Super Fantasy Zone

"The final installment of an awesome series"

Fantasy Zone was a series that received some infamy on Sega's first console, the Sega Master System. The series, not including this game, consisted of two major games, plus a third Pac-Man clone that is mostly considered to be outside the game's storyline. Its star character, a spaceship-creature named Opa-Opa, was one of Sega's attempts at a mascot in the pre-Sonic days. For whatever reason, Sega opted not to continue supporting the series, and this game was Opa-Opa's last official outing in his own game, which was quite a blow to Fantasy Zone enthusiasts like me. Just to add insult to injury, this game was never released in North America and only made it to Japan and Europe. Fortunately, the Genesis/Mega-Drive is a region-free console, so any North American gamers who want to give the game a whirl need only pick up the game off of eBay and plug it into their North American Genesis. No foreign console required!

For those not familiar with the series, the game is a horizontal-scrolling “cute-em-up,” (a sub-genre of shoot-em-ups [or schmups] featuring bright colours and cute characters). It is quite similar to its two precursors from the Sega Master System and features all the staples veterans of the series have come to know and love: bright, cartoony graphics, happy-go-lucky, boppy music and a surprisingly high difficulty. It is more similar to the original Fantasy Zone than its sequel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Newcomers and veterans alike should find this game very entertaining.

Graphics: 8/10

The Fantasy Zone series has always been known for bright, colourful graphics and Super Fantasy Zone does not deviate from that time-honoured tradition. The sprites are big and well-made, and the backgrounds are gorgeously detailed. They're not the most impressive thing the Genesis ever put out, but are certainly nice to look at.

Sound: 9/10

Once again staying true to the series' roots, the music is energetic and whimsical. My only real complaint about it is the fact that it really doesn't make use of a wide variety of sounds like it potentially could have. That said, the music is still greatly entertaining and quite catchy. As an added bonus, the game's sound test section features the original Fantasy Zone soundtrack redone using the Genesis' more powerful sound system. Some of the songs are fairly close to the originals, while others have been totally redone. Definitely worth a listen for long-time fans of the series. The other bells and whistles present in the game are suitably cartoony and light-hearted.

Gameplay: 10/10

As I mentioned in the intro, the game is a horizontal-scrolling cute-‘em-up. One of the nice things about the Fantasy Zone series is that it has no forced movement, unlike other similar titles like Gradius. You can move back, forward, up or down at any rate you please. The levels loop continuously, so once you reach the finish, you will pass seamlessly back to the level's start. Your objective in the game is to destroy all the “bases” in a level, which are larger than normal enemies with large amounts of health that constantly spew out smaller enemies. While doing this, you will come under attack by a wide variety of creatures that fly at you from off screen, either trying to ram you, trying to shoot you, or doing both.

Opa-Opa has two main means of attack: Beams and Bombs. Beams are a basic, forward firing beam weapon. They do little damage, but can be fired quite quickly. Bombs, on the other hand, fall in a forward arc, do impressive damage, but fire much slower (only one bomb may be on the screen at a time). Both can be upgraded in the shop, though most beam upgrades only last for 15 seconds and most bomb upgrades have limited ammo.

The game is much closer to the original Fantasy Zone than its sequel in terms of gameplay mechanics. Fantasy Zone II's lifebar, static shops and multi-section levels are gone, replaced by Fantasy Zone 1's one-hit kills, random shop balloons and single area levels. Maybe it's just me being a jaded Fantasy Zone veteran, or maybe it's the fact that this game follows the monstrously hard Fantasy Zone II, but the game seems to be the easiest in the series. This really isn't saying much, considering the impressive difficulty of the series to date, and the game will still give even veteran schmup players a good run for the money.

This is all business as usual for Fantasy Zone veterans, so what's new? Well, first off, let's talk about the shops. Yes, the floating balloons return again. This time, however, they've got a huge arsenal inside, much more than any of the previous Fantasy Zone games. The downside is most of the armoury is useless, aside from a core few. However, that core few does include a few new weapons, so veterans can look forward to that.

Instead of all levels being fairly similar and just featuring different enemies, Super Fantasy Zone throws a few wrenches into the mix. One level, for example, is totally dark. You will need to buy a light-upgrade if you want to see more than a short distance around yourself. None of these new features are particularly exciting, and each one only requires a single power-up purchase to return the gameplay to normal, but it was an interesting attempt, at least.

One thing you sore-thumbed schmup veterans will really appreciate is the added feature of a built-in auto-fire. Since you're typically using your beam weapon A LOT (especially against bosses), Sega did the kind thing and FINALLY put in a feature where if you hold down the fire button, you will actually spit out shots at a reasonable rate. Of course, if you're a Fantasy Zone purist and for some reason enjoy mashing your thumb into a button until it is little more than a bloody stump, you can leave the auto-fire toggled off and play things classic-style.

The game's mechanics are spot-on. Despite a high difficulty rating, you will never feel “cheated” by the game. Too many games, I have found, introduce a high difficulty rating by doing things that are just plain unfair, like sitting an enemy right by a bottomless pit to knock you into it should you try to jump across or with damn near impossible jumps to make and no checkpoints. Or, in the case of schmups, spawning enemies right on top of your ship with little warning. Fantasy Zone is blessedly free of such blights and creates difficulty the old fashioned way: with challenging game design.

Overall: 8/10

My main complaint about Fantasy Zone is it's just too darn short. When you consider that the game is roughly the same length as its 8-bit counterparts, it really doesn't look too good for a 16-bit game. There's no real reason to come back and play the game again once you've finished it the first time. The game will keep you occupied for a few hours (or a few dozen hours if you're new to schmups), but its short length means more advanced schmup veterans will finish the game quickly and have no reason to come back to it. Still, the game makes up for its short duration with a very fun-filled performance and what time you do spend on the game will be enjoyable, to say the least. The game is very nice to look at and listen to and is definitely a good purchase for any Genesis/Mega Drive collection.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/20/07

Game Release: Super Fantasy Zone (EU, 1993)