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This is the one that got me started

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: June 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Romance of the Three Kingdoms II is the one that got me started on the ancient Chinese saga. This game lacks the complexity of the more recent releases (IV, VI, most likely VII) but that is part of what makes it so accesable and so fun.

There is no research of any kind, minimal training, each general can carry 100 of their own personal troops, each general can purchase 100 of their own personal arms. Loyalty fluctuates like crazy (generals may lose 6 loyalty every month if they don't like you) but simply rewarding a general with a horse can boost his loyalty by up to 24 or 25 if I remember correctly.

The game basically plays out as follows:

1)Recruit generals
2)Hire troops
3)Attack
4)Repeat 1-3

It may seem a little simple and in fact, it really is. Once you get the hang of it you will have no problem rampaging around China doing as you please; the entire process makes for endless hours of enjoyment and gives you the opportunity to become familiar with many of the Chinese names, strengths and weaknesses of particular generals. To know that Huang Zhong is old. Know that Xiahou Dun is missing an eye. Know that Zhang Fei has a bushy beard.

Mulitplayer in Romance II is incredibly fun, partly because of the speed of the game. If everyone involved is familiar with the process there is no reason for anyone to take forever with their turn. There's no researching involved and developing your city is as simple as spending some cash on land value and flood control, or giving food to the people to gain their loyalty.

You will talk much smack to your friends as you play.

There is not much depth to this game as I stated earlier, but that is the charm of it. If I had to recommend any Romance of the Three Kingdoms game for someone starting out with the title or style I would recommend II. Also, I would recommend the Sega Genesis version if you have access to it. It plays smoother, has more pleasing graphics and has slightly less irritable midi sound.

I'm writing this review almost a decade after we used to play it and I know it doesn't stand up to the games today graphically and sound-wise, but I remember playing this game in 7th grade. Then in 8th grade. Then when Romance III came out we still played II multiplayer. Then when IV came out we still played II multiplayer. Even today with VI out and VII on the way, we will go back and smack eachother in a good game of Romance II when the feeling strikes us.

Get past the fact that it's done on a 16 bit cartridge with butt poor graphics and sound and you will unearth one of the greatest video game treasures of all time.

Extremely fun and addictive with massive replay...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: June 06, 2002
Author: Amazon User

One of my all-time favorites. When I first rented this years and years ago, I got frustrated with the big manual and complex options. I usually give up on games like this but something made me play it again. It was probably the cool character designs with their different attributes that kept me interested. Anyway, as I kept playing, there were two gameplay aspects that have kept me addicted to this game. There is the management aspect where you can do anything from build up your land for bigger crop output and gold income, raise and train armies, or build diplomatic relations(good or bad) with other clans. To do this well, you'll need to recruit generals with high attributes(a Taishi Ci with 95 war will help train armies faster/better than a soldier with a 50 war attibute, etc). This was the aspect that helped me get into this game(it was fun to take a poor land and build it into a revenue yielding province), but once I got the hang of this it was time to explore the other aspect, the battles. This was hard at first until I figured out some basic strategies for the game, and some quirks in the AI within the game that allows for easier victories. But the battles were still fun because it was easy to get into once you got the hang of it(really fun to 'capture' opposing generals and recruiting, beheading, or letting them go). Overall, lots to do and lots of interaction with tons of unique characters based on real-life. Again, great game that is overlooked, underappreciated, and in this day and age of KOEI's graphically superior but gameplay inferior games, is a wonderful example of old-school turn-based strategy fun. A must try/buy, even at this steep a price. (btw, I preferred the SNES version myself, better music and color than the Genesis; and I prefer Rot3K 2 over all the other installments because of its ease of play, yet highly addicting and varied nature).Just some reasons I find this so fun:* during battles, you will sometimes ask for reinforcements or be asked to send reinforcements from allies...always fun to see if they are sent and how much help they'll actually be.* recruiting prized generals and keeping them loyal to you(Lu Bu is a 100 war character, but take him into battle and see how man times he gets bribed to the other side!)* occupying certain provinces and getting a prize(like the emperor's seal which makes the game a whole lot easier)* you can incite others to attack each other, make a disloyal general rebel and make his own clan, create(albeit in a limited way) your own characters, bribe other generals, etc.* after playing awhile, you'll latch on to some characters and really get into them, which makes single and multiplayer games that much more engaging. Who's your favorite? Zhao Yun vs a Xiahou Dun or a Gan Ning or Ma Chao? Means nothing to those reading this, but fans of the series know what I'm talking about.Some newbie hints:* for less frustration when you start out, pick a one province general like Ma Teng or Gongsun Zan. This will allow you to mess around with the management aspect of the game at your leisure without worrying about multiple provinces; and because they're fairly isolated, worried about constant enemy attacks. * conquer and maintain as many highly populated lands as you can as they yield the best revenues, try to recruit as many generals as you can, and go into battle only after your troops are maxed out.* turn the 'view battles' option on to see how the computer handles them, as well as give you a taste of what to expect when you go to battle.Finally, I read that a new installment of the series is coming to the PS2. I'll definitely buy it, but I doubt I'll find it as addicting as this tour-de-force of gameplay and pure fun. Graphics aren't everything, and Rot3K 2 proves it big time.

(note: its 2k7, and with the Wii's virtual console, maybe this will be available as a downloadable game in the future. woohoo!)

It holds up, still

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 07, 2007
Author: Amazon User

In what can mostly only be played on emulators (and corresponding ROMs) now, this game is amazing in its simplicity. I played it back in the day (on SNES) and still return to it once every few years (on my desktop PC). I've tried to get into the newer versions, but they seem to be a little over-complicated. The key to enjoying this installment is to find a general that is somewhat isolated, snag a few states, build them up, steal some generals (or search for them), and slowly take states by force. It takes a while to get your states going and in that lies the charm.

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