Shining Force II

The Good
Shining Force 2 basically plays like a version of chess, with players taking turns manipulating pieces with various strengths and weaknesses around a checker board. The game has a decidedly kooky story to sweep you along- something about devils fighting for jewels, colonizing new lands, and somehow the Incan Nazca carvings sneak in there. It's marvelous window dressing for a challenging game, the heart of which will get you the same way a good chess opponent will.

The Bad
The game suffers from a few strange glitches, like every time you play you eventually have one or two characters that no matter what cannot fight. That, and the soundtrack will occasionally make you reach for a shotgun that, hopefully, is far out of reach.

The Bottom Line
Part puzzle, part turn-based tactics game, and part scatological Japanese mad-cappery. All fun.