Phantasy Star
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| Phantasy Star | |
|---|---|
 Japanese boxart |
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| Developer(s) | RD4 |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Designer(s) | Rieko Kodama (Executive Design; as Phoenix Rie) Yuji Naka (Lead programmer, as Muuu Yuji) |
| Platform(s) | Sega Master System Sega Mega Drive (Japan Only) Sega Saturn (Japan Only) Game Boy Advance PlayStation 2 (Japan Only) |
| Release date |  December 20, 1987 1988 1988 1991 |
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
| Media | 4 megabit Cartridge |
Phantasy Star (ファンタシースター Fantashī Sutā?) is the first part of Sega's famous console role-playing game series of the same name. Initially released for the Sega Master System in Japan on December 20, 1987, with localized ports following in the United States in 1988 (the first RPG released in the United States) and Brazil in 1991. In Japan only, 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, Game Boy Advance, and, most recently, the PlayStation 2 under the name of The Phantasy Star Collection. Each compilation is different from the other. The game featured maze-like 3D-like dungeons, which the characters could traverse in real-time from a first-person perspective and is noted for helping the start of female characters to play bigger parts in games with Alis being the main protagonist.
Electronic Gaming Monthly placed Phantasy Star at number 26 in their article "The Greatest 200 Videogames of Their Time," which puts it as the #2 RPG on the list, behind Phantasy Star Online at #21.
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[edit] Story
The story is about Alis, a girl who sees Nero, her brother, killed and sets out to avenge him. The action begins in a futuristic city complex in a three-planet solar system called Algol. The three planets are named Palma, Motavia, and Dezoris. You start the game on the planet Palma which is a lush planet. Motavia is a desert planet and Dezoris is an ice planet inhabited by a race of green aliens. After travelling some underground mazes, the characters get to travel to the other planets in their adventure using the spaceport on Palma or your own spaceship that is built for you by Dr. Luveno. There is the option to talk with monsters the characters encounter — sometimes they are friendly, and just leave.
[edit] Technical notes
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. The game used four megabits (512KB) of ROM, which was sixteen times as much as many early (32KB) 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 American hardware lacked this chip, the North American release features only the PSG soundtrack.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Alis Landale
The player starts out as Alis Landale (or Alisa Landeel in Japan), a 15-year-old girl who witnesses the death of her brother Nero at the hands of King Lassic's vicious Robotcops. 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, first setting out to find Odin. Alis uses swords as her weapon of choice, can equip light armor and shields, and uses some weak offensive and curative magic.
[edit] Myau
Alis's first companion is Myau, 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's 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 a strange reaction to the Laerma nuts found on Dezoris which makes them quite valuable in this adventure.
[edit] Odin
Odin (or Tyrone in Japan) is the stereotypical muscle-man of the group. He can wield many weapons that Alis cannot, but is unable to use any magic. He left on a quest to kill the Medusa but was turned to stone and now resides in one of the underground mazes. Once he is saved by Alis and Myau, he joins the party. 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. However, Odin is stat-wise the weakest character in the game. Nonetheless, his ability to use guns ensures that the party always damages their foes.
[edit] Lutz (Noah)
Lutz (or Lutsu; renamed "Noah" in the original English translation, but corrected to "Lutz" for the later installments) is the final character to join the party. A powerful Esper, he is the apprentice of Tajim, and has the ability to use a great variety of spells — however, his arrogance causes him to ignore Alis's request to join the group, and it is only after the Governor of Motavia gives you a letter to present to Noah that he will join you. From a physical and combat point of view, Noah seems to be the exact opposite of Odin: a frail magic-user, who is poor at physical combat. But he turns out to be the best character statwise in the game, including his physical abilities.
[edit] Major enemies
[edit] Reipard La Shiec (King Lassic)
King La Shiec (King Lassic in the original English adaptation) is the villain of the game. Once a benevolent ruler of Algol, Lassic has become twisted by a demonic force that he now serves. Under his rule, taxes have risen and monsters roam freely on the planets. Life has become miserable for the citizens of Algol, but Lassic's ruthless Robotcops kill anyone who opposes him.
[edit] Dark Force (Dark Falz)
Dark Force in the Japanese version; sometimes romanized as "Dark Falz" [1]) is the demon found to be the source of Lassic's corruption. He was summoned by Lassic (La Shiec), and has possessed both the corrupted Lassic and the good-natured Governor of Motavia, who had aided Alis in her quest. He is the final boss in the game.
[edit] 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 cancelled. It was the first game to be released under the Sega Ages line-up.
[edit] Fan retranslation
Phantasy Star's English translation was always poorly regarded by the majority of series purists, since many plot details and character names were changed. More recently, several hacks were done by fans attempting to rectify those issues. The most complete one is a full retranslation released in 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. [2]
[edit] External links
- Phantasy Star on MobyGames.
- Phantasy Star Pages
- Phantasy Star Website
- Phantasy Star Cave — Game information, large Phantasy Star fan base.
- Phantasy Star Curiosities — Curiosities about the games.
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