Columns II

{{Short description|1990 video game}} {{Infobox video game |title = Columns II: The Voyage Through Time |image = Columns II Title.png |developer = Sega |publisher = Sega |designer = |composer = Takayuki Nakamura<br>You Takada |release = '''Arcade'''{{vgrelease|JP|July 21, 1990<ref>{{cite web |title=Columns II (Registration Number PA0000620952) |url=https://cocatalog.loc.gov |website=United States Copyright Office |access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref>}}'''Sega Saturn'''{{vgrelease|JP|October 30, 1997}}'''Nintendo Switch'''{{vgrelease|JP|August 8, 2019|NA/PAL|October 17, 2019}} |genre = Puzzle |modes = Single-player, multiplayer |platforms = Arcade, Sega Saturn, Nintendo Switch | arcade system = Sega System C<ref>{{cite web|title=System 16 - Sega System C-2 Hardware (Sega)|url=http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=705|website=System 16|accessdate=13 March 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305054031/http://system16.com/hardware.php?id=705|archive-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> }}

'''''Columns II: The Voyage Through Time''''' (erroneously labeled as '''''A Voyage Through Time''''' on the Switch release) is a 1990 puzzle video game released by Sega, as the sequel to ''Columns''. It was released in Japan for the Sega System C. A port was included in the compilation ''Sega Ages: Columns Arcade Collection'' released for the Sega Saturn in Japan in 1997. ''Columns III'' however, would be released in North America on the Sega Genesis. The game saw an international release through the ''Sega Ages'' line on Nintendo Switch.

==Gameplay== The gameplay is standard ''Columns'' fare, match at least three jewels to eliminate them. If the board fills all the way to the top, it results in a loss. The objects that must be destroyed are not always jewels. Since the players go "Through Time", the objects that can be destroyed varies from fossils to futuristic disks. Other than an interesting sprite swap, the "Through Time" idea does not actually affect the gameplay. ''Columns II'' has two modes, Flash Columns, and Vs Columns (eventually renamed Stack Columns). In Flash Columns, the goal is to eliminate the flashing jewels, disks, or fossils that are in each stage. In order to reach the flashing objects, the player must dig their way through the objects that cover it. After all of the flashing objects are eliminated, the player advances to the next, usually faster level. Every three levels, there is a bonus stage in which the player can earn bonus points. While ''Columns'' for the Sega Genesis was the first appearance of Flash Columns, ''Columns 2'' was its first appearance in the arcades.

Vs Columns is much more similar to the original ''Columns'' where the players build up combos and clear them rather than digging through jewels to get to a certain gem, but it has a competitive twist. In this mode, both players are given the same gems and have to build up combos against each other. The larger the combo, the higher opponent's board is raised until the other player's board is filled to the brim. This is the first appearance of Vs Columns; this mode has been put in almost all later versions of ''Columns'' and has become a fan favorite.

==Ports== The game was later ported to Nintendo Switch as part of the Switch ''Sega Ages'' line. It also marked the first time in nearly 30 years that the game was released in Western territories.

== Reception == {{Expand section|date=October 2020}} In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Columns II'' on their November 1, 1990 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=1 November 1990|page=25|lang=ja}}</ref> It went on to be Japan's eighth highest-grossing arcade conversion kit of 1991.<ref name="GM419">{{cite magazine |title="Final Fight II" and "Final Lap 2" Top Videos: Video Games of The Year '91 |magazine=Game Machine |issue=419 |publisher=Amusement Press, Inc. |date=1 February 1992 |page=26 |lang=ja |url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19920201p.pdf#page=14}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.arcade-history.com/?n=columns-ii-the-voyage-through-time&page=detail&id=485 ''Columns II'' at Arcade-History.com]

Category:1990 video games Category:Arcade video games Category:Puzzle video games Category:Sega video games Category:Sega Saturn games Category:Video games scored by Takayuki Nakamura Category:Video games developed in Japan Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games