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ソンソンII
©NEC Avenue 1989
licensed by CAPCOM
Release : 1989-01-27 (¥5400)
Hucard (2 Mbits) H54G1003
Action / Platform game
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Son Son 2 is a side scrolling platform game by Capcom, and
sequel of the arcade game Son Son originally released in 1984. Son Son,
a courageous monkey boy, is on a mission to deliver his close friends
(Sanzo the monk, Hakkai the pig and Sagojo the kappa)
held captive by a strange and enigmatic shadowy figure. He must travel
through seven different worlds and fight an army of monsters, demons and
other evil spirits with the help of his trusted magic staff. The goal of
each level is rather simple - Son Son must use his platforming and
exploration skills to find a key and reach the door that leads to the area's
boss (or new sections later in the game), and he has to do all of this
hastily or a red demon will appear and throw deadly lightning bolts at him.
Additionally, Son Son can collect all kind of fruits and vegetables
along the way that act as money - Zennies, as they are called, are
mainly used in stores to purchase various items - such as health,
magic potions, magic lamps (extra continues), power gloves
(destroy breakable walls) - or to simply upgrade the magic staff. The almighty
weapon is at the core of the gameplay and must be leveled up throughout the
game - there are a total of six different staffs with progressively
increasing power and reach. Aside from stores, and in the platform game
tradition, a myriad of items are also available to collect throughout
the game, from hearts (health), scrolls (magic), skulls
(lose 100 zennies) to special abilities such as the flying cloud
(used during boss battles) or Capcom's familiar special items such
as the Yashichi windmill (increases health and magic) or the
Pow icons (kill all enemies on screen and turn them into fruits).
Magic also plays an important role in the game and Son Son can
cast all kind spells, such as the average Magic Peach
attack, the protective Shield, the explosive Bombs, the
ability to Freeze Time or the powerful all-target Thunder Bolt
(see the secrets section below to learn how to use magic).
Finally, points that Son Son gain throughout the game apparently
act as experience points, and increase his maximum health and magic as
the game progresses.
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The original and first Son Son arcade game was originally released in 1984.
However, this prequel is very different than Son Son 2 - each level is made
out of six continuous platforms and the screen scrolls automatically. Son Son
(and Ton Ton the pig in two-player mode) jump from one platform to another,
kill enemies and collect fruits for points. This first episode was converted to the
Famicom (1986) and later included in Capcom Generation 3
(Playstation and Sega Saturn, 1998), Capcom Classics Collection vol.1
(Playstation 2 and XBox, 2005) and in Capcom Classics Collection
(aka Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded for the Playstation Portable, 2006).
The sequel Son Son 2 (version tested here) was released exclusively for the
PC Engine system. As a side note, Son Son is still a recurring character
in the Capcom universe - he made several minor cameo appearances (along with
Ton Ton the pig) in other Capcom titles (such as the
Super Puzzle Fighter series) and his grand-daughter appears as a playable
fighter in Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (arcade, 2000).
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The Son Son series was actually based on a 16th century popular and
classic Chinese novel called the Journey to the West, which tells the
epic story of the monk Xuanzang (aka Tang Seng), and his long
journey to retrieve Buddhist texts from India. He meets supernatural
characters along the way, such as Sun Wu Kong (aka The Monkey King
or Son Gokū in Japanese), a powerful and arrogant humanoid creature
with enormous strength, the head of a monkey and a magic expanding staff. He is
also capable of transforming into a human (despite his inability to disguise
his tail). The legend is now extremely popular (even in the west), and inspired
countless works, such as Akira Toriyama's manga series Dragon Ball
or Taito's arcade game Gokuraku Chuka Taisen. Interestingly,
another character called Zhu Bajie, a half-man half-pig creature, also
escorts Xuanzang on his journey - this particular creature can also be
found in Dragon Ball (as Oolong) or in Son Son
(Ton Ton the pig was the second playable character in the original
arcade game).
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Game Staff (Copied from the end credits) :
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Planner
Masaya Higashitani
Yoshiki Okamoto
Object Design
Susumu Ueda
Takashi Shouno
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Scroll Design
Naoe Nonomura
Yuki Kyoutani
Yukiyo Kuramoto
Miki Mikami
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Sound
Yoshihiro Sakaguchi
Manami Gotoh
Special Thanks
Akira Yasuda
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Programmer
Masayuki Akahori
Yoshito Itoh
THE END
Presented by
NEC Avenue
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Game Staff (Copied from the manual) :
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Executive Producer
Norihiko Hamada (Capcom)
Shigenobu Nanbu (NEC Avenue)
Producer
Masaya Higashitani (Capcom)
Yoshiki Okamoto
Director
Toshio Tabeta (NEC Avenue)
Kouji Matsuda
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Programmer
Masayuki Akahori (Capcom)
Yoshito Itoh
Object Design
Susumu Ueda
Takashi Shouno
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Scroll Design
Naoe Nonomura
Yuki Kyoutani
Yukiyo Kuramoto
Miki Mikami
Sound
Yoshihiro Sakaguchi
Manami Gotoh
Special Thanks to
Akira Yasuda
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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Magic Spells:
Using magic spells in Son Son 2 is not really all that obvious.
You must acquire them first (they are usually available to buy in stores), then,
during the game, press Run to pause the action. Now, press left or right to
select a spell (they should be visible in the Magic Staff window). Although
spells such as the shield are automatically casted when you unpause the game,
others need to be activated by pressing I and II simultaneously.
Hidden magic mantle:
A special jacket with special protective abilities is hidden within the game. To find it, you must
first buy a bun 
from a kappa in stage 3 for 500 Zenny. Then you must find a pig in stage 4 who will
exchange the bun for a cucumber  .
Then take the cucumber to stage 7, and find a kappa that will
exhange it for the magic mantle  .
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Staffs:
You have to upgrade the staff if you want to have a chance to complete the game. Here is where to find them.
First staff - default weapon, equipped at the start of the game
Second 'blade' staff 
Available to purchase from a pig in stage 2 for 2000 Zenny, or in stage 3, from
a pig again, for 2000 Zenny.
Third 'arrow' staff 
Available to purchase in a store (girl) in stage 3 for 3000 Zenny, or in a store (girl)
in stage 4 for 3000 Zenny
Fourth 'trident' staff 
Hidden inside a wall in stage 4 (wall at the end of a purple lake, next to a moving
platform).
Fifth 'axe' staff 
Available to purchase in a store in stage 5 (kappa) for 5000 Zenny, or in a store
in stage 6 for 7000 Zenny.
Sixth 'fire' staff 
Hidden inside a wall in stage 7 (inside the castle in a narror corridor above a large
brown Sutegon monster).
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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Son Son 2 is an excellent platform game replete with tons of things
to collect, little secrets to unlock and a heavy emphasis on exploration. It
also features a very nice aesthetic and visuals, excellent level design, tight
controls and a very catchy soundtrack. But there is a cruel catch - the
difficulty level is brutal and I don't use that word lightly. You start
the game with one life and this is all you get to complete the game. When
you lose a life, you start back from the beginning of the game... very
frustrating... Well, you can acquire more continues along the way, as long
as you can afford the hefty price tag they are being sold for. Additionally,
you must upgrade your magic staff if you want to get anywhere near completing
the game, and they don't come cheap either (in most cases). The high difficulty
level completely tarnished the experience for me, and no matter how much I was
tempted to give this game the highest score, I just couldn't. All in all,
Son Son 2 is definitively an excellent and fun platform game (one of
the best for the system), but do be aware of its high difficulty level. Oh,
by the way, a slight knowledge of Japanese is required to understand some of
the characters in the game, but it's not a deal-breaker and it won't prevent
you to enjoy the game.
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