Genre: Action-adventure, Role Playing
Release Year: 2001
Developer: Sega AM2
Publisher: Sega
Age Rating: 12+
Playability Status: Excellent
Tested On: ,
Availability: ,
Yu Suzuki’s epic open world action adventure arrived too late to change the fortunes of the Dreamcast console, but nevertheless remains a compelling and interesting addition to the consoles library. Released only in Europe and Japan (US gamers would have to purchase an Xbox console in order to play), the game continues the story of Ryo Hazuki as he travels to Hong Kong to find his fathers murderers.
Despite positive reviews and wide anticipation amongst fans, the game sold relatively poorly and we’re still waiting for the (now successfully crowd funded) third installment.
Emulators tested
Demul 0.5.8.2 (DirectX 10) – Game is prone to both audio and graphical glitches but is quite playable. Make sure the “Disable Auto Sort” option on the video config menu is off.
Demul 0.7A (DirectX 11) – Game runs well, there are several instances of annoying audio glitches. In Demul’s DirectX 11 graphical options, set “Max layers” as high as you can without affecting performance. 64 layers are required for near perfect emulation, though the game is still pretty playable with 32 layers. See the video below for more information.
Makaron T12.7 – Untested.
Special configuration options
Shenmue 2 is a game which pushes the Dreamcast, and therefore your Dreamcast emulator to the limit. You will need high spec hardware to get the most out of the game.
Percentage of game played
Opening few minutes only.
Videos and screenshots
This Youtube video by DarknessK shows a section of gameplay and demonstrates how the emulation is affected by changing the number of layers.
Reviews and other information
Wikipedia
IGN Review
Shenmue Dojo (great source of information on all things Shenmue)
Other versions
The game also launched on the Microsoft Xbox console.
Did we get anything wrong?
Let us know in the comments if we missed anything or got anything wrong when testing this game.
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