Fantasy zone is weird. I mean that in a good way, of course. The game revolves around the strange spaceship Opa-Opa (with his brother Opa-Opa), who fights to save the fantasy area with a rather charming and extremely colorful evil plague. This is one of the first examples of shooting typical side-scrolling shooters and boosting them with a more humorous theme and pastel colors. Later games like Parodius and TwinBee have borrowed a lot of this model.
Fantasy zone is weird. I mean that in a good way, of course. The game revolves around the strange spaceship Opa-Opa (with his brother Opa-Opa), who fights to save the fantasy area with a rather charming and extremely colorful evil plague. This is one of the first examples of shooting typical side-scrolling shooters and boosting them with a more humorous theme and pastel colors. Later games like Parodius and TwinBee have borrowed a lot of this model.
Each level is dotted with enemy production bases that you must destroy to gain access to the level boss. The screen rolls back and forth so you can hunt and destroy the bases. In a sense, the game is reminiscent of Defender, where you have total control over the direction in which you scroll the screen. The game is simple, but complex. You roam the surface of the planet, defeating enemy ships, destroying bases and collecting money to buy upgrades. Once all bases are destroyed, the colorful boss challenges the fearless spaceship to dominate the sci-fi zone itself.
The graphics are beautifully rendered with a subtle cartoon quality for them, referring to the anime style similar to the cute games of the genre. Enemy ships have strange shapes like flying arms, big noses, green scissors and some of the strangest extraterrestrial creatures on this side of the Andromeda galaxy.
The sound effects are a bit boring, while the music retains the same cartoon quality as the graphics/animations. The music is catchy, with a characteristic Sega arcade style.
All modes offer smooth character movement and intuitive control of your ship’s two weapons (beam and bomb). The power supplies vary from wave transmitters to lasers. Bombs are useful for destroying bases from above, but you will probably use beams more often.
There are several modes included in the game. The classic mode offers you a complete arcade experience. You collect gold from defeated enemies and can use it to buy speed and weapons bonuses. After a certain amount of time the weapon runs out and has to be bought back. Developing a strategy for choosing the weapon in each phase is a good challenge, and it is fun to experiment with different combinations of weapons, speed accessories and levels.
The temporal attack mode is essentially the same, but you’re now trying to win as quickly as possible. The quick start control is the most important part of this mode and offers a unique experience in the main game.
The Upa-Upa mode is unique in that you can use any weapon at any time, as long as you have gold. Gold is obtained by destroying certain enemies, so this mode encourages you to blow up as many creatures as possible. Also the playback control is slightly different in this mode.
The Fantasy Zone can be tricky at times, especially when hordes of enemies are falling on you or when a boss starts a maelstrom of projectiles that you can’t effectively avoid. However, it never becomes overwhelming and maintains a certain level of pleasure at every stage. With alternative modes and addictive gameplay, this game from the Sega Ages series offers hours of fun and superior replayability.
Colorful and stunningly beautiful, this version of the game contains some of the best graphics from the Sega Ages collection so far. Whether the game is new to you or you grew up with it, Fantasy Zone continues the tradition of Sega Ages: Extra modes, extra values and subtle braking ensure that players of all ages can enjoy a modern retro experience.
Sega AgeSega Age Fantasy Zone Review
- Graphs – 8.5/10
- Sound – 8.5/10
- Gameplay – 8/10
- Last call – 9/10
8.5/10
Final thoughts: GRAND
Fantasy Zone is based on a shoot ’em up game with some cool twists that make it a game you want to come back to over and over again.
David Buck is an author, musician and media specialist. In his spare time he composes music, writes science fiction and builds model cars, mainly spaceships and film cars.
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