The Secret of Cooey II Review

Author: DarkDread Genre: RPG Reviewer: Gavin Cross

Size: 234 KB Download: soc2.zip

The Secret of Cooey II
First Impression	Darkdread's sequel to the popular Secret of Cooey (well the name kinda gives away the fact that its not the sequel of Wetspot) is pretty much what you come to expect from him if you have seen his previous work. This of course isn't a bad thing as he produces brill RPGs (I'm starting to think that QBASIC can only be used to write RPGs and nothing else). Its a traditional game sequel in every sense of the word (which is better than a movie sequel were the follow up is nearly always worse than the original). More or less the same as the original with some flashier graphics and some other minor improvements although the jerky walking animation remains.
What It's Like	Like is predecessor its one of those RPGs in the Final Fantasy mould. You control a guy from an aerial view similar to the old Zelda games (complete with cute Japanese type characters). You go about talking to friendly characters and occasionally you fight enemies using menus to pick whether to fight, run or use magic/items. Winning battles gives you experience which in the long-term leads to your stats improving so you can beat up tougher guys...like the bosses.
Other things you should know	Don't cross the road when a car is coming, that is something you should know. Huh? You mean about the game? Well the original took just over a day to make whilst this one took a month and a half to complete so it may be a while before the third instalment to the series appears if the current rate of making games continues toincrease.

The rating
Graphics	Better looking and more colourful than the first game. Pretty much as good as graphics get in a 2D role playing game. The walking animation still is a tad annoying but its only a minor gripe. *****
Sound	Nice background music which this time is original and not ripped off (according to the author). Not actual sound effects when for example you hit people or do any kind of action though. *****
Plot/Story	Even Darkdread admits the plot for the game is lacking. Basically a tower appears in a nearby mountain and you go to destroy the evil crystal on the top floor of the tower. Any excuse for some fantasy RPG mayhem! The game is so funny at times though that you can easily oversee this weakness. There are no twist and turns in story, but who needs a brilliant best-selling novel type tale in a small game which is meant to be just a bit of fun anyway? *****
Gameplay/Features	Everything you could want in this type of game is there and works well. Plenty of baddies (30 in all), a number of friendly people to chat to, different types of magic and items to use. The start/stop not very fluid movement of the main character can be a pain at first but you'll get over it and hooked on the game while it lasts. ****
Overall Impression	It nice little game. I cannot see it converting people who hate RPG into fans of the genre but if you like this type of game you should enjoy this. It won't change the way you look at life as its all been done before but it will keep you amused for the two hours or so it lasts (I know before I completed it and the game tells you how long you have been on the edge of your seat playing it). Short and sweet which is best as with many games of this ilk it gets a tad repetitive after a while with you just fighting the same opponents over and over so you get enough levels to beat the final boss. *****
Total	24/25 * 4= 96%