Format: Super CD-ROM²
Genre: RPG
Developer: Geo Factory
Publisher: RayForce Inc.

Startling Odyssey II's title screen opens with a white flash and some "Neon Genesis Evangelion"-esque orchestral fare. It makes quite the first impression. In fact, the game is filled with PC Engine-style anime cutscenes, which are superbly drawn and fully voice acted. But most of the game is spent traversing the overworld, towns, and dungeons, each drawn from a three-quarters overhead perspective. The tile sets make good use of the hardware's high amount of simultaneous colors, with lovely-designed buildings, razor sharp mountain passes, and spooky dungeons. The character sprites are very reminiscent of the later work from Camelot in games like "Shining Force III" or "Golden Sun", as they are large-headed so as to allow for detailed faces. They even blink their eyes when standing still. The menus are basic, but the main pause menu has large portraits of the current party members.

Like most Super CD-ROM² games, Startling Odyssey II alternates between chip music and CD audio tracks-- although in this case, ninety-plus percent of the music is chip, to the point where in the longest dungeons the hardware will actually park the laser lens. The chip tunes make the absolute most of the PC Engine's PSG, utilizing every possible waveform and effect the hardware is capable of. Many of the town songs are instantly memorable, with their chipper melodies and fun twists, while the darker tunes-- especially those at the end of the game, such as the Dragon Castle song-- are positively hair-raising. This reviewer can't speak Japanese, but nonetheless the voice acting in the cut-scenes is shockingly good given this game's '94 release as compared to even contemporary anime. Most of the CD audio tracks are reserved for boss fights, and they are phenomenal, albeit they do loop a bit too often.

Startling Odyssey II's mechanics are as standard as possible for the genre and the era: the player alternates between towns, overworld traversal, and dungeons while battling random enemy appearances with JRPG menu-based combat. But it's the details which make the game shine: the developers positively nailed the pacing, keeping the entertainment levels maxed. Dungeons are satisfying, but not too long. There is a cool array of fun-to-use spells, like ones which enable double attacking or others which silence the enemy magic-- and each spell has a practical purpose against different adversaries. The game's combat engine features a very tasteful, actually-useful auto mode. The title's total playthrough length is about forty hours, which feels just right for this type of game.

This game is a real winner-- not because it does anything particularly innovative, but more simply because of how well it executes. It has attractive tile sets which never get old to look at; the soundtrack is outstanding, and really pushes the PC Engine's sound chip; the turn-based combat is perfectly executed, with interesting enemies and fun abilities to use against them; the dungeons are well laid out and satisfying to explore. But maybe most importantly, the cast is extremely lovable, from Rob's naïveté to Judy's jealousy to Niki's antics to Gary's pervertedness-- even not being able to understand the voice acting and with a sketchy English fan translation, this reviewer was actively rooting for the cast to be successful in their mission. Startling Odyssey II may not in the all-time classic category, but as a second-tier genre example it's in the top slice.