Balto II: Wolf Quest for PlayStation is a game based on the Movie of the same name. The game plays as an alternate canon to the film as a 3D Adventure Game similar to what was seen in some other movie-based tie-in games like "A Bug's Life" and "Shrek 2 (Console Version)." The game consists of 5 stages, each based on a different location from the film and a boss, either being a spiritual being or an enemy from the film.
Controls[]
Here are the controls to Balto II. They're the same for Balto and Aleu.
- Left Stick: Move
- X: Jump
- ☐: Attack/Combo
- △: Interact (When prompted)
- O: Charged Attack
- L1/R1: Switch Characters (Single Player Only)
Music[]
The Music is different for each level and an OST is being worked on by Unknown Tale himself, consisting of Original Songs and Remixes of instrumentals or actual songs from the film. This section will show all finished OST and run-times. Songs with a * are interactive songs that change as the game progresses.
- Wolf Quest (Beat Juggle) Intro 3:34
- Nightmare (Boss Mix)* 4:03
- Forest 1
- Forest 2
- Who You Really Are (PlayStation Mix)
- The Grand Design (PlayStation Mix)
How Each Stage Plays[]
Unlike the arcade like Saturn game for Balto, this game acts as a platform adventure instead of a series of races. Each Stage consists of 3 to 5 Levels. There would be an exploration level to start, followed by a few other levels that require a specific task to complete, ending with a high octane boss battle. Here's a good overall look of Stage 1.
- Stage 0: Training: Uncle Boris will give Balto the lowdown of how-to play the game while also explaining other important goals and power-ups to look out for. The Training Tutorial ends when you make it to Jenna's home.
- Stage 1-1: The Beach of Nome: Aleu wants to take a walk into the forest, destination = unsure. Make it over to Muk and Luk.
- Stage 1-2: The Forest: With Aleu now knowing a bit about her wolf heritage, she feels the forest is looming with a sense of danger. Make it to the clearing and be careful of its nasty tricks.
- Stage 1-3: Shadowy Figure: The Raven of Balto's and Aleu's nightmares appear to warn them about their impending quest, when the three suddenly get attacked by a mysterious figure. Protect her!
Almost every stage contains a few things to look out for.
- Feather: Gives Balto/Aleu an extra hit point. (Come in 5 colors, ROYGB, start with 3 with each new life)
- Coin: There are coins littered throughout the stages. Collecting 100 gives the players an extra life (3 to start off with).
- Invincibility Mask: Collecting this temporarily makes the character immune from damage.
- B-A-L-T-O / A-L-E-U: Collecting all the letters in a character's name unlocks Bonus Content.
- Spirit Orbs: Certain orbs allow the player to grow stronger in different ways. (Attack/Defense/Speed). Pressing △ while a meter is full gives the character Maximum Power of that stat until it drains. It is possible to use two or more meters in a row.
If a player meets certain requirements, like Score, letter collection, or a certain number of anything within a stage, not only does the player gain a Skill Point, which can be used to power up Balto and Aleu, you can unlock some of the following:
- Bonus Levels: Levels that didn't make it into the Final Cut
- Trials: Special Levels that can unlock even more extra content
- Film Clips/Deleted Scenes: Clips of the film that did/did not make it into the final cut of the 2002 Direct to DVD film, including clips meant for the 1999 release that never were used in the final version
- Sound Test: New sounds that can be listened to at any time
- Cheats: In case you don't want to be the cool guys who like to put Cheat Codes in, these can range from Big Head Mode, infinite lives, alternate character skins, One Punch Simply Explode Mode, etc.
Difficulty[]
Here are all 4 modes of difficulty.
- Easy: For players who just want to get the game over with and for Magazine Critics
- Normal: Best setting for first time players of the game
- Valor: Harder Enemies = Higher Scores = Sweeter Rewards, for the professional player
- Aniu: The highest difficulty in the game, enemies adapt to your every move like a thinking AI and calculates the best possible move to take you out, perfect for TAS Runs
Special Edition[]
The Special Edition would include the following:
- Balto on Sega Saturn as a Special Game Disc
- An exclusive 12" plush of Aleu
- "The Art of the Balto Trilogy and What's Next for Balto" teasing Balto III: Wings of Change and future Balto films that eventually got canned
- A Soundtrack Disc of the Video Game
- The Balto II Cheat Sheet for those who want to input the codes to the game
Trivia[]
- A Sega Dreamcast version is considered to be released as the same day with the PlayStation version with a smoother frame rate, updated graphics and high-quality FMVs from the movie, but this port got canceled because of the discontinuation of the Dreamcast during production, thus it ended up being ported to PC months later after the PS1 version of this game.
- Much like the film, the tie-in game got delayed to coincide with the Direct to DVD release in 2002 instead of the originally planned theatrical 1999 release (which also may be why alternate scenes can be found on the PS1 disc). A PS2 version along with the Gamecube and Xbox ports was considered, but was scrapped for budget constraints.
- Most of the sound design of this game was outsourced to Hacienda Post like with the movie that's based on hence why some sound effects that were re-used from the movie are in some Spongebob Squarepants tie-in video games.
- A Nintendo 64 port was about to be made albeit with some limitations like the MIDIfied music and a bit slower frame rate but the reasons for its cancellation were the same as the Dreamcast port.
- A few years later, Activision releases an another special edition of both the PS1 and PC versions that contains the same items except that the DVDs of the Balto trilogy (including the widescreen version of the first movie, making its first North American debut on DVD) replaces the Sega Saturn tie-in game and adds the soundtrack discs for all three movies. While the CD of the first movie’s score is still the original MCA Records release, only Wolf Quest and Wings of Change gets the complete soundtracks. This, along with Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection, are the last PS1 titles to get re-releases on the platform.