Phantasy Star Online (PSO to me and you) seems to be quite popular recently, what with picking up awards for its unique online communication system, getting a mini-add on with tons of new features, as well as making across to other next gen consoles. Only the GameCube seems to be extremely popular with the outstanding Sonic Team, seeing as they have gone to so much trouble to add even more features to the PSO mini sequel, Version 2 for GameCube!
PSO is possibly my favourite Dreamcast title of the lot, and for those of you that have been dwelling in some lost forgotten cave for the past year of your life, PSO is a Dreamcast online RPG, the aim of the game being to head online with your trusty saber/handgun/wand (delete as applicable) and team up with people from all over the world in order to storm through the four graphically detailed beasties, and, er.. Whack them!
Version 2 of the awarding winning PSO featured a host of new goodies, including extra online missions, one which you could team up with the Sonic gang, online mini games in two new areas, Spaceship and Sanctuary, which include a battle mode to beat the cra out of your team mates! Also, no more boring lobby chats with the new improved Lobby Football, where you can run around kicking a very enthusiastic ball that encourages you to whack it, or a Chu Chu fresh from Sonic Teams first ever online game. Other V2 features include tons of new weapons, armour and Mags. But if you think all that sounds boring, then when to you unlock Ultimate mode! You aint seen nothing yet!
So what's so special about the snotty GameCube version? Well for a start, all of the online battle missions and areas are available offline! Though this could hint at the possibility that PSOV2 for GameCube may not get online, I wouldn't worry too much about that right now! Also, the GameCube version will introduce two new character types, one an android whilst the other is a force, though not many details have been released about them. The other amazing feature is a offline 4-player mode so you can team up with your mates without having to save up for the immense phone bill! Apparently, this feature wasn't included in the Dreamcast version due to hardware limitations.. Said from Yuji Naka, the PSO God himself! Traitor!
Looking at both the Dreamcast and GameCube versions, there is no amazing graphical difference, other than the GameCube runs at a faster frame rate, making sure its 4-player mode remains super smooth. But overall, the GameCube version has enough features to make itself king.
No firm date has been set for PSOV2 on GameCube, we'll let you know as soon as we find out, promise!