In the dark, vast reaches of space, light years from the planet we call home, floats the Algo Star System. It contains three planets, and the middle one is a green, hospitable world called Mota, gripped in a web of insanity.

The people on a technically advanced planet Mota make experiments to create biomechanical creatures. But one day, a creature was created that appeared to be dangerous to the humans themselves. And no signal came to the capital city from the experimental labs… You, a nameless young man living in Paleo, Mota's capital, is commanded to go to the labs and check the issue. Your friend Nei, a semi-human girl, goes with you, and other brave adventurers join you on what starts with a simple mission but develops into saving the entire world…

Phantasy Star 2 is a role-playing experience like no other. Featuring complex plot twists, numerous characters, and a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy elements. Join forces with Hugh the Biologist, Shir the Thief, Kain the Wrecker, Rudo the Hunter, and many others as you try to unravel the mystery of why Mother Brain has let the planet fall apart.

This is the first Phantasy Star game for the Genesis, set in a futuristic world. The turn-based combat allows you to choose between “fight”, where the characters simply attack physically for one turn, and “strategy”, where you can choose from several sub-commands, to defend, to use a special technique, or to run from the battle. Instead magic there are “techniques”, that require the usage of TP (technique points).

You can attack, use magic (called “techniques”), use an item (called “tools”), or defending. A nice addition is the continuous battle feature. It enables you to use the same commands each round without having to input them in every time. For instance, if Rolf attacks and Nei heals, they'll do that every round until you press a button (yes, any button will do). Then the next round you can input different commands.

Characters are in the traditional anime style and look good as well as the monsters that are brilliantly designed and drawn. The monsters are split between two types, bio-monsters and robots each having their own characteristics. Because of the large amount of monsters in the game too, you should always find yourself up against a new monster quite often, this stops you from becoming bored of the same kind.

Phantasy Star 2 is quite simply one of the best games ever if you take the limitations of the Genesis into consideration, it really is way ahead of its time. RPG's that have a great story backed up by nice graphics, good sound and no other major faults what so ever are pretty hard to come by, especially on the Genesis, Phantasy Star 2 would shine on any system. This is a game that has rarely been bettered since and is an RPG for others to live up to.