| Super Hikari Land 2: The Hidden Rubies | |
 | |
| Developer(s) | Azumanga Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | Bandai Namco Games |
| Platform(s) | Bandai Extreme Bandai PocketTurbo |
| Genre | Platform |
| Mode(s) | 1 Player |
| Ratings | E for Everyone |
Super Hikari Land 2: The Hidden Rubies is a platform game as part of the Super Hikari game series and a sequel to Super Hikari Land developed by Azumanga Interactive and published by Bandai Namco Games for the Bandai Extreme and Bandai PocketTurbo.
The game is a hack, and similar to the Game Boy game Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.
The player assumes the role of the protagonist Hikari, whose main objective is to reclaim her castle, stolen by the antagonist Mega Baron. However, the magical seal that Baron placed on the castle entrance can only be undone by collecting the six Hidden Rubies, which are guarded by Baron's henchmen in various locales of Hikari Land. Hikari's quest thus revolves around retrieving each of the hidden rubies in order to regain access to her castle and defeat Baron.
Gameplay[]
Gameplay from the Bandai PocketTurbo version
The objective of Super Hikari Land 2 is to reach the end of each level, defeating or avoiding enemies while doing so. The game retains several enemies from the Hikari series, such as the Numemon and the Shellmon, and also introduces several new enemies. Enemies can usually be defeated by jumping on their head, but also may need to be defeated in different ways, such as a fireball. Other famous mechanics include Warp Pipes, which allow the player to enter hidden areas or find shortcuts, rubies, and ? Blocks, which hide coins and items. Unlike in previous Hikari games, rubies are not used to get lives; instead, they are used to play games in a special area that awards lives and other power-ups. To gain lives, instead, the player must find stars like they did in the original. After killing 100 enemies, a blue heart comes flying down which provides a short period of invincibility. The blue heart can also be found at other places in the game. While being invincible, the 5th and each subsequent enemy killed will provide one life.
While its predecessor was similar to the original Super Hikari, Super Hikari Land 2 has more in common with Super Hikari 3 and Super Hikari World: there is an overworld map, the player is no longer restricted to moving right in a level, and any level (except for the introductory stage and "boss" levels) can be replayed. At the end of a level, there is a door that must be touched to clear a level. In addition, there is also a bell above the door which, if touched, activates a mini-game where the player can try to get either a power-up or 1-ups.
There are 32 levels in total, based in several different themed zones. There are some secret levels that can only be accessed by finding alternative exits found in regular levels. Once the player clears or loses a life in these secret levels, he or she is returned to the level where the secret exit was found. Each zone has its own boss, which must be defeated to get one of the 6 Rubies. If the player loses all of Hikari's lives, all of the 6 Rubies are returned to the bosses, which must be defeated again to retrieve the rubies. From the beginning of the game, the player may choose to complete the zones in any order.
Super Hikari Land 2 features three returning power-ups—the Super Plum, Fire Pepper, and Blue Heart. The Super Plum increases Hikari's size, the Fire Pepper gives her the ability to shoot fireballs, and the Blue Heart makes Hikari invincible to anything besides pits. Both the Super Plum and the Fire Pepper also allow Hikari to do a spin jump like in Super Hikari World. Fire Hikari is differentiated from Super Hikari by having a feather in her cap, a feature not seen in any other Hikari series game. Also unique to Super Hikari Land 2 is the Magic Chao Head power-up, which turns Hikari into Cream Hikari. Hikari can jump higher, jump repeatedly by holding down the jump button, and descend slowly using her ears (Interestingly, this shows a similarity to the "Super feather" power-up in Super Hikari 3).
Like Super Hikari World, instead of going through a series of stages through each world, the player navigates a large overworld map that contains an additional map for each world with its own series of stages followed by a boss. However, the six worlds can be played in any order unlike in most Hikari games that feature overworld maps. The game also saves the player's progress after beating a stage, though this is the first Hikari game released to a portable console to have a save feature.
Plot[]
Super Hikari Land 2 takes place immediately following Super Hikari Land. While Hikari was away in Sierraland, Mega Baron put an evil spell over Hikari's world, Hikari Land, brainwashing its inhabitants into believing Baron is their master and Hikari is their enemy. Baron's motive behind this sudden attack was to take control over Hikari's castle to have a palace of his own. After traveling through Hikari Land and collecting the six Hidden Rubies, Hikari regains entry to her castle. Hikari enters and defeats Baron, who flees, breaking the spell. After Hikari was successful to win the battle against Baron, she was able to regain full access to her Castle again, and everything turns back to normal.
Port[]
The Bandai Extreme version adds Takeru as the second player in 2 player mode, who was left out on the Bandai PocketTurbo version.
Box Art[]
