Neutopia II

1991 video game

Neutopia II (ニュートピアII, Nyūtopia Tsū) is a 1991 action adventure/action role playing video game developed and published in Japan by Hudson Soft and in North America by Turbo Technologies for the TurboGrafx 16. It is the sequel to Neutopia, which was released earlier in 1989. In the game, the player takes control of Jazeta's son, who embarks on a quest to both save his father and defeat the returning evil demon Dirth. Headed by director and designer Shigeki Fujiwara, Neutopia II was created by a mostly different team at Hudson Soft who did not work on the first Neutopia. First released on the TurboGrafx 16, the game has since been re released through download services such as the Virtual Console and PlayStation Network download services, in addition to being included on the PC Engine Mini console. Neutopia II received mostly positive reception from critics since its release; praise was given to the varied monster designs, new gameplay additions, straightfoward plot and audiovisual presentation, while criticism was geared towards its lack of originality, simplistic puzzles and poor sprite animations, with some stating that the sequel felt indistinguishable from the first Neutopia. A third entry, Neutopia III, was teased by Hudson Soft but never materialized. Retrospective commentary has been equally positive, although some have criticized it as very derivative and imitative of The Legend of Zelda series.

Neutopia II shares many similarities in visuals and gameplay with the early Legend of Zelda titles.

Neutopia II was created by a mostly different team at Hudson Soft who did not work on the first Neutopia, with Shigeki Fujiwara leading its development as director and also acting as game designer. Two members of the original Neutopia staff, Kōji Kaneta and Masato Tobisawa, returned to serve as co programmers. The game was first slated for a July 1992 release date in North America, but was published by Turbo Technologies in August 1992 for the TurboGrafx 16. The game was one of many launch titles under the Turbo Technologies Inc relaunch for the TurboGrafx 16, the other games including Air Zonk, Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu, and Dungeons and Dragons: Order of the Griffon. The title was re released for the Wii's Virtual Console on June 12, 2007 in Japan, then in North America on September 10 and later in Europe on September 14. It was also re released for the PlayStation Network as part of the "PC Engine Archives" line in Japan on July 21, 2010. It was re released in June 2013 across Japanese cloud gaming services like Hikari TV and G cluster. In addition, it was re released through the Wii U's Virtual Console in Japan on July 30, 2014 and later in North America on January 8, 2017. It was included in both the Japanese and western variants of the PC Engine Mini console in 2020.

Neutopia II received mostly positive reception from critics since its release on the TurboGrafx 16, most of which reviewed it as an import title. Public reception was also positive; readers of PC Engine Fan voted to give the game a 22.24 out of 30 score, ranking at the number 150 spot in a poll, indicating a popular following. Video Games Martin Gaksch commended its visuals for the varied monster designs, new gameplay additions and stylish music. Eurogamers Dan Whitehead also reviewed the Virtual Console release and regarded it as a solid role playing game for the TurboGrafx. IGNs Lucas M. Thomas concurred with McFerran when reviewing the Virtual Console relaunch, stating that the title felt more like a remixed second quest of the original game. Thomas gave positive remarks to its more polished and accessible gameplay due to the introduction of diagonal movement, improved plot progression and diverse character interactions, but felt mixed in regards to the visuals and criticized the sound for not being as "great" as its predecessor, as well as the overuse of hidden rooms. Regardless, he stated that both Neutopia games are equally replayable, and that together offer complete story. GameSpots Austin Shau also agreed with both McFerran and Thomas, stating that the game felt like an extension of the first entry. Shau commended its "interesting" mix of enemies and complex labyrinths, as well as the improved audio and gameplay, but criticized the presentation for being generic and for not distinguishing enough from the original. The Japanese book PC Engine Complete Guide 1987 1999 noted that its difficulty level felt low due to the overpowered items the player obtains during gameplay and similarities with the Zelda series. Nevertheless, they stated that Neutopia II was "a good work" and not just an imitation.

A third entry, Neutopia III, had been teased by Hudson Soft during the credits sequence of Neutopia II, but it never materialized. An unofficial iteration of the third title had been in development for the TurboGrafx CD by homebrew developer Frozen Utopia since 2005, who teased a single in game screenshot of the game. The last update from Frozen Utopia was in May 2008, when it was said that development on the project was postponed due to the developers focusing on other homebrew projects.