KOEI strategy games, long before Dynasty Warriors added gold to their coffers, these menu driven games of plots and conquest were their bread and butter. Genghis Khan II is much like the more well-known Romance of the 3 Kingdoms series by KOEI, except in this you are the ruler, and are battling other countries.  I think this game is easier to play for novice players, and can be a good way to get into other KOEI offerings.

Graphics: 5
You get a headshot of each general/king/child/wife, and a tiny picture of the climate of the country you command. The map is bright and colorful, but not especially detailed. This does make it very easy to see borders, and the large numbers for the territories make it simple to switch between them. In fact everything about the graphics is simplistic. The menus are not particularly awesome, very plain - and the tasks feature pictures instead of telling you what the action is - this is novel, but a little weird. For instance, you have a son who is old enough to be a general, I would think, we'll lets go to the general icon, but that only appoints fresh people from the street. You have to play around with the pictures until you understand their functionality. The look is again, simple, but having a clean graphic style for the reading is key.
I did not like the graphics in the wars, and that hurts a lot as Khan is trying for a realistic approach to how you play your ruler.  The soldier units are big and puffy looking, something that might have been at home on a whimsical NES game. You do have a lot of options as far as troop types, but an army of doughy elephant riders or squat little samurai didn't do much to make me feel the serious of the game's tone.

Sound: 8
There are many countries to conquer, and governing them allows you to hear the music for each region, making for about 9 or so unique soundtracks to your areas if you owned the whole map. Its a nice touch each sound is different.  While I found battles ridiculous looking, the music is actually pretty good. Nothing felt wasted in this area, and its one of the best parts of the game. The fanfare when an army wins on the overhead map was probably my favorite, full of glory.

Addictiveness: 8
The ability to choose different timelines and different rulers is a strong point to these games, and adds a lot of replay. Once you get the ball rolling and take over some countries, you might be able to steamroll several in a row. But you also have to worry about your own governors, who might turn and rebel if they are not loyal enough. The struggle to have a military to expand, and have good enough generals to not only fight, but also advise, use diplomacy and rule a city well in peace-time - these are the core struggles of the game. The randomization of getting skilled officers is also a nice touch.

Story: 7
As this is from their historical simulation series, the game does a decent job of following the path of the mongol empire. You can play the first mode - which is a small map where Temujin must unite the warring tribes of Mongolia.. succeed (or just select) the second mode to play against the world. The third and final mode is set in Kublai's time, after the Genghis' death. I would have liked to see some of Genghis' tactics or even some quotes from him used. The mode I liked best was the 2nd, where any army had a decent chance of winning, most in small one or two vassal states. However, other than his great stats and the chance to play him up from the beginning of the game in mode one, there isn't a lot of Genghis influence in this game.

Depth: 7
This is a strategy game, so there is many options for you. However, I wanted to compare it to its brethren, how does it stack against similar games in the same family? I've played a lot of KOEI games, and this is a more basic setup of commands than I'm used to. Some, like the diplomacy, could really use a shot in the arm. You get to make alliances, threaten weaker states, and thats about it. You can cannot use your adviser to try to convince two rulers to fight against each other, or tempt opposing generals to join your side with secret letters.  Being this is a game about conquering empires, I found this lack of tactics glaring.
However, this game offers two features that almost make up for the lack of intrigue. One is the ability to have children and use them later to benefit your country. You can have many children or maybe only one, it all depends on the relationship with your wife, which sadly, you don't control (as far as I know). In playing the King of England, it seemed his wife was always mad at him, and had to visit her often just to have one heir. As opposed to when I played Emperor of Japan, and his wife was so happy they had 10 kids by the time the game was over! Your boys can be generals and girls married to your NON-family generals to make them 100% loyal. Having a family aspect is quite in line with a dynasty. I also liked if your king died, your next in line would take a wife immediately from whatever province he lives in, staying in touch with the conquered countries theme.
The second option, and one used very well, is the idea of traders from Europe, Araby, Russia, and China. Each territory makes a product, and you can sell it, or have them sent to other areas. The normal shops you deal with usually don't give you a great price for it, thats where the foreign trade comes in. 
An example. You start your turn, and can see on a menu that Chinese traders have made it to Italy, where you are based. You also have European traders there. You have a lot of jewelry saved up to sell. Your home Italian traders, they see these necklaces all the time, so they offer you 100. But the Chinese trader, he loves that stuff, and will offer you 156 per unit if you sell them to him. This trade dynamic is not complex, but adds a lot of depth. 
As far as depth in war, there are some elements. Your units take up a set amount of space, and have limited movement. You can charge an enemy and sometimes stun them, or trick them into coming out into the open where all your soldiers can gang up on them. Archers also have the option to fire from far away. There are no formations, nor a home advantage for being invaded - a lot more could have been done.

Difficulty: 6
Its all in the choices. Some rulers are better than others. I personally suggest if you don't want to be Khan, try being Japan or England/France. Its easier to start at one end than fight foes from all sides. Some is out of your hands, like the random generals you get, or where the traders go to. But once you get a lucky break with the traders, choosing your battles is critical. Sometimes you will get so big the enemy can barely keep up with you as you squash one country, then another.
I actually found the battles too drawn out and dull to put up with, so I've played the game twice with the computer making all attacks for me (skip all battles). This shows that the game is not too difficult, as long as you pick your fights wisely.

OVERALL 7.6
This is a good beginner entry to KOEI games, and not a bad game at all. It lacks the machinations and plotting of other games, but its solid and offers a lot of options. Also this is the only one on SNES that can give you global wars of knights vs. samurais, to finally put aside which troop is best.