Phantasy Star Collection

"For fans of the original games only!"

My brother's birthday had recently passed and he had some money to spend. One day he returned from the store with a copy of Phantasy Star Collection, and popped it in.

Unfortunately, I too played the game. I had never played the games while they were on the Genesis, and chances are I wouldn't have liked them either.

Gameplay:
The Gameplay is like a very basic RPG. You battle monsters, which is not fun at all. In fact, it's more of a chore. Even then, you're probably going to have to enter a battle six million times against the same enemy because you died the last time!

The EXP. you gain is so insignificant you'll probably drown in a pool of tears due to the frustration of not being able to properly train your characters because a giant over-sized bee knocked you out for the tenth time.

Story:
Story is nothing too spectacular. While the games are split into three different time-lines or whatever, you will get sick of this game by the time you finish one...if you can.

The most moving story in the series can be found in the second installment. Even though it is the most involving, it's not by much.

Graphics:
Well...the graphics aren't very gorgeous, they could've at least added some flair to this other-wise lack-luster port of a game. The little anime faces add a much-needed touch to the graphics, which is probably the only positive thing in this game.

The graphics have a sudden sporadic change in each sequel. The first one is brightly-colored, while the third one seems so...so...bad.

The graphics descend into a gaping hole of bad each sequel.

Sound:
You'll probably be hearing the battle-theme the whole game, since that will be the only thing blaring out the GBA's speakers.

Of course, whenever you do breathe a sigh of relief for the three seconds before a battle, you'll probably hear monotonous and boring music.

The third installment takes whatever bad it has in graphics, and shows that it can have good sound effects regardless.

The Final Verdict:
If you're a fan of this game, you may enjoy it since you can take it anywhere. but for the casual RPG fan, stay away at all costs. This game is not a worthy thing to invest your time in.

Even if you're a fan of this game, do not expect anything new. If you've played and beaten the games, there really is no need to buy this port. Nothing has changed, but if you like the fact you can bring it wherever, then buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 05/03/04