Kacie's Adventure 2

Kacie's Adventure 2 is a 1994 platform video game directed by Marie Waalfort and developed by Sqweek Interactive. Based on the Incredible World of Riddles media franchise, it is the sequel to the 1991 video game Kacie's Adventure. The game was released for the Mega-CD on 1st March 1994, with an enhanced PlayStation version following later. The game's plot involves Kacie setting off to defeat a new villain, King Schatten, from spreading darkness all over Riddle World.

Gameplay
Though a platform game like its predecessor, Kacie's Adventure 2 features a more "Metroidvania"-orientated experience, featuring ten non-linear levels. The levels do not have particular "start" and "end" points, as they are all interconnected to at least one other level.

The objective of the game is to find treasure chests hidden in each level; a majority of which having one Gold Chest, one Silver Chest and three Bronze Chests, which all contain specific items that the player can use to progress through the game. Bronze Chests typically contain keys or other items the player must bring to a certain part of the level (or other levels) in order to open it up. Silver Chests, meanwhile, grant Kacie new abilities; at the start of the game, she can only move, jump and perform a single kick attack to defeat enemies, although acquiring Silver Chests unlocks new abilities, such as the ability to run faster, perform a double jump, and fly to different levels.

Each of the Golden Chests is guarded by a boss, and either holds an item that allows the player to access the next level, or one of the six pieces of the Super Star, which is needed to unlock the last two levels of the game. Every boss in the game have an extremely strict time limit of one minute, though Kacie can find up to four Super Stopwatches throughout each level to increase the time limit by thirty seconds each. If the time limit runs out before the boss is defeated, Kacie is kicked out of the area and must start from the beginning. After a boss is defeated, it cannot be fought again. Sometimes in order to access a new area or a chest, Kacie must play a minigame.

The player is given four save files plus a "No Save" slot in the Mega-CD and Windows versions, whilst save files in the PlayStation version are based on memory space. The game saves automatically whenever they defeat a boss or leave and enter a different level. There are two difficulties the player can choose from when starting the game; Beginner or Adavnced. In Beginner, Kacie has no health bar and cannot die, though can still be stunned by enemies and kicked out of boss fights. In Advanced on the other hand, Kacie has a health bar with five bits of health, and losing all health pieces results in a Game Over, sending the player back to the entrance the player last entered the level from, although dying in a boss fight only takes the player outside the boss's entrance.

The PlayStation version has additional features, such as changing the aesthetics of the minigames to include 3D models, including a Multiplayer mode where two players can compete in the minigames, an additional new minigame, and a new Time Attack mode where the player must use their abilities to complete short trials as fast as possible. The top five scores for each of the Time Attack levels are saved on a leaderboard, allowing the player to enter a four-character nickname.

Development
Kacie's Adventure 2 was directed by Marie Waalfort and developed by Sqweek Interactive, who developed the game's prequel and had rights to develop games for the Incredible World of Riddles franchise for Sega consoles. Waalfort opted to develop the new game for the Mega-CD because she wanted the game to "be much better" than its predecessor. Because the game was much more ambitious than the first Kacie's Adventure, it was much more expensive to develop. In a 2021 interview, Waalfort admitted that opting to make the game for the Mega-CD over the Mega Drive was "not a very bright move on [her] end".

In order to take advantage of the Mega-CD's power, Kacie's Adventure 2 features full-motion videos and voice acting. The cast of the television specials, series and films reprised their roles as their respective characters, whilst the voices for the bosses were provided by Bruno Leon Vidal and Henry Buckings. In spite of this, Kacie's interactions between the characters outside the FMVs is shown through text only.

Reception
Kacie's Adventure 2 received positive reviews from critics, though many were divided over whether it was superior to the first game or not. The PlayStation version of the game sold over a million copies worldwide, although the Mega-CD version underperformed. The latter version has since become a rare collector's item.

Kalina Thames of Play & Win Magazine was very positive towards the game, awarding the Mega-CD version a 9/10 and the PlayStation version a 10/10 rating stating "Kacie's Adventure 2 is a fantastic and engaging experience from start to finish!", praising the gameplay and level design, and though she did acknowledge that young children might find the Metroidvania aspect confusing, she also noted that the game is good at keeping the player on the right path. The Official UK PlayStation Magazine felt the game didn't have as much depth as Castlevania but was a fun experience nonetheless, with particular praise going towards the multiplayer mode.

Re-releases
The PlayStation version of Kacie's Adventure 2 was re-released on the PlayStation Network in June 2010.