Review
Ever since the original Final Fantasy was released for the NES, I've considered myself a pretty big fan of the RPG genre of video games. Since then, I've played through too many of them to count. Yet, after playing Dungeon Master II: Skullkeep, I see that I'm not quite the die-hard RPG fan I had always believed myself to be.
DM2 is -- without a doubt -- the most in-depth RPG I have ever played. If you had told me this fact beforehand, you probably would have gotten me all excited. However, my feelings toward the game are quite the opposite. I hate it. DM2 is one of the least pleasurable gaming experiences I've ever had.
Why do I despise this game so much, you ask? Oh, let me count the ways. First of all, the controls are entirely too complicated. While I can applaud the innovative idea behind a more skill-oriented way of fighting than the typical "tell them what to do and let them go at it" RPG style, it takes forever to master. Also, at times I had trouble measuring the depth perception of the game, so I would take a step forward, not realizing I could not move further. Instead of either nothing happening or maybe just a "bump" sound, two of my men would actually get penalized a hit point for doing this! Further, at one point I thought I was just in front of a door, so I pressed the button to let it down. It turns out I was directly underneath the door. As a result, my party was crushed.
The lack of depth perception is not the only complaint I have about the graphics. They're just plain bad. The enemies look terrible and your environments often resemble something straight from Wizardry -- an NES game! As bad as the graphics may be, the sound is even worse. Only on the rarest of occasions is any sound made that the regular Genesis is not capable of handling.
You're reminded, however, that you are indeed playing a Sega CD game when the time comes to save. DM2 takes up a whopping 100 blocks of internal RAM. You don't even have the option to use the external RAM cartridge. So say good-bye to any other games you might have saved if you even want to get DM2 started.
About the only reason I can give the game as high a rating as I did is that the game's developers were obviously some bright people. The game is long and complex, with some tough puzzles to figure out along the way. And I was quite impressed with the attempt at a new way to fight in an RPG. Too bad the game's tremendous faults take away from this. DM2 is for only the most die-hard of RPGers -- just don't be surprised if it makes you find out you're less of a fan than you originally thought.
Graphics 
So bad, I thought I was playing my NES at times.
Sound 
So, the graphics are shabby. The sound must make up for it, right? Uh . . . no. In fact, I'd venture to say it's worse. For one thing, most of the game is silent with very little music to accompany it. In your first small labyrinth, for example, about the only constant sound you'll hear will be a steady dripping of water. Needless to say, this can get annoying quickly. (Of course, if you want to hear something else, you can always hear the pain associated with bumping into a wall or even crush yourself with a door.)
Enjoyment
The only part I really enjoyed was the innovative fighting methods -- even though they often resulted in my death.
Replay Value 
Never again.
Documentation 
If the game's creators put as much effort into graphics, sound and overall gameplay as they did into the instruction booklet, DM2 would be a great game.
