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Super Dante RPG Maker 2 Review
Ever since Role-Playing Games came into existance, the people that play them have often contemplated creating their own. Yes... even me. Ever since a very special day in 1995 when I read in my monthly Nintendo Power Magazine's "Japanese Games" feature about a certain game titled Super Dante RPG Maker, the thought intrigued me. To make my own RPG was somewhat of a dream of mine for awhile... but nothing more than that. Just a dream.
And then 1999 hit, and I learned about the wonderful world of Emulation.
One of the first thoughts that came into my head was to search for that fabled game that I read about 4 years ago, of course. As I searched, it became apparent that there was something I didn't count on: a sequel. Super Dante RPG Maker 2, acclaimed for being better than the first. From there my choice was pretty simple. Come on... if one's supposed to be better than the other, which would YOU choose? Plus, the game was apparently semi-translated, which I didn't think about in the first place. And so... after playing SDRM2 off and on within the past 2 years, I finally review it.
 Graphics. For a game that's really just a tool to CREATE a game, I was surprised at the impressive imagery of the game. The sprites are well done, as well as the backgrounds. Both of which look as if they were actually pulled from an RPG from the mid-'90s on the SNES. And compared to what they COULD have looked like, that's pretty darn good. You can tell that Ascii(created the game, probably never heard of them) took their time making sure things looked good, instead of throwing together some basic crap that you'd be embarassed to use in your own RPG. Flying vehicles in the game actually use that "overhead 3D flight" effect used in games like Final Fantasy 4-6. This is the style of graphics that I like to see, not poorly-lit 3D worlds populated by poorly-created polygonal characters. 9/10.
Gameplay. It's honestly a matter of preference... when I first played the game, my mind rushed with ideas and I couldn't stop until I was pried away with a crow bar. SDRM2's level of interest is merely limited to the power of your imagination, as corny as it sounds. You'll be busy for hours with it if you've got a large interest in RPGs. If not... boredom will come knocking on your door. And if fate were to deal you the hand of RPG-Block, there's always the Sample RPG for you to try out for ideas. Only problem is it's translation doesn't surpass any farther than "FRED", so don't expect any monumental story ideas unless you somehow can read Gibberish. Or Kanji, if you prefer the untranslated version... 8/10.
 Plot. It has none... until you make one. Yeah, you get it... I know. ??/10.
Sound. As with the graphics, I was pretty surprised by the musical score. The "soundtrack" consists of some fairly-good beats, good enough for people to use at least. As for sound effects(yes, you can use sound effects too), SDRM2 consists of a good 65... excluding several, which just don't seem to load at all. Odd. The same problem seems to occur with some of the musical tracks, as well. 7.5/10.
Replay Value. While I'd normally say "it's great, keep at it!", I can't. SDRM2 has a very weak, yet fatal flaw: effects seem to reset. Effects, if you can't figure it out, are everything that makes up an RPG, essentially. Conversations, characters walking in, an item laying on the ground, a door, etc. After spending monthes trying to figure it out, Mike and I came to the conclusion that most events reset, even if you order them to dissapear. This can cause PROBLEMS. Having a character hand you 5 million gold for something you must do, dissapearing and simply reapearing once the party re-enters the town simply can't happen if you want things to work. Even if there is a way to bypass this, it'd be pretty crazy considering the amount of time the both of us had put into it and never found it. And this, my friends, is the only reason why I do not play SDRM2 anymore. 2/10.
Final Thought/Overall Rating
If it weren't for that very subtle, yet very annoying event problem, the game would be incredible. After playing through a bit of the sample RPG, I've noticed that it appears to be possible to stop this, I just honestly have no clue. And, as I said, I've went through the game hours upon hours and have never found it. If it takes me longer than that to find it, something's definetely wrong. The only other problem with SDRM2 is the matter of the overall purpose of creating your RPG on a cartridge. Think about it... who's gonna play the darn thing? Your relatives? Friends? What's the point of creating a game that takes so long to work on if no one will ever see it? Still, it gives someone like myself something to do. Overall rating: 4/5/10.
-Grand Master Dragon
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