MegaDrive Shmups #11

Super Fantasy Zone (1992)
By: Sunsoft / Sega Genre: Shooting Players: 1 Difficulty: Medium-Hard
Featured Version: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis First Day Score: 73,200
Also Available For: Nothing Download For: Wii Virtual Console

The dazzling Fantasy Zone series is awesome, everyone knows that, even the people that don't know that, but for some reason its name immediately makes me think of the Master System despite this, the last proper game in the series, only appearing on the MegaDrive. That should, potentially at least, make it the best, surely? I guess we'll find out but it certainly has by far the best presentation which includes an opening sequence depicting the fate of Opa-Opa's father, amusingly named O-Papa. The action is set in 'the space year 623X' when a 'gravitating phenomenon' is discovered near the planet Menon, home of the evil creatures that caused havoc in the previous games. When a space patrol is sent to investigate, it is attacked by a 'Dark Menon Force' who repel all attempts to stop them, including a counterattack led by O-Papa. Startlingly, this means you must help Opa-Opa seek revenge and cleanse the Dark Menon filth.

Despite the extra flashiness offered by the MD's blast processing power, however, the format is wisely kept the same for this 'super'charged sequel, except there are a record nine stages this time. Only the first seven are 'proper' stages though; the eighth is a boss rush stage and the ninth is the showdown against the final boss. The first seven will be very familiar though. Once again, free-scrolling is employed, or push-scrolling as I prefer to call it, with stages looped horizontally. Along the way there are ten 'bases' or enemy-generators, all of which must be destroyed before the level boss turns up to smite you. The bases take multiple hits to put down - an increasing amount as the game progresses too - but the weedy enemies they create can only take a single hit, as can the many small enemies buzzing around the stages independent of the bases. Downed bases or groups of smaller enemies will also drop precious coins.

These can of course be spent in the shops which appear in the form of a floaty balloon once per stage. Their wares are many and varied and include main weapon power-ups (laser, seven-way, wide beam, etc) to temporary replace your default twin shot, bomb power-ups (twin bomb, quartet missiles) to replace your weedy single bombs for the rest of that life, and speed-ups (Big Wings, various engines). You can also now add secondary or special weapons which are also available from the shop (thunder volt, rear shot, various special bombs, etc), as well as other more specialised items (super lights, rubber boots). Despite a bigger choice of power-ups than ever, however, it remains a game that is far from complicated and plays pretty much exactly as the earlier games on the MS, PC Engine, and wherever else, only fine-tuned to perfection. The biggest differences are audio/visual, and even then not by much.

The notoriously garish colours used for the first two games have been toned down a bit now, with a more pastel-based palette used this time around. The stages are still bright and colourful though, and both backgrounds are sprites are even more varied and detailed than ever before. The weapon-effects have been beefed up a little too - the bright green 'laser' power-up looks devastating now! I was a little sad to see that that classic stages of Plaleaf, Tabas, La Dune, etc, have been replaced by all new examples such as Picknica, Kazarne, Niagaro, etc, but I suppose FZII and FZG had their own stages too. They each have several unique enemies again though (most of which still have pleasingly weird names), and the bosses look great now, especially the way they shatter and fall apart when you've defeated them! This is certainly the best looking game in the series from a technical point of view, and the same goes for the audio.

Like that graphical style, Fantasy Zone's music has always been a bit polarising, but I've always loved it and the choons here are among the best yet. Each stage has its own, of course, and there is an excellent, scary boss theme too. Aside from the aesthetic touches and special weapons, however, SFZ plays just like the other games in the series (not counting Maze, obviously). You will need quick reactions (especially if you use one of the 'engines' from the shop) and it's still pretty damn tough from about the fourth stage onwards, but it's also a treat for your eyes and ears, great fun to play, and addictive too. I hesitate to say that it's the best looking or most appealing game in the series as each of them has been so bright, colourful and full of character, but it's certainly the best from a technical point of view and is still as wonderful to behold today as the day it was released. It's just a shame it was the end of the series too.

RKS Score: 9/10

Gameplay Video: here's a video of the whole game being played by one of the talented fellows at World of Longplays (check out their great channel here). Oh, and don't watch if you want to avoid spoilers!