Unreleased Games #1

Space Fantasy Zone (1991)
By: NEC Avenue / Sega Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium
Featured Version: NEC PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 CD First Day Score: 35,800
Also Available For: Nothing

I probably won't be doing many of these because, to be honest, most unreleased games went unreleased for a reason, but this is one I have been very keen to try out for many years of men, and there are two reasons for this: Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone. The former was a genuine gaming landmark, both technically and with regards to its unique into-the-screen gameplay, while the latter series was and still is beloved by Sega fans the world over for its cute, colourful graphics and addictive side-scrolling action. Both games feature hyper amounts of shooting and both take place within the same game 'universe' so combining the two seems like a no-brainer, and that's exactly what we have here. It was surprisingly not Sega who were responsible though, with NEC Avenue handling things, and the promising hybrid was heralded for release exclusively on the PC Engine's fancy CD-ROM unit. But then, to the sorrow of all, it was cancelled.

Someone's giving you the eye on Plaleaf...

As far as I'm aware, the reason for this isn't known for certain, but it's likely the plug was pulled due to either licensing or quality issues. Whatever was the cause though, I was saddened beyond compare. After all, how could a combination of Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone not rule all? Happily, a prototype of the game was leaked by some skillish fellow many years after its cancellation, so most interested parties already know if it rules all or not. Typically, I haven't had the chance to find out myself until recently, but now that my chance is upon me, I've found that the game is.. pretty much exactly how I thought it would be. There are eight proper stages - the same number as Fantasy Zone in fact - plus a final boss stage, and they are based the stages found in that colourful game too. The action, however, is presented from Space Harrier's scaley 3D perspective. The big question is, does it indeed rule all as it should?

Look who's back! One of the more distinctive FZ bosses...

The stages are (I think) based on Plaleaf, Tabas, La Dune, Dolimicca, Polaria, Mockstar, Pocarius, and Salfar, which automatically makes them awesome, while the enemies found throughout them are taken from both games, though mainly FZ as far as I can tell (both bases and the small, formation enemies). You play through the game as Opa-Opa who interestingly has an energy meter rather than multiple lives, despite this not being a feature of Fantasy Zone or Space Harrier, but the usual FZ shop (now renamed Weaponald's) also makes an appearance. From here, many fine wares such as weapons, speed-ups, energy, etc, can be purchased (you can even grope the chirpy young shop assistant's boobs, apparently, should you desire to), although your currency is your score which is a little irritating. I guess it also introduces an interesting dynamic though. Do you save your points, or do you need to spend money to make money?

Make her smile, don't touch her boobs :(

I guess it's a bit of a 'moo' point since the game was never released but it does appear to be finished, or very close to it anyway - the controls are okay, the collision-detection is passable, all the presentation screens seem to have been done, and there is even an ending sequence - so it's strange it never ended up on any store shelves. There really isn't much wrong with it either. The scaling is a little ropey (a limitation of the PCE-CD's hardware, supposedly) but apart from that the graphics are nice, with bright colours used for the familiar backgrounds for the most part, and appealing sprites including many old favourites. The audio is even better, featuring arranged versions of music from both source games (and even some remixes that combine the two!) and plenty of jingles and effects that will raise a smile too. I really can't see how the many fans of Fantasy Zone wouldn't love this game, at least on the surface.

La Dune always reminded me of Swiss cheese...

Despite the warm, familiar visuals and happy music, however, it is of course Space Harrier that provides the basis for the actual gameplay, and that is well represented too. The pace is rather slower than the progenitor, and there's a greater emphasis on avoiding the columns that litter the landscape than shooting all the enemies (although you do get bonuses for shooting whole formations), but it still plays a lot like Sega's classic and there's a bit more to it thanks to the extra weapons and upgrades too. I don't think there have been many hybrid games like this over the years but these two seem to go together pretty well if you ask me. Both the original, individual games are probably better, admittedly - they are genuine classics after all - but I really can't see any obvious reason for this game's cancellation, at least on quality grounds. It's not staggering but it's good fun and fans of either franchise would do well to give it a try.

RKS Score: 7/10