Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi is the first sequel in Chris Roberts' Wing Commander science fiction space combat simulator franchise of computer games, produced by Origin Systems. Released in 1991, Wing Commander II retains much of the first game's core conventions: an interstellar war between the Terran Confederation and the felinoid warrior race called the Kilrathi, multiple allies as wingmen, and a wide variety of ships on both sides of the war. However, WCII places a greater emphasis on storytelling, providing various sprite-animated cutscenes and some of the industry's first examples of voice acting. The storyline is also somewhat less open-ended: the game's campaign tree is much more structured and the player character can no longer be promoted or awarded medals. Wingmen can no longer be killed during normal gameplay; when their fighters are damaged beyond repair, they eject (though some die in scripted sequences). Finally, because the story is a direct sequel to WC, many Kilrathi ships have names similar to the WC ships they replace (for instance, the "Sartha" replaces the "Salthi", and the Confederation uses an upgraded version of the Rapier medium fighter). Expansion packs Special Operations 1 and 2, were released in 1991 and 1992, respectively, and a stand-alone spin-off, Wing Commander Academy, in 1993. Origin also released a Speech Accessory Pack, which upgraded WCII with pre-recorded voice acting. A port for the SNES by Fujisankei Communications International was announced for May 1995, but never released. A Sega Genesis version was also planned but never released. Gameplay Gameplay of Wing Commander II is similar to the first Wing Commander game: a space flight simulation game, with the player piloting a ship, completing missions, and engaging enemy ships of various capabilities. There will generally be an AI-controlled wingman which the player can give orders to. The graphics, audio, and AI were improved for Wing Commander II, along with new ships and weapons, and animated cut-scenes featured voice acting. Like the first Wing Commander, missions will generally include multiple objectives. But the mission tree is much more structured and less open-ended: the game can proceed even if the objectives in the "winning" path are failed as long as the protagonist survives, but the player must successfully complete the missions in the "losing" path for the game to continue. Also, the player character can no longer be promoted or awarded medals. Wingmen can also no longer be