Summary: More intricate and better put together than Archon I, but some of the old good&bad guys are missing. 
Plot: Another good vs. evil battle. Four "adepts" to each side summon monsters to control power. You look either to 1)conquer all power squares, or 2)defeat your opponent's cathedral in combat, either after "apocalypse" is cast or one side loses all his adepts. One side may run out of spell points, too, and that will end the game. The power squares(which also gain you spell power) move from element to element after each turn. Fire is on the outside, then air, water, and then earth. In addition, there are two voids in one square between the fire and the air(they are both power squares). The Earth plane is shaped like a barbell, with Water bordering around it, and Air around it. Fire is a rectangular border, with the void filling in the remaining space. If a player chooses to switch planes for one of his army, the piece can only move one square, but otherwise its movement is unlimited. 

Combat scenes are neat and varied, even within the four basic elemental types--there are obstacles for earth that block missiles, water slows you and your missiles down, air deflects missiles unpredictably, and fire damages you. 

The characters: 4 adepts for each side, one in each element. All fire missiles unless otherwise indicated. Good guys: Golem/earth, Kraken/water(slow, short range, but powerful and wide missiles), Thunderbird/air, Salamander/fire. Bad guys: Behemoth/earth(punches), Siren/water("sings" for damage), Efreet/air, Firebird/fire(blast of fire in short radius) Demons(either side can call these, listed in order of spell point cost): juggernaut("runs at" opponents and looks uncommonly like a car), wraith(invisible, drains opponents' energy when near)gorgons(slow you down with missiles 'til you're stone), chimera(alternate 3 types of attack--3rd is a punch), Naturally, monsters fare best on their own element--they usually get bonus strength and hit tolerance. I miss some of the old characters, but the new ones are very interesting, and it's neat to see two of the same monster against each other; two equally matched players can really test themselves that way, although two wraiths against each other might take a while, draining energy from one to the other and back. 

Controls: keyboard is almost impossible. Joystick is the only choice. They had a good idea with being able to move the magic ball adepts/cathedrals fire, but it is too unpredictable and hard to control. 

Graphics and sound: The monsters really "move" (i.e. golems walk, thunderbirds fly, and salamanders slither) whether in combat or no, and the pictures are really neat. I like krakens', efreets', and thunderbirds' pictures in particular. Sounds are and various sizzling noises for attacks and notes for getting hit. 

Replaybility: lots of different levels made it a challenge for a while without it ever being impossible. But the final fight is very annoying. Usually cathedrals just sit and kind of fire back and forth at the end, which is anticlimactic. But it's fun to try to fight one monster against the other and try each combination. 

Archon II is a lot more compact and organized than its predecessor. It even requires more strategy; power squares weren't a big deal in Archon I as you usually just killed all your opponents and too much rested on your "major" piece, but the right squares are critical in Archon II, and timing is an important skill. However, Archon II doesn't have that chess "feel" to it(gee, maybe because it's not on a chessboard!) and doesn't have the same entertaining variety of characters. It's still good entertainment, though, and a worthy successor. 
