The first Return to Mysterious Island in 2004 was so successful, Microïds and Kheops have decided to return a second time, as today comes the announcement of production on Return to Mysterious Island 2.

For the players it's a return to the island first created by Jules Verne, anyway. For Mina, the protagonist of the original adventure, there was never a departure, as the new game starts with the crash of the helicopter that came to rescue her from the deserted tropical island she crashed on. Trapped once again, Mina soon discovers that outside pollution is threatening the island's plants and animals. The only way to stop the affliction is to restore the island's shield. Doing so, unfortunately, will also destroy any hopes of return to civilizaton, consigning her to the same fate as Captain Nemo before her.

The new game includes another familiar character, and this time the cute little monkey named Jep will be a second playable character. Making use of each character's unique abilities, players must switch between them as "only Mina can use complex tools, combine objects and, of course, read the documents found in the course of the game; whereas Jep can climb places inaccessible to Mina, communicate with other monkeys and find numerous objects thanks to his sense of smell."

In an interesting twist, not only will Return to Mysterious Island 2 be playable on both PC and iPhone, the game will allow players to transfer data between the two platforms.

The game is currently scheduled for release in March 2009. For more information about its predecessor, be sure to check out our review of the game.