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Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep

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Dungeon Master II:
The Legend of Skullkeep
Developer(s)FTL Games
Publisher(s)Interplay Productions
Director(s)Doug Bell
Composer(s)Allister Brimble
Rick Jackson
Brian Luzietti
Platform(s)PC-9801, FM-Towns, Sega CD, Amiga, DOS, Mac OS
ReleaseDecember 23, 1993 (PC-98)
January 1994 (FM Towns)
1994 (Sega CD)
August 16, 1995 (DOS)[1]
1995 (Amiga, MacOS)
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep, also released as Dungeon Master II: Skullkeep, is the sequel to the dungeon crawler role-playing video game Dungeon Master.[2] It was released in 1993 in Japan and in 1995 in other countries.[2] It is available for DOS,[3] Amiga, Macintosh,[4] Sega CD, PC-9801, PC-9821, and FM Towns. A Sega Mega Drive version was planned but never released.[5]

Development

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FTL's Wayne Holder said in 1994 that FTL considered a free-movement engine like Doom or Ultima Underworld for Dungeon Master II ("it's not that hard to do"), but "we prefer puzzle-oriented game design", while free-movement was "tedious to play" and complicated puzzle design.[6]

Platform comparison

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In-game screenshot showing MS-DOS version graphics

Graphics: There are many graphical differences between the DOS and Amiga versions. For example, the title and endgame animations are very different. Items graphics also change: the Amiga version, while marked as an AGA game, is actually running in 32 color ECS mode (evident by the fact that it runs on Amiga 600 computers with 2MB RAM) colors, whereas the DOS version has 256 color VGA graphics. While the PC-9821 has 256 color graphics, the PC-9801 version uses dithered graphics to fit within the PC-9801's palette.

Screen layouts: The Macintosh version includes two screen layouts: a normal and a compact layout.

Music: The game music is different in each version of the game: the PC version uses MIDI music (which therefore sounds different on different sound cards), the Amiga version uses MODules, and the Sega CD version uses CD Audio tracks.

Reception

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Dungeon Master II received mediocre reviews and sold poorly.[13] Reviewing the Sega CD version, GamePro commented that the standard Genesis controller does not work well with its point-and-click interface, and that a Sega Mouse is needed to fully enjoy the game. They also criticized the need to maintain light sources and food supplies. However, the bulk of their review was devoted to praise for the enemy AI, which they contended is so intelligent and naturalistic that it's "almost like playing against another person."[14] Reviewing the later PC version, a Next Generation critic said that while the original Dungeon Master was an outstanding game, Dungeon Master II retained aspects of the original that had long since become outdated. Noting the "refreshingly different magic system" as one of the few bright points, he gave it two out of five stars.[8][13]

The One gave the Amiga version an overall score of 93%, praising the game's atmosphere and 3D sound effects. The magazine criticized FTL's attempt to add smoother movement, stating that "it simply isn't as good as any of the Doom clones that there are around at the moment". Noting that Dungeon Master II was a much deeper game than the Doom clones, however, The One concluded that Dungeon Master II was "an excellent game well worthy of its high scores".[11]

Reviews

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References

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  1. ^ "Interplay Releases Dungeon Master II". 1997-10-09. Archived from the original on 1997-10-09. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  2. ^ a b McFerran, Damien (2006). "The Making of Dungeon Master" (PDF). Issue 34. Retro Gamer Magazine. pp. 30–31. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-01. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
  3. ^ "Dungeon Master II". interplay.com. 2001-04-14. Archived from the original on 2001-04-13.
  4. ^ "Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep". macplay.com. 1997. Archived from the original on 2000-09-30.
  5. ^ "CVG Reviews Supershorts: Mega Drive - Dungeon Master 2". Computer and Video Games. No. 160. EMAP. March 1995. p. 101.
  6. ^ Meston, Zach; Arnold, J. Douglas (1994). Dungeon Master II Skullkeep: The Official Strategy Guide. Sandwich Islands Publishing. Retrieved 2024-09-21.
  7. ^ Ward, Trent C. (November 1995). "Dungeon Master II". PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on November 17, 1999.
  8. ^ a b "Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep". Next Generation (12). Imagine Media: 188. December 1995.
  9. ^ Burgess, McCandless (September 1995). "CD Review - Dungeon Master II". PC Zone. No. 30. Future plc. p. 76.
  10. ^ Olafson, Peter (October 1995). "Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep". PC Games. Archived from the original on October 18, 1996. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
  11. ^ a b "Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep Review". The One. No. 85. emap Images. November 1995. pp. 22–27.
  12. ^ Snyder, Frank; Chapman, Ted; Kaiafas, Tasos (October 1995). "Entropy Beckons". Computer Game Review. Archived from the original on December 21, 1996.
  13. ^ a b Maher, Jimmy (2015-12-11). "Dungeon Master, Part 1: The Making of". The Digital Antiquarian. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  14. ^ "ProReview: Dungeon Master II: Skullkeep". GamePro. No. 62. IDG. September 1994. p. 125.
  15. ^ "Australian Realms Magazine - Complete Collection". June 1988.
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