to Alordesh, they are pursued by coup leader Ven Mackarge. A link between Ven's pursuit of them, the OCU's liberation attempts, and Burg Transportation's involvement in the war is eventually formed when it is revealed that the coup forces are receiving support from an unknown third party, and are in possession of a device codenamed "FENRIR". Development Front Mission 2 was developed by G-Craft, the company which had created and handled development of the original Front Mission. Series creator Toshiro Tsuchida acted as director. Production of Front Mission 2 ran parallel with the spin-off title Front Mission Alternative. During production, Tsuchida was approached by Square, who wanted to buy out and incorporate G-Craft into Square itself. This deal took place midway through development, with G-Craft being redubbed as Square's Development Division 6, making Front Mission 2 the last title produced under the G-Craft name. While the previous game was produced for the Super Famicom, publisher Square decided to shift production of all core titles from Nintendo's hardware to the in-production PlayStation. Music Front Mission 2 was composed by Noriko Matsueda, who also composed the original Front Mission. The Front Mission 2 Original Soundtrack was released by DigiCube on September 21, 1997 on a single 43-track disc. Release According to the series' public relations manager Koichiro Sakamoto, the game was never released outside Japan due to the presence of situations and vocabulary which would be considered faux pas in North America. Front Mission 2 was both a financial and critical success in Japan. The game sold 496,200 copies, making it the 18th best-selling game of 1997. It received a "Gold Prize" from Sony in May 1998, indicating sales above 500,000 units in Japan. The game was also later re-released alongside both Front Mission and Front Mission 3 as part of the Front Mission History compilation. This version included a Quick Battle option that allows players to progress through the game's story at a faster pace. It was released on PlayStation Network on December 24, 2008. Reception Famitsu magazine awarded the game 32 out of 40 upon its release. The magazine chose the game as the number 63rd best game on the original PlayStation. At the time of the re-release of Front Mission 2 under the Ultimate Hits line on October 5, 2006, the game sold over 510,000 copies in Japan. Front Mission 2 has been criticized for its long loading times.