Game Profile: Charizard the Dragon 2 (1992) (16-bit)

 

Title:
Charizard the Dragon 2

Series:
Charizard the Dragon series

Release Date(s):
JP November 21, 1992
NA November 24, 1992
EU November 24, 1992
AUS December 1, 1992

Genre(s)
Platformer

Mode(s):
Single-player
Multiplayer

Platform(s):
Mega Drive

Charizard the Dragon 2 is a platform game in the Charizard the Dragon series, developed by Charizard Team members in collaboration with Sega Technical Institute, and published by Sega for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1992, and in North America and Europe on November 24. It was created as the sequel to Charizard the Dragon, but as of Charizard Origins, it takes place after the events of Charizard CD. It was directly followed by Charizard the Dragon 3 in 1994.

In Charizard the Dragon 2, Charizard and his new sidekick Charmander have found out that Dr. Tyranitar is attempting to obtain the Chaos Gems on West Side Island to power his new space station, the Death Dino. Charizard and Charmander must defeat Tyranitar's Dinobot army and free their animal friends while racing to stop the doctor's deadly weapon. The game is also a third part of the grand Death Dino saga.

Plot:
This story is set on West Side Island. It is said that a very long time ago, the people of this island used mysterious stones to advance their civilization and achieve prosperity. However, when those people tried to use the stones for the wrong reasons, their prosperity vanished overnight. It is also believed that the gods then sealed away the stones within the island's depths. While out looking for new adventures in his personal plane, the Tornado, Charizard the Dragon discovers West Side Island, and lands on it to take a break. However, he does not pay attention to the fact that Dr. Tyranitar has been following him in his Dino Mobile and has landed on the other side of the island. One day, Charizard notices a shy orange lizard tagging behind him, who nervously hides behind a palm tree when he spots him. What the dragon does not notice while he is not looking is that this peculiar lizard barely manages to keep up with him. This young lizard's name is Charles, though he is known as "Charmander" due to his flame tail, which have often made him the target of bullying. However, something changed in Charmander when he saw Charizard come to the island, and he made up his mind that he wanted to be as cool as the dragon. Realizing that the young lizard is harmless, Charizard allows him to hang around while he freely explores the island. On an early afternoon, Charmander discovers the lone Tornado on the beach. 

Being a budding fan of machinery and vehicles, he rushes up to take a closer look. As he is admiring it however, he notices that Charizard is taking a nap under one of the Tornado's wings. Realizing that the dragon owns the plane, Charmander gently retreats to the other side of it so as not to wake him up. Suddenly however, an ominous flash occurs in the direction of the nearby forest, which is then followed by a horrible explosion. The wildfire blows away various debris, which Charmander avoids by taking cover underneath the Tornado as he witnesses robots excavating the area. As it turns out, Dr. Tyranitar has detected the presence of all the Chaos Gems on West Side Island after following Charizard, including the lost seventh one spoken of in the island's legend. He has thus taken the opportunity to kidnap the island's Animals to rebuild his Dinobot forces and search for the Chaos Gems so he can finish his ultimate weapon - a space fortress known as the Death Dino. Wasting no time, Charizard rushes into the forest to stop the doctor, with Charmander following him. Meanwhile, Tyranitar pridefully gloats that he will defeat Charizard and conquer the world. Making their way across West Side Island, Charizard and Charmander free the many Zones from Tyranitar's rule. They also meet the doctor on many occasions, but they always defeat him. Once the island is freed, they take to the skies in the Tornado to reach the doctor's fortress, the Wing Fortress. However, as they are about to arrive at the warship, it shoots the Tornado, forcing Charizard to hop onto the battleship and continue onward on his own while Charmander and the Tornado fall from the sky. Later, in the control room of the ship, Charizard encounters and defeats Tyranitar again, forcing the doctor to escape and take off in his space rocket. Just as Tyranitar has left though, Charmander arrives in a repaired and modified Tornado and gives Charizard a ride that lets him catch up to the space rocket. Charizard proceeds to grab ahold of the space rocket as it heads into space and arrives on the Death Dino. Onboard the Death Dino, Charizard meets Mecha Charizard. After destroying his robot copy, Charizard finds Tyranitar and chases after him, but the doctor quickly escapes into his final trump card - the Death Dino Robot, prepared to destroy Charizard with it. After a heated battle, Charizard manages to destroy the Death Dino Robot, which triggers a chain-reaction that causes the entire Death Dino to explode. Back on West Side Island, Charmander and some Animals are looking at the sky as they witness the Death Dino explode, dyeing the sky in pure white. As they wait for Charizard's return, Charmander gets worried about the dragon. Wanting to help, Charmander jumps into the Tornado and goes to save Charizard. Meanwhile, Charizard barely manages to escape the Death Dino, leaving Tyranitar behind and leaving the space station to fall into the atmosphere.

From there, the ending of the game will depend on the player's progress:
* If the player has not managed to get all seven Chaos Gems, Charmander will catch Charizard on the Tornado as he falls down from the sky. With the two heroes onboard the Tornado and some Pidgeys following them, Charizard and Charmander will pose to the camera. After the credits, an in-game version of the logo of Charizard 2 will be shown.
  * If the player is playing as Charmander, the ending will be the same, except that the sequence in which Charmander goes to save Charizard will be skipped, and Charizard will be piloting the Tornado instead of Charmander.
* If the player manages to get all seven Chaos Gems, Charizard will use the Gems' power to turn into Super Charizard and safely go back to his home planet. His Super State illuminates the sky like a beacon, which allows Charmander to find him and fly through the sky with him and some Pidgeys.
 * If the player is playing as Charmander, the ending will be the same if the player did not collect all seven Chaos Gems.

Objects:
Items:
Air bubble
Chaos Gems
Item Box
1-Up
Invincible
Power Boost
Shield
Super Orb
Movable box
Orb

Characters:
Playable characters:
Charizard the Dragon
* Super Charizard (first appearance)
Charmander Prower (first appearance)

Non-playable characters
Dr. Tyranitar
Animals

Zones:
Ruby Hill Zone
Chemical Plant Zone
Aquatic Ruin Zone
Casino Night Zone
Hill Top Zone
Mystic Cave Zone
Oil Ocean Zone
Metropolis Zone
Sky Chase Zone
Wing Fortress Zone
Death Dino Zone