- Phantasy Star (video game)
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This article is about the first Phantasy Star game. For the overall series, see Phantasy Star.
Phantasy Star 
Western box artDeveloper(s) Sega RD4 Publisher(s) Sega Designer(s) Rieko Kodama (Executive Design; as Phoenix Rie)
Yuji Naka (Lead programmer, as Muuu Yuji)Composer(s) Tokuhiko Uwabo Platform(s) Sega Master System
Mega Drive (Japan only)
Sega Saturn (Japan only)
Game Boy Advance
PlayStation 2 (Japan only)
Virtual ConsoleRelease date(s) Master System
Virtual Console
Genre(s) Role-playing Mode(s) Single-player Rating(s) Media/distribution 4 megabit Cartridge Phantasy Star (ファンタシースター Fantashī Sutā) is the first installment in Sega's renowned series of the same name. It was released for the Sega Master System in Japan on December 20, 1987, and then in North America and Europe in 1988. It is considered one of the pioneers amongst console role-playing games, both for its advanced graphics technology, and for being one of the first story-driven games released in the west. It is also notable for being one of the first games featuring a female protagonist.
The game was ported a decade later as part of the Phantasy Star Collection, which was released for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation 2 in Japan and for the Game Boy Advance in North America, where critics deemed it as a historically relevant step for its genre. It was also released for Virtual Console on the Wii in 2009.
Phantasy Star introduced the Algol solar system, where many of the events in the series would take place. Alis Landale, a young woman, swears revenge on the cruel King Lassic for killing her brother. The game follows her quest to defeat the king, meeting new companions along the way. Although her quest begins only as a means of enacting revenge, Alis realizes that she must save the entire Algol system from an evil being.
Contents
Gameplay
Alis battles two "Owl Bear" enemies near the start of the game, although only one is rendered onscreen. Phantasy Star uses a first-person viewpoint for battles and dungeon exploration.
Phantasy Star was one of the pioneers of the traditional console RPG format, featuring fully traversable overworld maps, complete with interactive towns, and sprawling dungeons. The player engages in random enemy encounters, both on the overworld map and in dungeons, which saw a change from the top-down perspective to a first-person view. Unique amongst all games of the time was the faux 3-D graphics of Phantasy Star's Dungeons, a widely praised technological feature. Also notable were the animations of the enemy sprites, which featured considerably more frames than were common at the time. Battles featured the now standard turn-based format, with each player using a combination of weapons and magic to destroy enemies. As the game progresses, the weapons and magic get increasingly more impressive. The option to talk, which would be scrapped in later games in the series, was sometimes a useful alternative, but only for the few enemies that were able to communicate with Alis.
Story
Phantasy Star is set in Algol, a solar system consisting of three planets. There is the lush and green Palma, the arid and barren Motavia, and finally, the icy and desolate Dezoris. As the story begins, Algol is ruled by King Lassic, who while originally benevolent, becomes a cruel dictator after converting to a new religion. After a string of harsh political changes, small pockets of rebellion emerge, but are mostly ineffective against Lassic's iron rule. When Nero, the leader of one such rebellion, is killed by Lassic's robot-cops, his sister Alis swears revenge. As she travels and witnesses the many victims of Lassic's oppression, Alis' objective becomes less about revenge and more about liberation for the people of Algol. Joined by Myau, a talking cat, Odin, once a member of Nero's rebellion, and the Esper magician Noah (Lutz in the Japanese version and further English games), Alis embarks on an adventure spanning all three planets. She encounters many personalities, from the well-meaning Governor of Motavia to the eccentric Dr. Luveno, and faces off against an evil Medusa that can turn one to stone at one look and who seems to work for Lassic. Also, other countless enemies on the way to find the weapons and other items are needed to eventually engage King Lassic and determine the fate of Algol.
Characters
Protagonists
Alis Landale (アリサ, Alisa in the Japanese version) is a 15-year-old girl who witnesses the death of her brother, Nero, at the hands of King Lassic's vicious robot-cops. With his dying breath, Nero tells Alis about a man named Odin, who could help her in her quest. Alis takes on her brother's mission to defeat Lassic (La Shiec) and avenge him. Alis uses swords as her weapon of choice, can equip light armor and shields, and also uses offensive and curative magic.
Myau (ミャウ) is an intelligent, talking, cat-like creature called a Musk Cat. Alis meets him in a pet store on Motavia, where the owner is trying to sell the Musk Cat for an exorbitant amount of money, but instead trades him in exchange for a valuable Laconian pot from Alis. Myau is on a mission to save his friend Odin, who has been turned to stone by the creature Medusa. He has the medicine to cure Odin, but cannot open the bottle, for he has no fingers, and so requests Alis' help to save him. Myau uses claws as weapons, can use stronger curative magic than Alis, and can disarm traps in dungeons. Musk Cats also have an interesting "reaction" to the Laerma nuts found on Dezoris, a fact which makes Myau even more valuable.
Odin (タイロン, Tyrone in the Japanese version) is the common warrior archetype of the game, able to wield many weapons that Alis cannot, but in exchange is unable to use any magic. Alis finds him in an underground maze, turned to stone after attempting to destroy Medusa. After being restored to normal, he willingly follows Alis in her bid to dethrone King Lassic. In addition to heavy armor, shields, axes, and swords, Odin can use guns, which inflict a set amount of damage, attack entire groups, and never miss, regardless of the enemy's speed or defensive power. They make him consistently useful in spite of the fact that he has the weakest overall stats of any character in the game.
Noah (ルツ, Lutz in the Japanese version) is the final character to join the party. A member of the powerful Espers, humans endowed with incredible magic proficiency, Noah wields a great variety of spells. In their first encounter, his arrogance causes him to refuse Alis' request to join the group. Only after a request by the Governor of Motavia does he finally decide to help. Initially the diametric opposite of Odin, a frail magic-user who is poor at hand-to-hand combat, Noah eventually becomes one of the strongest overall characters due to his powerful magical abilities.
Antagonists
Medusa is an evil sorceress and one of King Lassic's monsters that help him in taking control over Algol. She is one of the first bosses that Alis encounters after freeing Odin from a prison of stone within a cave on Palma. Her tower is huge and confusing and contains many enemies willing to stop anyone from finding her.
King Lassic (King Reipard La Shiec in the Japanese version) is the primary villain of the game. Once a benevolent ruler of Algol, Lassic has become twisted by a sinister new faith that has begun to spread throughout Algol. Under his rule, taxes have risen and monsters roam freely on the planets. Life has become miserable for the citizens of Algol, and Lassic's robotcops ruthlessly kill anyone who opposes him.
Dark Force (Dark Phallus in the Japanese version and sometimes romanized as "Dark Falz"[2]) is an evil ancient being and recurring enemy throughout the series. It is the force behind the new religion and crushing political reforms, and through Lassic it extends its influence throughout the Algol solar system.
Development and release details
Yuji Naka programmed Phantasy Star, and Rieko Kodama served as lead designer.[3]
Release history
Phantasy Star was first released for the Sega Master System in Japan on December 20, 1987, with localized ports following in the United States in 1988 and Brazil in 1991. In Japan, it was re-released for the Sega Mega Drive in a limited-edition cartridge. Later, it was released in three compilations for the Sega Saturn and Game Boy Advance, and, most recently, the PlayStation 2 under the name of The Phantasy Star Collection. Phantasy Star also appears as an unlockable game in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was also made available for the Wii via download from the Wii shop. Curiously, a woman who looks exactly like Alis on the Master System versions cover art also appears on the cover art of the Sega Genesis Collection, complete with shield and flaming sword. However, Phantasy Star 1 was not included in this collection.
Pricing
In the United States, Phantasy Star sold for the then-high price of $69.99, with some retail outlets such as Toys R Us selling for as much as $80.00. This made it the most expensive video game ever sold at the time. When the Sega Master System received a price drop in the form of the Master System II hardware, the game was only $10 less than the console itself.
Remake
In 2003, Phantasy Star received an enhanced makeover, and was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan under the title of ファンタシースター generation:1 (Phantasy Star Generation 1). The remake remains largely faithful to the original game, with it still being rendered in 2-D, but with a smooth, colorful quality. Also, the characters now talk to each other, bringing out their personality and flavor to the player. The second and fourth installments in the series were to receive the same treatment, and were to be released to the North American market as a single collection. After Sega shelved work on the Phantasy Star IV remake, however, the North American release of the trilogy was canceled. It was the first game to be released under the Sega Ages line-up.
Fan translation
Phantasy Star's English translation was subject to criticism due to the changing of certain plot details and character names. In response, several hacks were done by fans attempting to rectify those issues. The most complete one is a full translation released on December 20, 2006 by group SMS Power!. The group purports their version to be faithful to the original Japanese, including the FM-synthesized music. An IPS patch, to be applied on the Japanese ROM, is available.[4]
Technical details
The game used four megabits (512 kilobytes) of ROM, which was several times as much as most early Master System games. In addition, five games could be saved with a battery-backed RAM chip. The game was relatively large at the time it was released.
It is also worth noting that the Japanese release took advantage of the FM sound capabilities provided by the Yamaha YM2413 chip available in an add-on module for Sega Mark III, and in the Japanese Sega Master System. However, as the North American and PAL hardware lacked this chip, the releases outside of Japan feature only the PSG soundtrack. The Japanese Virtual Console release however, gives the player the option to switch between the two soundtracks, even for those living outside of Japan. (The North American/European Virtual Console release is the same as the original release in their region and so does not contain the FM sound).
Reception and legacy
Phantasy Star is widely regarded as one of the benchmark role-playing video games, and has been well-received by players since the time of its release and into the present. Electronic Gaming Monthly placed it at number 26 in their article "The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time,"[5] which puts it as the #2 RPG on the list, ahead of Phantasy Star Online at #21.
Nintendo Power's staff has praised the game, saying that Phantasy Star "was the first RPG to break out of the Dragon Quest/ Dungeons & Dragons mold of generic Arthurian fantasy by introducing sci-fi elements. Among its many other accomplishments were the inclusion of characters with actual personalities, the introduction of event scenes, and the presentation of pseudo-3-D dungeons that were a technical marvel at the time."[3]
On a lesser note, most game critics and fans alike also are keen to note that Alis is one of the first female heroine's for the genre, alongside Samus Aran of Metroid and Chun Li or Street Fighter who didn't journey for love or treasure but for personal vengeance. She widely seen now as a great example of a well crafted lead female.
References
- ^ "Pirates, Puzzles, Rattlers and Role-Playing". Nintendo of America. 2009-08-31. http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/jw6qAPPxrcP8t2FwKYU9l2gWpq2sVJ3P. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ Translation Notes
- ^ a b "A New Frontier". Nintendo Power (238): p. 42. February 2009.
- ^ Phantasy Star Fan Translation at SMSpower
- ^ "The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time". http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3147448. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
External links
- Phantasy Star on Phantasy Star Cave.
Phantasy Star series Main Spin-offs Online Phantasy Star Online · Episode I & II · Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution · Episode IV (Blue Burst) · Phantasy Star 0 · Phantasy Star Online 2Universe Phantasy Star Universe · Phantasy Star Universe: Ambition of the Illuminus · Phantasy Star Portable · Phantasy Star Portable 2 · InfinitySega AGES Characters Categories:- 1987 video games
- Phantasy Star games
- Role-playing video games
- Sega games
- Sega Master System games
- Sega Mega Drive games
- Virtual Console games
- Yuji Naka games
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