Get out your capsule toys and start chuggin soda. Ryo Hazuki is back and ready to kick some more ass on the Xbox.

The first Shenmue game debuted on the Dreamcast, taking gamers on an epic adventure through scenic Japan. It quickly made a name for itself with its cinematic flare and off-centered approach to RPGs. Shenmue I was so popular in fact, that Sega decided to release the next Shenmue here in the States. Though, even with the small cult following the saga has built up, it's still hard to determine whether the Dreamcast port could keep up with competition on the turf where games like Halo rule.

The story picks up right where Shenmue I left off. In short, your father was murdered by a mysterious martial artist named Lan Di and you, Ryo Hazuki, have to go and take revenge. Along the way you find an even more mysterious artifact, The Pheonix Mirror -- and so the intrigue continues. At the start of Shenmue II, you've just gotten off the boat from Japan to Hong Kong, where you've tracked Lan Di to. Pheonix Mirror in hand, it's your job to wander around Hong Kong and find out everything you can about it. This, coincidentally, leads you hot on Lan Di's trail throughout Hong Kong and later other parts of China.

And what if you haven't played the first one and don't have any background on the story? Well, the guys at Sega were nice enough to include a "Digest Movie." The Digest Movie is a bunch of clippings and cut-scenes from the original Shenmue to bring everyone up to speed. It ends right where Shenmue II begins so you won't miss a beat.

It's a nice story, though nothing out of the ordinary. But what makes the story truly wonderful is the visual styling in which it is presented. The game has a very cinematic feel to it, thanks to some very nice camera work. Shenmue II often feels like a movie, a well directed movie at that; and it makes the story all the more captivating.

This is where we expect Shenmue II to take the biggest hit. Surprisingly enough, Shenmue II translates pretty well to the Xbox -- as well as you can expect a Dreamcast game to anyhow. It'll come as no surprise to those of you who played the first game that the amount of detail is amazing. Shops have stocked shelves full of detailed pottery. You can even see the stitches in the shirts of passersby. Everything, from the stones in the streets to the letters on street signs, looks amazing. You couldn't be any closer to Hong Kong if you took a plane there tomorrow.

As much as the graphical detail excels, the game still suffers severely of chronic port syndrome. Shenmue II was a Dreamcast game in Japan and it looks like a Dreamcast game here. The lack of polygons is apparent everywhere. Just wait until you get your first glimpse of a tree or a waterfall. On top of that, the character models move way too stiffly (just look at Ryo run.) Forget learning kung fu, Ryo should start by learning how to bend his elbows.

The musical score for Shenmue II fits right in. You feel all the more engrossed in Chinese life with traditional ethnic music playing in the background. I found myself on many occasions whistling along with the catchy Asian melodies. Over top of that, is other ambient noise and sound effects, like the bustle of a market place or water dripping from the ceiling in a building. The sound effects are great and just add to the realism of the game, outside the clip-clop of Ryo running. He needs to take off the tap shoes. We get all of the wonderful sound in Dolby Digital to boot! -- One of the few perks for playing this one on the Xbox.

But for every leap and bound Shenmue II might make, it falls flat on its face --and hard; which brings me to my next point. The voice acting is bad. And not bad in an I-forgot-to-lock-the-door sort of way, more like bad in an I-think-I-left-my-gas-on-and-shouldn't-have-just-lit-this-match sort of way. I've played a lot of games in this is by far the worst voice acting I have ever heard. Not only is the dialogue super cheesy, but it's poorly acted. In a heavily theatric game, it's surely not a good sign if you cringe every time a character opens his mouth. To make matters worse, Ryo obviously has no internal monologue and has to announce everything right before he does it in true Japanese scripting fashion.

"Look, I found a key. This looks important. I better hang onto this for later."

"I'm going to use the key I found in this lock."

"Argh! Wrong one. I better try another."

And so it continues.

There's really nothing new to be had here from the first game, though the system still is pretty effective. Ask people for directions, get where you need to go, complete your little mission, get the next thing to do; and so you hop along the story task after task. You get stronger throughout the game by learning new kung fu. Occasionally you'll find a kung fu master here and there who's willing to teach you a new trick or two. Ryo can also increase the power of his moves the more he uses them. Practice makes perfect, I hear. The tried and true fighting system comes straight out of the Virtua Fighter series. Fans of the game will feel right at home during the fight scenes. There might be a bit of a learning curve for everyone else but nothing that can't be fixed by retrying after an ass-whooping or two.

Other, more dramatic, action scenes are done by what are called QTEs (Quick Timer Events.) At any given time you may be prompted to push a button or direction on the d-pad in a given amount of time. If you fail, well then you may just get whacked with a pipe or crash into some boxes. These things are little more than frustrating; staring at the screen with sweaty palms getting ready to react in a moments notice to a flashing icon on the screen. It's hard to enjoy cut scenes when you're expecting a QTE to happen at any moment.

In between these two things, which are few and far between, the gameplay drags like a 50-ton anchor. Shenmue II takes the realism approach a bit too far. It forces you into all the mundane day-to-day chores that you don't want to deal with while playing a game. Find a hotel, play the tape recorder for 20 minutes, get a job moving boxes at the pier. Hell, I wouldn't get a job moving boxes at a pier in real-life much less do it on a game.

Back from the original are the ever-addicting capsule toys. I kind of laughed at this at first but soon I was popping out little bubbles myself; though in retrospect I have to wonder whether this is because it was fun or because I was bored with running around Hong Kong. There's arm wrestling and darts and gambling but the best of all the side games are the classic Sega arcade machines scattered about -- Outrun, Afterburner, Hang On, and Space Harrier to be exact. The sad part is though; all of them are more interesting than running around looking for a person you don't know in a building you've never seen for reasons you're not quite sure of.

Shenmue II has the potential to be a great game but it just quite doesn't get there. Every time it takes a step forward, it takes two steps back. The story and presentation are phenomenal, which is the only reason why I believe it's gotten the following it has. If you can stomach the drab in-betweens and if you love all things Eastern then by all means pick this one up. Otherwise, it's better to spend your time elsewhere; maybe stacking boxes at the pier to pay for your next, better RPG.

© 1998-2003 RPGRealm. All Rights Reserved. RPGRealm is not affiliated with any company or product mentioned herein unless explicitly stated. The RPG Realm is owned by Greg Davis and Alex Wreschnig.