Crossed Swords II

Crossed Swords II (クロススウオードⅡ) is a Hack 'n Slash action game released in 1995 by ADK exclusively for the Neo Geo CD. It is the sequel to 1991's Crossed Swords.

Story
Years ago, the Kingdom of Belcana faced a great calamity. The one who brought about this calamity, his name is Nausizz. An ancient genie who woke up from a thousand years of sleep. The knights of the Kingdom of Belcana could not do anything against the demon army led by Nausizz, and were repeatedly defeated until two heroes appeared. They were named Edmond and Richard.

The art of manipulating ancient magic... One of the few knights who can master "magic". They fought the demon army alone, and after a difficult battle, finally defeated the genie Nausizz, which closed the passage to the demon world. People called this campaign "The Suffering of Katasis". The reconstruction work of the Kingdom of Belcana, which has been several decades since the "Suffering of Katasis", has progressed smoothly, and people's lives have gradually calmed down and regained peace.

But again, a disturbing shadow began to drift. The demons left behind from the dark world have revived the genie by ancient magic. There is no country in the south anymore, and the demon army is approaching Katasis. The king's army was completely defeated, and people were losing hope to the threat of an endless demon invasion... Stand up again to bring the genie Nausizz back to darkness.

Gameplay
Crossed Swords II features the same gameplay from its predecessor, with the addition of a new button for jumping and dashing, giving the player more maneuverability and allowing to dodge incoming attacks. By pressing the attack button after dashing the player will make a horizontal slash which stuns enemies briefly, and by pressing the attack button after jumping the player will make a powerful downward slash.

The player can now choose between three characters: the Knight, who is powerful but slow, the Dancer, who is fast but weak, and the Ninja, who has balanced stats. After choosing the character, the player must choose between two game modes: "Nausizz Counterattack" is the main story mode, while "Karividu Arena" is a survival mode where the player fights various enemies consecutively.