Killer Minecraft 2: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody

Killer Minecraft 2: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody, known in Japan as Touhou Hisouten (東方緋想天) is a 1998 3D versus fighting game developed by the Twilight Frontier branch at Drillimation Studios and published by Namco. It is the second installment in the Killer Minecraft series, and was released in Japan on the same day the international console version of Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith on August 17, 1997. The game remained Japan-exclusive until the full version was released on April 29, 1998 worldwide. A port for the PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Sega Saturn, as well as home computers was released worldwide on May 25, 1998.

Blurb
"Killer new game, moves, and characters. It's back to make a killing!"

- Official attention grabber

Killer Minecraft 2 has turned up the intensity, making it the most dangerous tournament fighter ever. Packed with deadly new characters, advanced 3D graphics, and millions of new combos, Killer Minecraft 2 will propel cashbox earnings/experiences to new heights.


 * Enhanced game intelligence multiplies time required to learn combo moves and creates challenging single-player gameplay.
 * Interact with the background and stage objects to twist up the fights!
 * Killer Minecraft 2 takes fights to new levels with new finishing moves and projectiles.
 * The new weather system rewards the most aggressive with vicious special effects and moves.

Gameplay
Killer Minecraft 2: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody stays true to its predecessor Killer Minecraft: Immaterial and Missing Power in that it retains most of its basic system and moves. Melee attacks and projectiles are still the main attack feature, and grazing is still an effective way of evasion. In addition, Killer Minecraft 2: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody added the ability to fly, a different card deck system that pulls off the series' main gimmick, and a weather system that deals out various handicaps.

Killer Minecraft 2: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody also provides built-in support for multiplayer games over the internet in the PC version via Drillimation Online, something that its predecessor lacks.

Expanded from the Spell Card system of its predecessor and other games, Scarlet Weather Rhapsody allows the player to assemble a "deck" of 20 cards. Cards become available for in-play use as the player deals or receive damage. New cards can be obtained through various actions in gameplay (such as defeating an opponent).

Cards fall into three categories: System Cards, Skill Cards, and Spell Cards. System Cards include bombs (like in Immaterial, knocks the enemy back), weather change, and other miscellaneous options. Skill Cards upgrade special attacks to do more damage, allow the player to gain alternate special attacks or both. Spell Cards are powerful attacks that automatically work once activated through certain button combinations. Proper assembly of card decks according to the player's style is key to mastering the game, since the decks limit what the characters can do during a match.

The weather changes during a match, which subjects the two combatants to some handicap according to the weather, as listed below. Note that although there are weather changes in the main Arcade Mode, they are for visual effects only and do not carry any handicap like in other modes.

Plot
Set four seasons after the defeat of LJN in the first Killer Minecraft tournament, Fred Fuchs is angered over his loss and tries again but this time entering Hearthcliffe into the tournament. In Gensoukyou, a bizarre phenomenon is occurring. In the middle of summer, untimely rain and hail fall in the Forest of Magic, snow blankets Hakugyokurou, the Scarlet Devil Mansion are enveloped in a cloudy, dense haze, and the Hakurei Shrine is leveled by a sudden earthquake. Throughout the game, Reimu and the other protagonists set out to investigate the source of the strange occurrences.

The culprit behind all these is the celestial Tenshi Hinanawi. Finding her newfound life in Heaven boring and monotonous, she enviously saw the youkai of Gensoukyou stirring many incidents from above. Wielding the power to control the earth and the divine Sword of Scarlet Thought (緋想の剣), the jaded celestial decides to instigate a catastrophe of her own.

Characters
Killer Minecraft 2 features a total of 30 playable characters, with again half of them appearing from The Drillimation Series and the other half being from the Touhou Project. Despite this amount, they will only face 22 in-game.

Returning characters

 * Wataru Hoshi - After a decisive victory against Hiyori Tamura in the first tournament, Wataru attempted to take down Fred Fuchs. Caught after defeating him, Wataru must escape home before it's too late.
 * James Rolfe - Unwilling to succumb LJN, he was unfortunately defeated in the first tournament. Captured by LJN, he has gone berserk by their games and revenge is the only thing he can live for.
 * Akira Kogami - The defeat of Fred Fuchs freed a lot of energy being held by LJN, causing them to tumble down. Now with tougher enemies, she must face bigger challenges and conquer Tenshi.
 * Holinger-Z - The advanced and deadlier successor than its original that was unfortunately destroyed by the Gensoukyans. When learning of the phenomenon occurring in Gensoukyou, he has one final goal executed by the Driller Institute: find and erase Suika.
 * Miyuki Takara - Konata Izumi had gained freedom after Miyuki defeated Kagami Hiiragi in the tournament. But now, she had received a distress call and must free Kagami Hiiragi and Konata Izumi in the tournament.
 * Tsukasa Hiiragi - Although defeated by Konata Izumi in the first tournament, she managed to revive herself using power from Remilia Scarlet. Scarlet now forces Tsukasa to go up and defeat the tyrant to win back her freedom.
 * Ataru Hori - After defeating Suika Ibuki, Ataru had been betrayed by Holinger-Z, where he disguised himself to escape the void and swear revenge.
 * Susumu Hori
 * Leopold Slikk1
 * Konata Izumi1
 * Kagami Hiiragi1

New characters

 * Yutaka Kobayakawa - Descendant of Hong Meiling, she is appointed as a guardian by Konata Izumi. With the return of Hearthcliffe, Yutaka must fulfill her duty by finding and defeating Hearthcliffe.
 * Anna Hottenmeyer - Was made a champion driller for banishing Hearthcliffe. With the return of Hearthcliffe however, she must vanquish him in order to keep her position.
 * Chuta Bigbang - With the return of Takumi Hearthcliffe, Chuta leaves the arena to take on this challenge. Only by defeating all of his opponents, he will gain the right to fight and defeat him.
 * Takumi Hearthcliffe2

Returning Characters

 * Reimu Hakurei - The miko of the Hakurei Shrine, which was newly reduced to rubble. She sets out to find the one responsible for this and make her compensate for the shrine.
 * Marisa Kirisame - A magician living in the Forest of Magic. Troubled by the rain around her, Marisa tries to go to a place where the rain won't reach her.
 * Sakuya Izayoi - The head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, noticing the energy flowing out of her body, she decides to find the cause.
 * Youmu Konpaku - The gardener of Hakugyokurou. Noticing that ghosts were decreasing in number, she goes to investigate without telling her mistress Yuyuko.
 * Alice Margatroid - A puppeteer magician who also lives in the Forest of Magic. Convinced that the strange occurrences are signs of an impending earthquake, she delves further into the matter.
 * Patchouli Knowledge - The resident bookworm of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, she feels the change in the temperaments and puts the investigation upon herself since no one else seemed to realize what was happening.
 * Remilia Scarlet - The vampire lady of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Remilia has to stay indoors because of rain, one of the vampires' weaknesses, kept falling outside the mansion. Being bored, she had her servant maid Sakuya bring in suspects of the incident one by one.
 * Yuyuko Saigyouji - The mistress of Hakugyokurou. Although she was one of the earliest to realize the change in temperaments, she did not seek to put an end to the incident but used it to further her own ends - to enjoy a cool summer.
 * Yukari Yakumo - A youkai who looks over borders, including the one at the Hakurei Shrine. Infuriated by the Tenshi's plan to make the shrine celestial property, she seeks Tenshi out and destroys the newly-rebuilt Hakurei Shrine.
 * Suika Ibuki - A party-loving oni who felt the temperaments were being gathered. Thinking the whole venture fun, she went up to Heaven to help turn Tenshi's prank into something more serious and to stay for the food and drink.

New Characters

 * Aya Syameimaru - A newspaper journalist for the tengu society of the mountain. While not searching for potential scoops, she guards the mountain against trespassers.
 * Reisen Udongein Inaba - A moon rabbit who now resides in Eientei. By the orders of her master Eirin Yagokoro, she goes around warning people for earthquakes and investigates the aftermath.
 * Komachi Onozuka - The shinigami in charge of bringing souls to the other side. Now just wandering around and slacking off.
 * Iku Nagae3 - An oarfish (known as "messenger of the Dragon Palace" literally in Japanese) whose task is to take notice of earthquake signs and warn the people of the inevitable disaster. Nominally under the command of the celestials.
 * Tenshi Hinanai3 - A celestial who ascended to Heaven through no virtue of her own. The tempering of the temperaments and instigating earthquakes were all her doing, due to her being bored and wanting people to "defeat" her.

Note(s)

 * 1) Home console version only, but has no backstory. All these characters are unlockable.
 * 2) Can only be played in multiplayer mode.
 * 3) New character in the entire franchise.