Phantasy Star II

ファンタシースターII 還らざる時の終わりにGenesis, Wii, Xbox 360, iOS +101989

  1. JP1989
  2. NA1990
  3. EU1990
  4. RU—

Phantasy Star II was released under the same name in North America and Europe; the English localization changed a few lines and details from the Japanese original. Most of its re-releases are compilations and retro consoles, such as the Sega Genesis Mini 2 version by M2.

Phantasy Star II is a science fantasy role-playing game for the Mega Drive, released in Japan on 21 March 1989, in North America in March 1990 and in Europe in 1990. It was developed and published by Sega: Chieko Aoki directed and wrote it, Yuji Naka produced and programmed it, Rieko Kodama worked on the art and Tokuhiko Uwabo composed the music.

It was the first game on a 6-megabit cartridge, the largest on a console at the time, and the first role-playing game on the Mega Drive. It reached North America four months before the NES Final Fantasy.

The game has been re-released many times, from the Wii Virtual Console and Xbox Live Arcade to iOS and Android. A Japan-only PlayStation 2 remake, Phantasy Star Generation 2, came out in 2005 as part of Sega Ages. In 2022 M2 ported it to the Sega Genesis Mini 2 with faster movement and combat and an option to double experience and Meseta.1

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Phantasy Star II Genesis March 1990 Sega 1
JP — Genesis Mar 21, 1989 Sega 1
EU Phantasy Star II Genesis 1990 Sega 1
WW Phantasy Star IIVirtual Console Wii 2008 Sega 1
WW Phantasy Star IIXbox Live Arcade, Sega Vintage Collection Xbox 360 Jun 10, 2009 Sega 1
WW Phantasy Star IIiPhone, later iPad and iPod touch iOS Aug 26, 2010 Sega 1
WW Phantasy Star IIFree on iOS and Android Android Jun 22, 2017 Sega 1
WW Sega Genesis Mini 2Port by M2 on the Genesis/Mega Drive Mini 2 Other October 2022 Sega 1

Box art by region

  • Phantasy Star II box art, North America release
    NA Phantasy Star II
  • Phantasy Star II box art, Europe release
    EU Phantasy Star II

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • CensorshipJPNA

    In the Japanese version the character Ustvestia is openly gay and says a male character 'looks cute'; the American release changed this to 'looks smart'.1

  • TextJPNA/EU

    The Japanese version is set 942 years after the first game, while the English version says 1,000 years.1

  • TextJPNA/EU

    The link between the Esper Lutz and Noah from the first game was lost in the English localization.1

All differences (5)

Reception

Dragon called it one of the best role-playing games yet released for any video game system, and Sega Power gave it 94%. Retrospective scores are lower: 80% on GameRankings for the Genesis original and 64/100 on Metacritic for the Xbox 360 release.1

In lists

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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