In 1988 Sega was in a bind. Nintendo had constantly beaten them to the
punch at everything - they liscensed all of the hottest games, sold more
systems, gathered all of the good liscensees (leaving Sega with the meager
leftovers. . . Parker Bros?) and therefore was the reigning king of the
video game hill. Sega had to share what little of the market that was left
with the ailing Atari Corp. Sega did have some good games then, but nothing
to even be compared with the megahits that Nintendo offered. Someone at
Sega got wise, though, and decided to port over what was to be the first in
a genre normally reserved for PC gamers - an RPG. The RPG they released
gathered great reviews and boosted interest in the Sega Master System
(although still not enough to really loosen Nintendo's grip. . . that's why
you don't see a lot of SMS websites). Sega had finally beaten Nintendo to
the punch at something (and would do it again a year later with the release
of the Sega Genesis, the first true 16-bit console). The game? Phantasy
Star.
Phantasy Star was one incredible game for its time. The amount of things
that you could do and see in PS were immense compared to Nintendo's first
RPG offering (Dragon Warrior, released in 1989). The story revolved around
a young girl named Alis. At the beginning of the game (in a great looking
opening) you find out that Alis' brother, Nero, has been badly injured by
soldiers for investigating the affairs of Lassic. Nero tells Alis with his
dying breath that he tried to discover Lassic's plans, but he couldn't do
much by himself. He then says that she must seek out someone named Odin.
With that, Nero dies, and Alis swears to avenge his death. . .
As the game progresses, Alis hooks up with other characters. There's Myau,
an intelligent cat-like creature that has a strange vial hanging from his
neck. This turns out to be Alsulin, which can turn people who have been
turned into stone back into humans. Then there's the aforementioned Odin,
who (surprise, surprise) has been turned to stone (guess who gets an
Alsulin bath?). Odin is a strong warrior, the only member of the party that
can use rifles. Finally there's the enigmatic Noah, who's the magic user of
the group (she's also the weakest, strength wise - what is this, some kind
of RPG stereotype? You never see magic users lifting anything heavier than
a staff, and the strong guys can't use magic).
The graphics, while bleh in some areas (particularly the overhead scenes) are
FANTASTIC in others. The battle scenes are really good looking - you fight
from your party's viewpoint, and the backgrounds match the different areas
that you're in. The monsters are nicely drawn and well animated. The best
looking effect has to be the dungeon scenes - they're unheard of on an
8-bit system. They're in first person 3-D, and the scrolling is seamless (unlike a lot
of other games that have this kind of dungeon setup, where static
screens are used). The cinema displays
scattered throughout the game look as good as the opening does, which is
fantastic - the amount of detail in the pictures is unrivaled by any other
8-bit game. The music is good, but annoying in spots - the town music can
get monotonous, and the battle music grates after you've heard it for a
while. I blame most of this on the SMS' lame sound chip. The control is
pretty tight, without the jerkiness that some RPGs have. There is an lot to
do in PS, but it never gets overly confusing - but you can get lost in the
dungeons very easily. Make sure you make a map!
One of the coolest things about PS was the mix of fantasy and sci-fi. You
use magic and lasers, you fight robots and dragons, and you drive vehicles
- the Hovercraft, the Landrover and the Ice Digger are the ones that you
actually control. There is a fourth, a spaceship named the Luveno, that is
piloted by a little robot named Hapsby. He takes you to different planets
in the Algol star system. Believe it or not, you're not confined to just
one planet in PS - you get three! You travel between Palma, where you
start, Motavia (the desert planet) and Dezoris (the ice planet). Using the
Luveno is the only way to reach Dezoris (in the beginning of the game, you
are forced to use public transportation - commercial spaceflights to
Motavia only). The mix of fantasy and sci-fi really work in PS - hey, what
other game can you play that has lasers and spells working together?
Of course, there's a downside - being an RPG from the late '80s means
fighting a ridiculous amount of battles to gain experience and money
(called meseta). You're attacked at every step of the way (in infamous RPG
pop-up fights - take two steps and an enemy pops up). Another drawback in
PS is that one enemy attacks you at a time - there's never a mixed group on
screen. However, just because you see one enemy doesn't mean that's all
that there is - look at the enemy stat box (in the upper right hand corner
of the screen). Up to eight enemies can attack you at once!
There are some amusing parts in PS - the drooling Zombies that attack you
are a kick. There's also the woman Miki that you encounter - her question
is "Do you like Sega games?". Answer yes, and she says "Of course! Sega
games are best!". Answer no, and she's almost shocked: "If you don't like
the game, why have you played it this far?"
Phantasy Star is considered by most to be the best Sega Master System game
ever (in fact, it was the only SMS game to make EGM's Top 100 game list).
I'd have to agree with that - and I'm not really crazy about RPGs! There
were three other Phantasy Star games released on the Genesis (2, 3, and 4)
but none of them ever quite matched the original. If you like RPGs and have
access to an SMS then by all means, play this game! Just be prepared for
Dark Falz. . .
