Fantasy Zone Review (Sega Master System, 1986)

There’s no better way to put it; Fantasy Zone is an odd game. Sega was always one of the most creative developers around, but this title was on a whole other level. This game was released at a time when most shooters were realistic (well, as much so as eight bit graphics can be) and stood apart from the pack by being highly colorful and, dare I say, cute. Fantasy Zone was a pretty big hit in the Japanese arcade scene, but it ultimately failed to make waves in the North American market. Truth be told my first exposure to the franchise was when the main character appeared as a mag in Phantasy Star Online. I’m a huge fan of shoot ‘em ups, and couldn’t resist picking this one up when I finally got my hands on a Master System several years later. This is one of the most unique shooters I’ve ever played; and I’m not just talking about the graphics. Fantasy Zone is a true blue Sega classic that deserves more exposure on a worldwide scale.

The first odd turn Fantasy Zone takes is in its story. You play as a sentient egg shaped ship named Opa Opa whom is tasked with defeating an invading army on his home planet that is trying to steal all of their money to fund the construction of a huge fortress. It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, but that’s half of its charm. The gameplay is just as zany, but it comes together in a cohesive way that’s highly original. Fantasy Zone is a horizontal scrolling shooter. You can move Opa Opa up, down, left and right. By default he comes equipped with a twin laser that fires straight forward, and a bomb that angles downwards. What makes this title so different from the other releases of this era is the fact that scrolling is not forced. You can move Opa Opa throughout each stage freely both left and right. As a fan of the genre I initially found this a little jarring because the mechanic is very unconventional, but everything comes together nicely.

Your goal is not simply to reach one end of a level. If you try this then you’ll be flying endlessly because each stage loops infinitely. Instead you’re tasked with destroying all of the monster bases. Each area features a handful of these, and though they’re stationary you must deal with oncoming enemies while you’re blasting away at it. Upon destroying all of them you’re challenged by a boss character and can only move on to the next level upon defeating them by whittling away their energy with your main shot and secondary bombs. One issue I have is that the difficulty is a little unbalanced. I had no trouble in the primary stages and found destroying the bases an easy task. Unfortunately the boss encounters have proven to be the bane of my existence. They’re not unfair by any means, but I found myself frequently frustrated with the small windows of opportunity for dodging their attacks (especially later on). To make matters worse you’re challenged to defeat all of the boss characters once again at the end of the game. I never felt the urge to give up though because the gameplay is extremely fun and very addicting.

The odds are evened out significantly with the ability to purchase more powerful weapons. Shop capsules drop from the sky, and entering them allows you to spend the coins dropped by both enemies and their bases upon being destroyed. Additional weapons increase your attack power and range. They’re extremely useful, and generally pretty cheap. Bombs are where your real power lies. They start off inexpensive but the price increases with each one that you buy. Unfortunately when you die you lose all of the upgrades you’ve purchased. This isn’t a big deal most of the time, but when you’re stockpiling bombs it can mean thousands of your precious coins down the drain. It makes gameplay all the more frantic when you’ve so much to lose, and Opa Opa can only take one hit before you lose a life. The shop system adds a lot of depth to gameplay, and it’s definitely one of the distinguishing features in this package.

Fantasy Zone is a very pretty game. The colorful graphics are a refreshing change from the stark shades of grey, black, and grey that you’re usually subject to with this genre. In addition the art style is entirely whimsical and charming. The enemy designs are very weird, but in the best way possible. The backgrounds too tend to be exceptionally surreal and unusual, and I found that my favorite part of reaching each new level was simply in seeing which themes and color palettes the developers went with. The engine was very well designed with minimal slowdown and a noticeable absence of flicker. It almost looks like something from the generation that followed it, but this release is still a far cry from the original arcade version. Still, for a Master System game Fantasy Zone looks exceptional. The soundtrack isn’t quite as memorable, but the music is all competently composed and this edition features some surprisingly well done renditions of the arcade version. This is a definite step above what you would see on the Nintendo.