"The beginning of the best RPG series"

The original Phantasy Star is the last Phantasy Star that I played out of the series. I haven't played Phantasy Star Online yet, but I don't consider it as highly as I do Phantasy Star through Phantasy Star IV. Anyhow, back to the review. Phantasy Star, although an 8-bit game for the Sega Master System, is a hell of a nice game. I have only played it on ROM before due to the fact that I can't find a Sega Master System, but this game was very entertaining and fun. Now, let's grade it.

Gameplay (10/10):
For such an old game, this has some fine gameplay. All commands worked as I expected them to work, and even as a ROM, there weren't any gameplay errors. Being a Phantasy Star game, and the first of the series, I expected the gameplay to be pretty good, and I was not disappointed at all.

Story (9.5/10):
The story of the Phantasy Star series is deep, and this game is the root of it all. Basically, you play the role of a 15-year old girl named Alis. The quest starts because the king of the Algol system has become very opressive. His name is King Lassic. One day, Alis's brother Nero was shot by the robotic guards that patrolled the towns. Nero then told Alis to get to Lassic and to find Odin. Nero died after that. That's how it all starts, and as you go along, many events unfold.

Graphics (9.8/10):
For being an 8-bit game, Phantasy Star has some truly awesome graphics. All enemies in the game have animated attacks, and speaking of enemies, there are a wide variety. There is some palette swapping, but it isn't overdone. If you think that's cool, wait until you enter a dungeon--dungeons are done in the first-person perspective! Spectacular for the Master System. The graphics may not be the most exciting thing to a gamer of this day and age, but if you've played the older systems, you will appreciate these graphics.

Sound (Exempt/10):
The reason I didn't give this topic a rating is because the sounds of the game are little more than beeps and blips and the such. Of course, I was using the ROM, and playing on the computer, but that's the output I got from it. I don't have much to say about the music. If you go to a website and download an MP3 of the game's music, though, you'll notice it's pretty nice.

Challenge (10+/10):
Phantasy Star's challenge level is immense. To start off, it's hard to gain levels at first, because you can only fight so many enemies before you need to heal up, and the only way to do that at the beginning of the game is to sleep or to eat a burger. That's the least of your worries though. As you gain levels, your enemies don't seem to get weaker--on the contrary, they start dealing more damage. If that isn't frustrating, how about the fact that you practically need an FAQ to get through the game?! I am intelligent myself, but I had to use a Walkthrough/FAQ to even find out what the heck to do first. That's difficulty right there.

Replay Value (7/10):
Like with all RPGs, 8-bit or 128-bit, the replay value depends on how much you liked the game. Personally, I would find some replay value in this game, but since it's not as variable as most games, not as much as most.

Buy or Rent?:
I doubt you can buy it anymore, much less rent it, so if you want to try it out, find a ROM and a good emulator.

Total Score: 36.3/40
Overall Rating: 9.1

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/15/01, Updated 12/15/01