Seiken Densetsu 2 [Model SHVC-K2]

Released on August 6, 1993 in Japan.

Development Pedigree: Seiken Densetsu 2 was directed and designed by Koichi Ishii, the creator of the game's Game Boy predecessor, Final Fantasy Adventure. He has stated that he feels Seiken Densetsu 2 is more 'his game' than other projects he has worked on, such as the Final Fantasy series. The game was programmed primarily by Nasir Gebelli and produced by veteran Square designer Hiromichi Tanaka. The team hoped to build on the foundation of Final Fantasy Adventure, and they included several modified elements from that game and from other popular Square titles in Seiken Densetsu 2. In addition to having better graphics and sound quality than its predecessor, the attack power gauge was changed to be more engaging, and the weapon leveling system replaced Final Fantasy Adventure's system of leveling up the speed of the attack gauge. The party system also received an upgrade from the first Mana game: instead of temporary companions who could not be upgraded, party members became permanent protagonists and could be controlled by other players. The multiplayer component was not a part of the original design, but was added when the developers realized that they could easily make all three characters human-controlled.

The real-time battle system used in Seiken Densetsu 2 has been described by its creators as an extension of the battle system used in the first three flagship Final Fantasy titles. The system for experience points and leveling up was taken from Final Fantasy III. According to Tanaka, the game's battle system features mechanics that had first been considered for Final Fantasy III. Similarly, unused features in Seiken Densetsu 2 were appropriated by the Chrono Trigger team, which (like Final Fantasy IV) was in production at the time. According to Tanaka, the project was originally intended to be Final Fantasy IV, with a "more action-based, dynamic overworld". However, it "wound up not being" Final Fantasy IV anymore, but instead became a separate project codenamed Chrono Trigger during development, before finally becoming Seiken Densetsu 2. Tanaka said that it "always felt like a sequel" to Final Fantasy III for him.

The Broken CD-ROM Promise: The game was originally conceived as the flagship launch title for Nintendo's planned "SFC-CD" CD-ROM peripheral. When the partnership between Nintendo and Sony collapsed, Square was forced to drastically compress the project to fit onto a standard cartridge. Director Koichi Ishii and producer Hiromichi Tanaka estimated that roughly 40% of the planned content—including multiple distinct branches, a much darker narrative tone, and several alternate endings—had to be completely cut from the final build to fit the storage limitations.