Cute but tough arcade classic shoot ’em up with two-way scrolling levels.

Story

The evil Menos are planning to take over the once peaceful solar system called Fantasy Zone. The valiant fighter OPA-OPA is prepared to restore Fantasy Zone and to recover the money that the Menos have used to build their numbers. The Menos have already spread out across all eight planets of Fantasy Zone so the mission is quite overwhelming for one lone fighter ship.

The Game

Fantasy Zone is a bright and colorful side-scrolling shoot ‘em up (or cute ‘em up, rather). It was originally released in the arcades back in 1985 and the Sega Master System version mimics the arcade original very closely.
In the game you play as the sentient fighter ship named OPA-OPA and each stage represents a planet in the Fantasy Zone solar system. You can fly either left or right, walk on the surface or fly in the air freely. Flying in the same direction will take you around the stage in a never-ending loop, so you have large spaces to move on. Your goal is to destroy all the flying enemy bases of each stage. Once all the bases are destroyed, you get to fight the stage boss and if you manage to defeat it you may proceed to the next planet.

Controls

Flying around in Fantasy Zone is a boggling experience – you will notice that enemies flying on the screen is more closely related to the camera than anything else. This creates a strange effect when you instinctively try to fly away from an enemy in order to get away from it only to see that it gains speed on you as the camera speeds up to adjust the view. In fact, the whole camera adjusts itself to your movement and speed with a little delay, which causes a flowy sensation with the controls in relation to the camera. It doesn’t make much sense and it does require some time to get used to. It also gives the game a quirk that isn’t easily forgotten.
Luckily there are no obstacles to avoid in the stages other than the numerous Menos and their bullets, so you are given enough space to fight and maneuver in. Occasionally the enemy bases can conceal themselves in the background and fool an untrained eye.

By default your fighter ship is equipped with a twin shot cannon and standard bombs. Button 1 is used for firing the main weapon and Button 2 is used for dropping bombs. The game requires rapid button tapping to keep the fire rate up – merely holding the fire button pressed results in a slow auto fire that really isn’t good for anything. This is a game where rapid fire is required, so mashing that fire button will eventually become tiresome.

Content

This is a tough game despite its cute visuals and there is no way to adjust the difficulty level. You are only given three lives to beat the entire game. Extra lives can be bought by spending money collected from defeated enemies, but for each one you buy they get more expensive and already the second one is so expensive you’ll typically not afford it.

Fantasy Zone features eight different stages and their bosses. The eight planets are; Planet of Greenery, Planet of Fire, Planet of Sand, Super Planet, Planet of Ice, Planet of Clouds, Planet of Water and Planet of Evil Spirits. Each of the eight planets hosts unique enemies in various shapes and forms, and the further you get in the game the harder they will try to kill you. The Menos army consists of flying blobs, star-shaped space ships, evil birds, robotic butterflies and shape-shifting intergalactic super weapons to name a few of the crazy enemies you’ll encounter.

The enemy bases are constantly deploying new enemies so destroying them can be quite an ordeal. Furthermore, enemies are randomly spawning practically all the time from the edges of the screen. It is, however, possible to learn the attack patterns of each of the enemy types and thus be in a much better position to counter them to some extent, but you’ll have to stay alert at all times.

During the game you can collect coins that drop from killed enemies. These coins are used to buy new weapons and upgrades. Every now and then, at random, the Shop Balloon appears and if you enter it you may browse and purchase items from it. Apart from the weapons you begin with there are four speed upgrades, three weapon variants and four different bomb types to be bought along with the expensive extra lives.
Before leaving the shop you’re prompted to choose which weapons you want to equip. Bomb type weapons are limited by how many times you can use them and shot type weapons are time limited.
This time limit is 15 seconds, which is so short it’s almost silly and if you happen to die you lose all the weapons you had on the ship.

The best strategy would be to use your best weapons when you need them the most. But this becomes a problem since you have to rely on that a special Equipment Balloon appears, again seemingly at random, and enter it in order to rearrange your armament.
Especially during bosses, it would have been nice to be able to pull out the big guns, but by the time the boss spawns from when you leave the Shop or Equipment Balloon, the time limit of the weapon would, at best, last for only a few seconds into the boss fight. Trying to manage weapons under these conditions is troublesome but can be worth it, especially in the later levels where you really need all the help you can get.

Fantasy Zone features a two player mode in which two players take turns playing one life each.
The game also shows your top score on top of the screen, but there is no high score table, which is a strange omission considering its arcade roots.
The replay value is decent, but since the game is so hard and offers no continues, you probably do not want to replay it from the start too many times in a row – your arm will be too tired from all the button mashing! This one is best played in short bursts every now and then. If you’re serious about beating it you’ll need to spend lots of time memorizing enemy attack patterns and boss strategies.

Graphics

Thanks to the colorful pastel graphics, the game has an appealing style and looks really good. Overall the graphic style is somewhat abstract and even surreal sometimes, making the whole experience feel like a trip. As such the game does spark the imagination and it’s obvious that the developers have had their creative hats on.
The game runs smoothly for the most part and when enemies and bullets swarm the screen you’ll see some sprite flickering and minor frame stuttering, but it doesn’t interfere with the gameplay in our experience.

Sound

The music in the game is very cute and mimics the iconic arcade original in all its squeaky 8-bit glory. It fits right in with the art style, but it isn’t nearly as lush as the visuals. Different music play on different stages, so there is some variation there too.
The sound effects are kind of basic, but they never get in the way of the music and they’re also pretty varied.

Summary

Fantasy Zone is a one-of-a-kind shooting game. It requires lots of practice and it joyfully portrays a mystical universe where just about anything can happen. It is a fun game that demands endurance and focus, but the constraints regarding the weapons are harsh and just feels excessive.
Either way, this is a true retro classic in video game history and it fits right at home in any game collection.

Developed By: Sega
Published By: Sega
Version Reviewed: Master System
Genre: Shoot ’em Up, Cute ’em Up
Players: 1-2 (Hotseat)
Released: 1986