Ultima: Runes of Virtue II



Ultima: Runes of Virtue II was developed by Origin and published by Fujisankei Communications International for the Nintendo GameBoy in 1993. A port for the SNES followed in 1994.

Gameplay
Like its predecessor, Runes of Virtue, this is mostly an action-adventure game similar to the Legend of Zelda and offers basically the same gameplay. The land is however much bigger this time, with actual cities to explore and more NPCs to see, and longer dungeons.

Like the first episode, this game is again capable of multi-player - but only on the GameBoy, not on the SNES.

The Story
After his defeat by the one of the Avatar's Companions in Ultima: Runes of Virtue, the Black Knight returns to kidnap the mayors of the eight cities of Virtue of Britannia. Lord British summons the Avatar to deal with this threat once and for all.

Differences between the ports
There are significant differences between the two versions of the game on the GameBoy and the SNES.

The Gameboy version of Runes of Virtue II features multiplayer gameplay, character portraits and a somewhat larger play area than the SNES version. Additionally, the graphics of the game are drawn more in a western-srtyle, leaning more onto the astethics of Ultima VI. The SNES-port on the other hand sacrifices all these features for a superior graphics and sound support. However, the attempt to emulate the perspective of Ultima VI while at the same time using cartoonish graphics hurt the game and the missing features are very noticable.

Release
Ultima: Runes of Virtue II was well received when it was released on the Gameboy, with the handheld version receiving a 3.525/5 from Nintendo Power on 11/01/93, with 3.0/5 for graphics and sound, 3.3 for play controls, 4.0 for challenge, and 3.8 for play and fun, praising the game's story, cutscenes, and plot, while stating the graphics were small and the gameplay was overly complex for some players. The SNES version received a dismal 2.525/5.0 from Nintendo Power when it was released in late 1994, with 2.8/5 for graphics and sound, 2.8 for play controls, 2.5 for challenge, and 2.0 for play and fun, praising its story, graphics, and plot, while criticizing its controls and game view.

Included with the game
The GameBoy version only comes with an instruction manual, and nothing else in the box. The SNES port additionally has a paper map of Britannia

Trivia

 * Ultima: Runes of Virtue II was released in Japan as Ultima Gaiden.
 * While the player is clearly identified as the Avatar and summoned through a blue moongate by Lord British, he still get to play one of the Avatar's companion that he choose at the beginning of the game. Interestingly enough, the companions are depicted with a visible ankh on their clothes, as if they indeed were the Avatar.
 * The game most likely takes place 10 or 15 years prior to  Ultima VI given that it shares many NPC names (including the mayors) with that game. Specifically, Quenton is still alive in Skara Brae, and his daughter Marney is only a child.
 * In the SNES version you will find a sign that says "Welcome to Origin" if you go down the well in Jhelom. This is the "secret" Origin headquarters located under the town of Jhelom. Here you'll meet several staff members of Origin who worked on Runes of Virtue 2; Raymond, Marc, Heather, Alan, Scott, Martin Galway, Sam, Gnu Gnu, Terry the Adventurer, Karl and Nathan.