Shenmue II

Shenmue II
Developer	Sega AM2 d3t (Windows, PS4, Xbox One)
Publisher	Sega
Platforms	Dreamcast, Xbox, PlayStation 4, Windows, Xbox One
Released	Dreamcast Japan: September 6, 2001 Europe: December 23, 2001 Xbox North America: October 28, 2002 Europe: March 21, 2003 PS4, Windows, Xbox One Worldwide: August 21, 2018
Added to Museum	Windows: August 21, 2018 Dreamcast EU: November 8, 2018

Shenmue II is the second game in the Shenmue series. It was released for Dreamcast in Japan on September 6, 2001 and in Europe on October 28, 2002. It was released on Xbox on October 28, 2002 in North America and on March 21, 2003 in Europe.

A high definition version of the game was released, packaged with Shenmue, developed by d3t and published by Sega for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Windows, on August 21, 2018.

Plot

A Japanese teenager named Ryo Hazuki arrives in China. His search for the man who killed his father takes him to Hong Kong and Guilin.

Playable games

At Pine Game Arcade, you can play Sega arcade games.

• Darts 7
• Excite QTE 2 - button pressing quick-time-event game
• Out Run
• QTE Title - button pressing quick-time-event boxing game
• Slot Machines
• Space Harrier

On the first floor of the Phoenix building, you can play After Burner II.

Inside room 222 of the Yellow Head Building, you can play Hang-On.

There are also bars, gambling parlors and stores where you can play arm wrestling, billiards, Darts 7 and Neo Darts, duck racing, Lucky Hit pachinko, Roll it on top dice game, slot machines, street fighting, and collect capsule toys.

Development

When Yu Suzuki developed Shenmue, the development included parts of Shenmue II and future titles in the series. The original plan was for eleven chapters, each to be released as separate games for the Dreamcast.

Shenmue was the most expensive game ever made at the time, at 47 million dollars. When the game didn't sell enough to pay for its development and marketing budget, it became clear that Sega could not afford to make eleven Shenmue games. Thus, while the first Shenmue contained only one chapter, Shenmue II contained three.

Version differences

The European Dreamcast version of Shenmue II uses the original Japanese language voices with English subtitles. Both the North American and European Xbox versions use English language voices and do not contain the Japanese language voice track. The Windows, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 versions have options to use both the Japanese and English voice tracks.

The Xbox version contains additional features, such as a snapshot ability, the ability to save anywhere, and additional visual effects such as added environmental shadows, motion blur, and bloom lighting. The PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows versions are based on the Xbox version but have high definition visuals in a 16:9 aspect ratio, except in cutscenes which remain in a 4:3 aspect ratio. It also has less motion blur and bloom effects than the Xbox version.

Sequel

Shenmue III was released for PlayStation 4 and Windows in 2019.

Legacy

Shenmue II included some refinements from Shenmue and new features. Sega's own Like a Dragon series employ some of the gameplay from Shenmue. The series also included some of the refinements on the gameplay and features from Shenmue II, such as the ability to hold down a button to follow a non-player character, and secret street fighting tournaments.