painful to
write down. All in all, in you like Zelda, then Neutopia II
is an extremely solid game with a compelling world to explore and
smart Zelda-ish gameplay mechanics and concepts! A must have!
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