Cosmic Fantasy 2

Lore & Background

The game follows Van, a 16-year-old boy on Clan Island, planet Idea, whose sweetheart Laura is kidnapped by the wizard Wizda, henchman of the evil Galam. Van learns that Laura possesses magical powers that grant immortality to whoever marries her, and Galam intends to unlock them on her 17th birthday. After being defeated by Galam, Van is warped 20 years into the future, where he meets Babbette, a Cosmic Hunter cadet, and her companions Pico and Robert. Together they rescue Babbette from Major Payne and team up with Cobra and his crew to confront Galam. Ultimately, Van defeats Galam but learns that Laura has died; peace is restored, and Van becomes a Cosmic Hunter.

Reader's Guide

Cosmic Fantasy 2 holds significance as the first third-party game released on a CD-based console, marking a milestone in the medium's transition to optical media. Its gameplay is typical of early 1990s dungeon crawlers, with an overhead viewpoint and turn-based battles, but is distinguished by the complete absence of enemy special moves, spells, or critical hits—making battles highly predictable except for target selection. The game was awarded Best RPG Game of the Year for 1992 by Electronic Gaming Monthly, which praised its cinemas, plot, and world. RPGFan commended its storyline, gameplay, and art but noted frustrating load times before frequent battles. The game sold nearly 1:1 with the TurboGrafx CD-ROM, with an install base of 20,000 units. A re-release was long considered difficult due to Telenet's bankruptcy, but Sunsoft later acquired the catalogue, leading to a 2024 English collection by Limited Run Games.

Did You Know?

• Cosmic Fantasy 2 was an early third-party title on a CD-based console, but not the first.
• Enemies in the game can use spells, items, or special moves, and attacks can miss.
• The game's sales figures relative to the TurboGrafx CD-ROM install base are unverified and likely exaggerated.
• Limited Run Games released the first Cosmic Fantasy Collection in English in January 2024, featuring new translations of the first two games.

Plot & Narrative

Set against a backdrop of interstellar conflict, Cosmic Fantasy 2 follows Yuu, the leader of an interstellar crime force, as he and his eclectic crew battle space pirates across the cosmos. His team includes the capable Saya, Momo—a tanuki-themed motorcycle robot that blends mechanical ingenuity with animal charm—and Nyan, a feline companion who rounds out this unlikely squad. The central dramatic tension of the game revolves around Berga, a formidable adversary whose motivations are rooted not purely in malice but in unrequited affection. Berga harbors romantic feelings for Yuu, and when he is met with a firm refusal, the rejection sends him into a full berserk state, transforming him from a complex antagonist into a relentless force of destruction. This blend of personal drama and high-stakes space combat gives the narrative a distinctly human emotional core beneath its science-fiction setting, distinguishing it from more formulaic RPG plots of the era.

Localization & Western Availability

Cosmic Fantasy 2 holds a unique position in the series as the sole title to receive an official English-language release, localized and published by Working Designs for Western audiences. This made it the primary gateway for non-Japanese-speaking players to experience the franchise for decades. However, the broader series remained largely inaccessible outside Japan until the early 2020s. In January 2024, Limited Run Games brought the Cosmic Fantasy Collection to North America on Nintendo Switch, providing fresh English translations for the first two games while retaining the original Japanese voice acting with English subtitles. Following that, on February 18, 2025, Limited Run Games released Cosmic Fantasy Collection 2, extending new English translations to the remaining three titles in the series, again with Japanese voice and English subtitles. These modern re-releases finally made the complete arc available to Western audiences, though the voice acting remains in the original Japanese across all entries.

Production & Series Context

Cosmic Fantasy 2 was developed by LaserSoft, a subsidiary of Telenet, and published under the Telenet banner for the PC Engine CD console in 1991. The series was conceived by manga artist Kazuhiro Ochi, whose visual storytelling sensibility permeated the games' presentation. Spanning from 1990 to 1994, the franchise produced four main entries—the final one split into two installments—establishing a distinctive identity at the intersection of science fiction, adventure, raunchy comedy, and light erotica. The series earned particular recognition as one of the earlier RPGs to incorporate extended anime-style cutscenes and full voice acting, pushing the medium's presentation beyond the text-heavy norms of the time. The first two titles were later re-released together as Cosmic Fantasy Stories, an upgraded compilation for the Sega CD developed by Riot, broadening the series' reach to another platform. Cosmic Fantasy 2, released in 1991, sits at the heart of this ambitious early-1990s run.

Voice Cast & Cross-Media Presence

The voice cast of Cosmic Fantasy 2 features a notable lineup of Japanese voice actors lending their talents to the game's characters. Minami Takayama voices the protagonist Yuu, while Yumi Takada takes on dual roles as both Saya and Monmo. Rei Sakuma brings Berga to life, Sanae Miyuki voices Nyan, and Tesshō Genda provides the voice for the Tokida Director. This commitment to full voice acting was part of what made the series stand out among its contemporaries, as most RPGs of the era relied primarily on on-screen text. The franchise's cross-media ambitions extended beyond the games themselves. In 1994, an anime OVA titled Cosmic Fantasy: Galaxy Cougar's Trap was released on VHS and LaserDisc, arriving shortly before the launch of Cosmic Fantasy 4. This animated adaptation further cemented the series' identity as a multimedia property, bridging the gap between its manga-art origins and its interactive game format.