Decades after the game originally debuted in Japan, Sega's Mega Drive / Genesis classic Phantasy Star II is getting an unofficial port for the Commodore Amiga (h/t: IndieRetroNews).
The port is the work of the fan developer monoz, and the musician Simone "JMD" Bernacchia, and is being created using Earok's Scorpion Engine — a creation tool for the Commodore Amiga, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, and SNK NeoGeo.
It is being described as "a tribute to the Amiga and the legendary RPG for Sega Mega Drive", and is currently in development, with the latest demo available to download now from itch.io.
The new demo only features a small portion of the game, which essentially amounts to letting players watch the opening, partake in some basic exploration, engage in some rudimentary battles, and visit shops to purchase items. Right now, it only runs smoothly on an Amiga 1200, but the developers are hoping to eventually optimize it to work on the Amiga 500, stating they will do this once they are more familiar with the ins and outs of the Scorpion Engine.
Interestingly, while the main intention with this project seems to be to create an accurate version of the legendary sci-fi RPG for the Commodore Amiga, we should note that Monoz has also expressed hopes to further enhance the game, speaking about the possibility of changing the combat to be more like Phantasy Star IV, and teasing the introduction of several cheat features like increased movement speed, lower encounter rates, and increases to exp/money earned.
Before he does that, though, he wants to hear feedback from members of the community to make sure it's what people would actually want.
You can watch some videos of the latest demo below.