Series Review: Fantasy Zone (1, 2 and Super)

Game: Fantasy Zone
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 1986

Listen along with the game OST as you read

Fantasy Zone is a very colourful and rather challenging entry in the shooter/cute 'em up genre. The game gives you a somewhat vague backstory about space and interplanetary monetary systems collapsing in the space year 6216 (if you let the title screen get to that part), but the story's not really the main focal point of the game. Upon pressing the start button, your ship (the wonderfully named Opa-opa), appears in a vivid land, with many enemies, who are ready to make you explode at the slightest touch.

The surprising thing here is the sheer amount of enemies that can appear onscreen at once, and the difficulty that causes. If you hit the enemy bases, you die. Hit the blue things that come out of them, you die. Hit any enemy, you die. Hit something fired by an enemy, you die. Sometimes, you even die before you can move, thanks to spawning in random locations when you begin the game. After a little while, (earning $2000) a shop will appear, asking if you'll buy tempting upgrades such as a 7-way shot, or laser beam, and also offering extra lives and bigger ship engines. As the game progresses, you'll definitely be needing these, or it's a tough, tough ride.

The aim of each stage is to shoot all of the bases contained in that stage, leading to a face off with the boss of the stage. These bosses tend to be quite innovative and different in the ways that they attack, and require some planning to defeat (provided that your strategy doesn't involve using the easy option of dropping a Heavy Bomb onto them). The stages all seem to have rather odd names, including Dolimicca, Mockstar and Pocarius, but I guess its hard to think up names for such visually chaotic places anyway.

The stages are varied, as are the enemies you'll encounter in each, with some reoccurring throughout the game. It does get pretty hard to progress, with all the types of enemy flying around, the screen becomes cluttered with them, but the retro-difficulty is somewhat charming. I have seen a video online of the game being completed, but I'd challenge anyone to get a Master System and replicate that.

The in-game music is good, catchy at times, pretty simple 8-bit sounding stuff, as you'd expect. Graphically, the game is colourful to the extreme that sometimes its hard to tell what is scenery and what you're supposed to shoot, but is one of the best looking games for the Master System, in my opinion. In terms of gameplay, the controls are great, never hindering your already difficult task of survival. As with a fair few Sega games of this era, once you reach the final stage, you're forced to fight all of the bosses again which is perhaps a little anti-climatic, but saves any difficult final stage navigation, I suppose.

All in all, its a fun shooter, which takes some mastering, but has its own character and individual charm. It seems to have aged decently,and although the graphics can be a little garish, at no point does the gameplay feel outdated.

Rating: 78/100
Grade: B

Game: Fantasy Zone II: The Tears Of Opa-Opa
Console: Sega Master System
Developer: Sega
Release Date: 1987

Listen along with the game OST as you read

Just a year after the original Fantasy Zone game, a sequel was released in the form of Fantasy Zone II. There are many similarities (hence the condensed review) and a couple of differences from the original game. While the bright graphics stayed, there are 4 zones per stage (including a boss zone) to explore, each with a different backdrop, but similar enemies. To change between zones, the player must enter warp boxes, left behind when certain bases are destroyed. Destroying all bases in every zone will allow the player to progress through a Diamond shaped warp zone to the boss of the stage.

The most instantly recognisable difference between the two games seems to be the music, the first stage theme here being somewhat more annoying than in the previous installment. The strange stage names seem to have stayed though, this time including Fuwareak, Sarcand, Hiyarika and Sbardian.

Another slight gameplay change is that if your ship is hit by a projectile from an enemy, rather than an enemy itself, only 50% damage occurs. However this very slight difficulty change doesn't do much to hold off the AI's relentless charge against the player, and with the added difficulty of the warp zones (which can fling you straight into enemy paths at times) and new enemies with frustratingly thorough paths across the screen, its safe to say that this may be even more difficult than its predecessor.

The bosses in this game are still inventive and take some cunning to beat. The shop stocks different items at each level, making it harder to buy overpowered items to take the AI down each time, at one point offering a 3-way shot, where a 7-way version was available before. Once again learning the enemy movements is key to succeeding here. All in all, it adds some unnecessary complication to the formula, with a visual style that I prefer slightly less than the first game.

Rating: 70/100
Grade: C

Game: Super Fantasy Zone

Console: Sega Mega Drive

Developer: Sega

Release Date: 1992

Listen along with the game OST as you read

The final game I'll be reviewing here (although there are technically more in the series including "Galactic Protector" and "Fantasy Zone: The Maze", which aren't in the same style) is Super Fantasy Zone. On a new console, and 5 years after the last true Fantasy Zone game's release, this one is prettier, improved and a little easier. We'll start with the graphics; the move to the Mega Drive allowed for better all round graphics, as well as more complex music (which does in fact make a world of difference to the feel of the game). There's also a bar at the bottom of the screen representing how far the player has got in the stage which is helpful for eliminating all of the bases in a stage.

Gone are the warp zones of Fantasy Zone II, and its back to the tried and tested formula of destroy everything in sight in a single zone. There are some new upgrades in the shop, and although some bosses hark back to things we've seen before, for the most part they're original and keep the player on his or her toes.

Super Fantasy Zone also seems to have a better difficulty balance, as the enemies are more spread out across the stages. The boss fights are more intense in some cases, which makes for more climactic battles. Another nice touch is the option to give yourself 5 ships with which to begin the game, as opposed to the 3 in the first two games. In a game like this, you'll be needing them, so it's nice to be able to get a little further.

The controls of the game make your ship feel more steady and precise than the first two games, which can be good for maneuvering out of tight situations, and the only change I'd question is the inclusion of 10 bases per stage rather than the 6 or 8 in the first two games, however with the decrease in overall stage difficulty its not too difficult to destroy the extra ones.

Finally then, a true successor to the first game in the series, with a lot of character, good music and bundles of charm, this is perhaps the game to play if you haven't previously experienced the series. The game play is good and the environments are at their best on the Mega Drive.

Rating: 82/100
Grade: B