''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 Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

'' Dungeon Master''. It was released in 1993 in Japan and in 1995 in other countries. It is available for

DOS DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

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Sega CD The Sega CD, known as in most regions outside North America and Brazil, is a CD-ROM accessory and format for the Sega Genesis produced by Sega as part of the fourth generation of video game consoles. Originally released in November 1991, it ca ...

PC-9801 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or simply , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit Personal computer, personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2003. While based on Intel processors, it uses an in-house architecture making it inc ...

PC-9821 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or simply , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2003. While based on Intel processors, it uses an in-house architecture making it incompatible with IBM ...

DOS/V DOS/V is a Japanese computing initiative starting in 1990 to allow DOS on IBM PC compatibles with VGA cards to handle Double-byte character set, double-byte (DBCS) Japanese text via software alone. It was initially developed from PC DOS by IBM f ...

and

FM Towns The is a Japanese personal computer built by Fujitsu from 1989 to 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with IBM PC compatibles. In 1993, the FM Towns ...

Development

FTL's Wayne Holder said in 1994 that FTL considered a free-movement engine like ''

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'' or ''

Ultima Underworld ''Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss'' is a 1992 action role-playing game developed by Blue Sky Productions (later Looking Glass Studios) and published by Origin Systems. Set in the fantasy world of the ''Ultima'' series the story takes pla ...

'' 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.

Platform comparison

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

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game, is actually running in 32 color ECS mode (evident by the fact that it runs on

Amiga 600 The Amiga 600, also known as the A600, and full title Commodore Amiga 600, is a home computer introduced in March 1992. It is the final Amiga model based on the Motorola 68000 and the 1990 Amiga Enhanced Chip Set. A redesign of the Amiga 500 Plus ...

computers with 2MB

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) colors, whereas the DOS version has

256 color 8-bit color graphics are a method of storing image information in a computer's memory or in an image file, so that each pixel is represented by 8 bits (1 byte). The maximum number of colors that can be displayed at any one time is 256 per pixel or ...

VGA Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the IBM PC compatible industry within three years. T ...

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 Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

music (which therefore sounds different on different sound cards), the Amiga version uses

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, and the Sega CD version uses CD Audio tracks.

Reception

''Dungeon Master II'' received mediocre reviews and sold poorly. Reviewing the Sega CD version, ''

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

'' 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." Reviewing the later PC version, a ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' 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. ''

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'' 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".

Reviews

*''

Australian Realms ''Australian Realms'' was an Australian magazine featuring role-playing games (RPGs). Its first issue was published in 1988 by Planar Games at Willeton, Western Australia with Corey Swallow as editor and Mark Hendley as assistant editor. Th ...

'' #26

References

External links

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''Dungeon Master II: The Legend of Skullkeep''
at Dungeon Master Encyclopaedia {{Dungeon Master series 1993 video games Amiga 1200 games Amiga games Cancelled Sega Genesis games Classic Mac OS games DOS games Fantasy video games First-person party-based dungeon crawler video games FM Towns games FTL Games games NEC PC-9801 games Role-playing video games Sega CD games Single-player video games Video game sequels Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Allister Brimble Video games scored by Tsukasa Tawada