In 2005 Sega of Japan released a remake of the Sega Mega Drive game Phantasy Star 2 for the Sony PlayStation 2 called Sega Ages 2500 Phantasy Star Generation 2. Just like the 2003 release of Phantasy Star Generation 1 both of these very cool remakes for Phantasy Star 1 and 2 were only in Japanese. Making them unplayable for anyone who couldn’t speak the language.
Now, following in the footsteps of the previously translated Phantasy Star Generation 1 comes the fully translated Phantasy Start Generation 2!
Again we can thank the Phantasy Star Cave for the amazing endeavor. And truly I want to personally thank everyone involved. Your work will bring some very serious enjoyment to my life.
Just today I burned this fan translation to CD and started playing it on my modded Sony PlayStation 2. Even though I fully expected it to work I’m still having a hard time expressing how amazing it felt to see it run so seamlessly and perfectly.
Below are a few pictures I took of the game running on my modded PlayStation 2 and my 50″ DLP TV.
PSG2 Title Screen
PSG2 Back Story
I had goose bumps looking at this title screen knowing that this was going to be my adventure. And check out that dialog in the second screen shot as it acknowledges the events of Phantasy Star 1 while laying the foundation for the next conflict with darkness.
It’s Alis!.. I mean Alisa (Alis)!!
She’ll be OK.
It’s not long before references to Phantasy Star 1 are left behind but I always loved the connection made by the introduction of Phantasy Star 2. Was Rolf (now called Eusis) aware of Alisa’s lore? Or was he connected to her in someway through ancestry or was he possibly the next chosen one? I always loved this link between these two Heroes who were separated by one thousand years.
Life is about to get complicated.
Lov’in the new Artwork.
It’s the same classic Phantasy Star 2 game but everything has been remade with new graphics, cut scenes and much fuller dialog. This is something I’ve wanted for a very long time. It’s just… so… awesome 😀
Still can’t believe I can play this now!
Combat!
Personally I feel everything looks fantastic. It’s a full make over without changing the heart of the game. And don’t you worry about those Biting Ants; I smoked em!
Yup, that’s all English.
Thank you Internet!
I know Phantasy Star 2 well but this remake will feel like an all new experience. I’m very excited to dive in and save Algo all over again!
For any Phantasy Star fan out there this is a must play game. If you don’t have a modded PlayStation 2 then don’t hesitate to use an emulator. Play it and enjoy it while we wait for an official English release. I know that’s unlikely but for the record I would buy these games in any form should Sega decide to give them some love.
In the release notes I found the people who contributed to this outstanding project and again you have my deepest thanks for bringing the community something so fantastic. Thank you all!
Translation Credits
Programming & Assembly:
Tryphon
RodolfoRG
CUE
Translation:
Kyence
Hiei-
Olivier
Carl Broadhurst
Shinto-Cetra
Graphics Modifications:
Kyence
Hiei-
Lyan
M.Klein & Iconian Font
Correction:
Kyence
The Sonic Titan
skymandr
Beta:
Hiei-
Runehasa
Patcher: Hiei-
Special_Thanks:
PSCAVE Forum, for all of the help with figuring out the Japanese pronunciations were non-English words, and the huge amount of support!
Wolfgang Landgraf (http://www.wolfgangarchive.com/psg2-web/index.html)
Taelus, for helping out during the translation
Missagh Alami, for hosting the files and spreading the word
Joshua MacDonald, the author of xdelta
Be sure to stop by the Phantasy Star Cave for all the details.
http://www.pscave.com/psg2/download/
Still don’t know what I’m talking about? Have a look at this non translated version below to get an idea of what the game is like:
Retro Megabit 
Excellent. Been waiting for this to be done in English and yes indeed, it’s going to get downloaded tomorrow at some point. Sega of America certainly isn’t doing right by this series these days (which is a shame!).
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Let me know what you think of it when you get a chance. The bulb in my 50″ DLP TV died last night; meaning the TV will shut off after about 4 minutes each time I turn it on. Now I’m stuck in limbo until I get a new one! Terrible timing!! 😛
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Aw man, that sucks. I’ll give it a try tonight and let you know what’s what. I’m happy you ran this post, so I’ll do one as well this week to give the dl some love.
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Yeah, sucks a bit but really it’s a small problem compared to the titanic effort made creating this translation! I’ve order a new bulb and I’ll be back in action in no time.
That would be great if you want to spread the word. I know PSCave.com will appreciate our efforts 🙂
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You just made my year… this was my favourite Genesis game and they seem to have redone it quite well. The graphics and music remix is awesome! I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy of this. I hope my PS2 is modded… bought it at value village years ago and never had a reason to check it out (I borrowed my brother-in-laws to play the first Phantasy Star). As you said to those who translated it, keep up the amazing work, and thank you!
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I thought you might like hearing this news 🙂 I’m also really excited to get to it.
That would be amazing if your PS2 is modded and you didn’t even know it. Feels like a long shot but lets hope! If you can burn an ISO to CD you can test it out right away.
I totally agree, I love the new look and sound of this remake!!
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I’m not a fan of remakes but its a shame PS III and IV didn’t get the same treatment
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It really is a shame. I’m sure it would have happened if Sega didn’t cancel the Sega Ages 2500 series that these two belonged to.
Recently I read that Sega will be selling the Japanese versions of Sega Ages 2500 Phantasy Star Generation 1 and 2 on the PSN network in Japan for the Sony PlayStation 3. So if nothing else Sega still feels there is interest for these titles. Sega should embrace these fan translations and release these games for the rest of the world too.
Have you played the original versions of Phantasy Star 1 or 2?
I’d be curious to hear about someone playing these remakes as their first experience with Phantasy Star. Do they hold up on their own now or do they appeal only to the fans who played the originals back in the day.
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I’ve beaten Phantasy star II on the Genesis way back when I was in high school. I’ve played PS1 on a real SMS but never completed it but I plan on completing it sometime in the next year. actually I play on marathon completing all the SMS RPG’s (as few as there are though I’m including games like Golvellius as “action/adventure RPG’s) once I get around to acquiring them all.
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What an excellent goal! I love it!
If you can beat Phantasy Star 2 you’ll have no trouble with Phantasy Star. It’s a shorter and easier game but still really worth playing. I think you’ll enjoy it.
I’ve always felt that Golvellius is under-rated. It’s an excellent game and it’s still very fun to play. Yup, I agree it counts as a RPG. I’ve played it a lot but never beat it. I will fix that some day.
Is Miracle Warriors on your list? I know it feels very old but I still really like that game. It’s a good adventure. I’ve played it recently and to me it still holds up. If you don’t mind XP grinding you’ll be just fine 🙂
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I’m no stranger to archaic level grind games. I’m currently working on Wizardry 1 on an actual 8088 pc. that game is brutal. just one giant wire frame maze filled with instant death. and when I say death I really mean dead. I have miracle warriors actually, looking forward to it. some SMS RPG’s confuse me though. for instance Lord of the Sword. the box says its an RPG and it frequently comes up on lists as an RPG but from game play footage and research it looks like a straight up platformer. guess I need to play it to see.
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Wizadry 1. Wow. I’ve played a bit of Wizardy 8 and I really enjoyed it even though I did not come close to completing it. Tough game.
I’m not even sure what a 8088 PC is. My first PC was a Texas Instrument TI/99 4A. I loved a lot of games on that computer. In particular Parsec and Demon Attack. I know the TI/99 is pre-286 but that’s all I know… that and it had a great voice synthesizer!
Yeah, I wouldn’t call Lord of the Sword a RPG. There is no save or password feature because you can beat it in one sitting and it does play like a platformer. It has a deeper story than you typically get and some back tracking so maybe that’s why some feel it’s a RPG.
It’s one of those games that could have been really good but missed the mark. If it was a bit less stiff was easier to hit things and had less re-spawning It could have been great.
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8088 pc is just an pc with a 8088 cpu, itsa the cpu used in the first IBM PC and is the contemporary of the Apple II and ti/99 ect… early 80’s stuff. It runs at 4.77mhz which many early PC games demand or they run like they are on crack. as for SMS RPG’s Golden Axe Adventure may be a challenge to get but I hear its a half good game. anyways I’m looking forward to PS1 with the FM synth modded SMS. I may give Lord of the Sword a whirl anyways just to say I played it but may not count it in my RPG list.
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I played Phantasy Star Generation 1 and that was my first experience PLAYING the game. I had seen some clips of the original only. It’s a good game but there are few things I don’t like.
It’s feels cheap as in they didn’t really give a proper tribute on the PS2. They could have made awesome FMV cutscenes or actual animated cutscenes instead of the images that play during the game. The quality is good, but it’s PS2. You can fit over 4 GB of data on there. So they had plenty of space to work with.
But the real problem of the game is that you have to really grind at the end. It’s not a big problem throughout the game, if you’re used to RPG’s. But the level gap in the Air Castle. They should have made leveling faster or they should have lowered the levels of the enemies and bosses in the final areas. Also those dragons you fight are too brutal. But thanks to the save feature, there’s no real way to lose. As long as you’re at a high enough level and you use the PSCave walkthrough, you’ll beat it fairly quickly.
What I do like is the dialog between characters, the graphics, music and the length of the game. It doesn’t seem too long or too short. Also I like the fact that they removed all the Star Wars imagery such as the guards. They looked practically the same as the Stormtroopers in the original.
Those are my thoughts on the game, Sega Dude.
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Hey classicrock!
Those are some good thoughts. Yes, the Sega Ages 2500 series were definitely made as budget titles. I also would have loved it if they threw some of the PS2’s power at this remake. Anything which could give us more of a connection to the characters would have been very welcome; such as animated cut scenes. The in game dialog option among the four party characters did help a lot in this regard. It really made them feel more connected to each other and added a lot of depth. But yeah, more would have really rocked.
I also had a lot more trouble near the end of the game. That Gold Dragon took a lot of attempts to beat! But the game does offer ways to make some of the really tough fights a lot easier; like using Crystals. And Alis’ flee spell that felt like it never failed. That saved my butt plenty of times!
And yeah, I can’t think of any 8-bit or 16-bit are RPG that you wont beat if you just keep on leveling. Back in the day that was actually a refreshing change of pace compared to the other types of games like platformers, shooter, brawlers, etc. which constantly brutalized me.
What I wish was different are items out in the world that are locked behind dialog. Many very important items don’t exist in the game until you speak to the right NPC. I would love to be able to stumble onto a quest item and then when I find the character who would have sent me to go get it I would have been like “Oh, that thing? No prob, I’ve already got it!”. Too often I got stuck just because I didn’t peak to the right NPC enough times at the correct time in the game.
Thank you for your thoughts! I really loved your comment.
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Ah, so the TI/99 is a 8088. Cool.
And I do remember once seeing a very old pinball game running on a 486 and it was like lightening.
I have Golden Axe Adventure and I’ve been meaning to play it for a long time now. I’ve also heard that it’s a pretty good game.
Thanks right! I remember that you also modded your SMS with FM sound. Good job! I haven’t accomplished much in my life so I can say that the FM mod on my Sega Master System was one of the greatest things I’ve ever done! I really do enjoy it a lot.
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I’m having some trouble. I burned it yesterday and every time I put it in the Ps2 it would’t read it. It’s the same problem I had with PSG1. The system makes like a clank sort of sound when it doesn’t read the disc. However with PSG1 it eventually read the disc after a few tries but with this game (PSG2) it doesn’t seem to work. The PS2 works fine by the way. Do you have any advice?
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I even tried PSG1 and a after a few tries it read it so it’s definitely not the disc reader. Also it’s the same CD brand.
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What brand name CD’s are you using? Even if your PSG1 is working after a few tries it’s still possible that the brand quality is not quite good enough. If you’re having trouble I would not mess around with any brand name other than Verbatim.
Try to get a Verbatim CD and burn the PSG2 image a slow as your DVD/CD writer will allow.
But you should know that right now there is a bug in this fan translated version of Phantasy Star Generation 2. When playing the game on actual hardware (your Playstation 2) the game will freeze every time you get an item drop after completing combat. These item drops are random and do not happen often but when they do your game will freeze and you’ll have no choice but to reset and reloading losing all your progress up until your last save. It’s pretty much a show stopper.
Right now the only safe way to play is by using emulation on a computer.
As of right now this bug has not been fixed. You can follow the progress of this patch here:
<http://pscave.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3175&sid=a22d33942fcac40535ef7be71de3e155&start=1035#p58166
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Hey Sega Dude!
Is it true that the item glitch has been fixed?
Do you where I can download the fixed translation?
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Oh yes, it’s true!
Even though this bug has been fixed work is still being done.
You can download the latest version here:
http://www.pscave.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=3775#p59372
Scroll to the button of the first post and look for the heading “Phantasy Star Generation 2: English Translation V2f”
And as far as anyone knows this version is fully playable on your modded PS2.
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Thanks! I’ll check it out.
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