Nothing about the game was new in 1989. Only what you could hear.
The PC Engine's CD-ROM drive went on sale in December 1988, and for its first year the discs mostly proved that a disc could hold more. Holding more is not the same as being worth more.
In Ys I & II the music arrived as a recording instead of coming out of the sound chip, and the characters spoke instead of appearing in a text box. None of it was new work. Falcom's two games were already finished, already sold, already loved.
In 1989 the songs Koshiro and Ishikawa had written reached people who had never seen a PC-8801 and never would.
About this game
Yuzo Koshiro was nineteen when he wrote the music for Ys on a Japanese home computer in 1987. He had left Nihon Falcom before the decade was out. On December 21, 1989, Hudson Soft put both Ys games onto a single PC Engine CD-ROM² disc. The work of rebuilding his themes — and those of Mieko Ishikawa, who had written alongside him — fell to another composer, Ryo Yonemitsu. What the disc did not change was the game. Adol Christin had no attack button in 1987 and he had no attack button in 1989 — you aimed him slightly off-centre and walked into the enemy.
Key Features
Voice-acted dialogue — at a time when games had almost never featured the human voice. Animated cut scene sequences in the style of Japanese animation. A Red Book CD audio soundtrack with 41 music tracks composed and arranged by Yuzo Koshiro, Mieko Ishikawa, Hideya Nagata, and Ryo Yonemitsu. Enhanced graphics relative to the original PC-8801 versions. Action RPG gameplay in which the player character attacks by walking into enemies — the "bump system" of combat. Two complete RPGs on a single disc, covering the full story of Adol Christin's adventures in the land of Ys. Approximately 24 minutes of voiced character dialogue and 20 minutes of animated sequences.
Gallery
The Story Behind
Nihon Falcom had written Ys and Ys II for Japanese home computers, where the first game's ending ran straight into the second game's opening and the audience was measured in the tens of thousands. Hudson Soft's disc was the first time the two halves were sold as one story. In North America it appeared in 1990 as Ys Book I & II, the first CD-ROM role-playing game sold there. OMNI Magazine named it Game of the Year, and Electronic Gaming Monthly gave it Best RPG and Best Sound. The machine it ran on, the TurboGrafx-CD, sold badly in the United States. The game was praised anyway, by writers who had to explain to their readers what a CD-ROM was before they could explain what was on this one.
Tricks & Tales
The "bump system" — the original Ys combat mechanic in which Adol attacks simply by walking into enemies from the front or sides — was a deliberate design decision by Nihon Falcom to lower the barrier to entry for non-action-game players. Most RPG fans of the era were not used to arcade-style reflex gameplay; the bump system made combat feel natural without requiring twitch skills. The soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro is considered one of the greatest in RPG history; his work on Ys I & II predates his Streets of Rage compositions by three years and already shows the compositional complexity that would define his career. The PC Engine CD-ROM² version was significantly enhanced from the original PC-8801 source material — the voice acting and animated sequences did not exist in the original.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
Japan: Ys I & II (イースI・II) for PC Engine CD-ROM². North America: Ys Book I & II for TurboGrafx-CD (released 1990 by NEC). The North American version includes English voice acting featuring notable voice actors. Both versions require the CD-ROM² System Card. The Japan version is in Japanese; the North American version is in English with dubbed voice acting.
Maintenance Tips
Ys I & II is a CD-ROM² title — it requires the CD-ROM² System Card in the PC Engine to run. The disc uses Red Book audio tracks extensively; a disc with radial scratches in the audio track area may produce skipping or silence during music playback. Clean with a radial stroke from centre outward. The System Card (a HuCard) should also be maintained — clean the contacts with isopropyl alcohol. The manual and liner notes contain story context and are worth preserving; the music in this game is part of the experience.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Ys I & II copies regularly.
Will this Japanese PC Engine game work on a North American TurboGrafx-16?
Not without a hardware adapter. The TurboGrafx-16's data bus lines are wired in reverse compared to the PC Engine, making the two regions physically incompatible at the cartridge (HuCard) slot level. A passive adapter such as the dbElectronics Turbo PC-Henshin bridges this gap for HuCard titles. For CD-ROM² software, the TurboGrafx-CD drive will run Japanese discs if they do not carry a software region check, but compatibility varies by title. In both cases, Japanese PC Engine software is designed for the Japanese market and carries no English text.
How should I store and clean a PC Engine HuCard?
Keep HuCards in their original plastic sleeves or a protective case, away from humidity and direct sunlight — the exposed gold contacts oxidize over time. To clean: apply 90%+ isopropyl alcohol to a cotton swab and gently wipe the gold edge contacts. Never blow on them — breath moisture accelerates corrosion. Handle by the plastic edges only, avoiding the contact strip. HuCards have no internal battery and no moving parts, making them among the most durable formats from the era.
Does this HuCard have an internal save battery?
HuCards do not support internal battery backup by design. If this title requires save data between sessions, it either uses a password system or requires an external backup peripheral (such as the Tennokoe Bank or Backup Booster) connected to the PC Engine's expansion bus. Check the game manual for the save method — many action and strategy HuCard titles are designed as single-session experiences and do not require saving at all.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Ys I & II
A short checklist for buying used PC Engine software wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
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Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
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Make sure it fits your console
Japanese PC Engine HuCards and CDs are not compatible with the North American TurboGrafx-16 — the formats differ. Use a Japanese PC Engine system.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
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HuCard or CD-ROM² — know which you're buying
PC Engine games come on HuCard chips or on CD-ROM². CD titles also require the right CD system and a working System Card.
Confirm the format in the listing, and for CDs check the disc surface and that saves are supported.
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Check that the contacts are clean
Dirty edge contacts are the most common cause of startup and sound trouble in cartridges of this age.
Choose a seller who cleans the contacts before shipping. A note that it was tested and cleaned means the basics were handled.
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Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
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Rooms this game lives in
Wander deeper — explore the themed rooms where Ys I & II sits alongside its kin.
Memories from around the world
This is a young museum, and this page is still waiting for its first voices. The memories people send reach Taisei personally, and the ones that move him find a home here over time — always with the writer's blessing. Yours could be the very first for this game.
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