Fantasy Zone
Reviewed by Michael LoCascio
Fantasy Zone was a well-traveled game before it was even
released for the Turbografx-16. The game had made previous
appearances in the arcade and on the Sega Master System. To
be frank, I thought it was rather lame of NEC to be
reproducing an 8-bit shooter for their new, high-powered
system (heck, you would think that if the game were worth
updating, Sega would have done it for their own Genesis
system). Much to my surprise, Fantasy Zone was a blast to
play, and it definitely took advantage of the new benefits
offered by the TG-16.
This game certainly isn't for everyone. It's just about as
cute as a video game can get, and the words 'cute' and
'shooter' usually don't go along with one another. The
graphics are done in pastels - plenty of pinks, yellows and
oranges to be found in the scenery here. Your little ship,
which looks harmless enough already, grows feet so that it
can walk when you fly down to the ground. Even the music is
cutesy; it sounds as if the game is trying to make sure that
you're in a good mood while you're playing it.
The game play in Fantasy Zone is pretty simple. You can
shoot at the enemies with your guns, or you can drop bombs
on them. Each stage features a certain number of
'outposts' that you must destroy in order for the level
boss to appear. You can fly to the left or the right, it
doesn't matter; the stage will simply continue to loop until
every outpost is destroyed.
You can also collect money and enter shops in Fantasy Zone -
intriguing features for a shooting game. You can purchase
stronger weapons or speedier engines in these shops, but
these upgrades usually don't help very much. They only last
for a limited time, the weapons generally aren't all that
powerful, and your ship flies fast enough without buying
souped-up engines for it.
I must say that one element of Fantasy Zone is in complete
contrast with the cuteness of everything else in the game:
the boss enemies. These guys are huge, mean-looking, and
extremely tough to beat. Well.. alright, the snowman in
Stage Five is somewhat cute. But he's also tough as nails;
Fantasy Zone isn't an easy game, contrary to what one might
think just from looking at it.
As long as you don't mind pastels, cute music, and little
ships that grow feet, you might enjoy Fantasy Zone. It's
surprisingly difficult and has plenty of replay value,
especially for a shooting game. Did I mention that you have
to fight all the bosses twice? Yep, you'll have your hands
full with this game for quite a while.
Overall: 7 out of 10
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