Phantasy Star Review

There is no way for me to do this review without getting a bit emotional and biased. There are times when we simply have to drop the attempt to be fair and moderate when reviewing a game, and this is such a time for me. Phantasy Star was, and continues to be, my favorite video game of all time, and one of the best JRPGs I’ve ever played.

The story is a familiar one. In a distant galaxy, on the planet Palma, things aren’t the peaceful bliss they once use to be. King Lassic ruled the three planets of the Algol solar system with a kind and caring hand, but his days grew short as his age slowly began to take its toll. Fearing death, he turned for help to a new, dark religion that had began to pop up, and in doing so turned to the ways of evil. Many fought to try to find ways to end his tyrannical rule, one being a young man by the name of Nero, who was taking over for his father who had been killed doing the same. Alas, Nero was to suffer the same fate, and as he lay dying on the street of Camineet, his sister Alis clutched his in her arms. He handed over his sword, and a plea for Alis to stop Lassic before any more evil could be done. Alis swore to stop him who had taken her brother and father, and thus her quest began.

Phantasy Star looks like your classic JRPG. You see yourself from an overhead view, with towns, rivers, forest, and the like scattered around the countryside. Walk up to a town, and you are suddenly transported inside, where you get to walk the streets, talking to its citizens and having the chance to  visit its shops. Run into a random battle, and you are transported into a first person shot of the countryside, where you see your enemy on the screen in front of you. Pick your attack, or spell, and you would see the attack carried out on the creature. (You never see yourself, however. For example, if you were using a sword, you would see a streak of light go across the enemy to represent your sword slash.) Save for the fact that you couldn’t see your characters back at that time, the battle engine for PS is very close to what it still is today in its two sequels. (Okay, three, but I refuse to count PS3 as a true sequel.)

All of the first-person backgrounds were impressive, from the beautiful snow covered forests to the beach with i’s waves rolling in and out. Dungeons were done in a 3D maze format, and while there was no real floor or ceiling, it’s amazing to watch just how smooth the maze scales and scrolls for being on an 8-bit system. During your quest, you have the chance to visit all three planets (Palma, the Earth-esque green planet, Motavia, the vast desert planet, and Dezoris, the quiet and lonely snow world), and along the way you can pick up three companions: Odin, the brave and strong warrior type, Noah (aka Lutz), the esper with incredible magic power, and Myau, the cute yet deadly Musk Cat.

One of the scary parts is, while I admit to not having played it for a while, so my memory might be a bit off, Phantasy Star might take you about as much time to complete as any of today’s RPGs, maybe even a bit more. A big compliment for PS, or a sad sign of today’s JRPGs? Graphic wise, Phantasy Star took advantage of the SMS’s pastel color palette (I have to assume the SMS is good at pastels, or at least it was the popular colour scheme), and never dissapoint. The sounds effects were quite impressive, and the music was some of the best to grace any 8-bit platform (I still have some of the music running through my head to this day).

Up until the point at which Phantasy Star was released, America had not yet seen a good example of what would become the traditional JRPG. Dragon Warrior was to have come out earlier, but didn’t make it for quite sometime. When Phantasy Star was released, people were amazed (and, BTW, it won quite a few awards). Up until that point, the NES was the hot system, and few saw any serious competition from the SMS. Phantasy Star entered the scene, and it was almost instantly noticed by everyone in the game press, and it was wondered just how superious the SMS was to the NES really was. While PS didn’t save the SMS, it did indeed give it credibility, and a lot of exposure.

+ Everything, plain and simple. Phantasy Star did what any truely good game should do—show off the system like it’s never been shown before. It’s still hard to think that PS was done on a Master System … maybe it had more power than anyone thought. For it’s time, situation, and hardware, PS has no faults. Oh yeah, and the 3D mazes are still notable, looking better and scrolling smoother than many that have come since.

– The face that few JRPGs since PS were done as well as it was, or the fact that there isn’t a Phantasy Star Remix in the works for the Saturn. (I can’t even think about what it would be like … my poor brain can’t handle such wonder.)

= Phantasy Star was more impressive than a lot of 16-bit games I’ve seen. It’s music, graphics, gameplay, and amazing 3D mazes were unbelievable coming from an 8-bit system, and are still quite enjoyable.

Rating 100/100

[Graph:10]  [Sound:10]  [GPlay:10]  [Orig : 6]  [Cntrl:10]  [Package: 4]
[Artwk:10]  [Fun  :10]  [Story: 5]  [Lngth: 9]  [Music:10]  [Little : 8]

A Great	Phantasy Star was more impressive than a lot of 16-bit games I've seen. It's music, graphics, gameplay, and amazing 3D mazes were unbelievable coming from an 8-bit system, and are still quite enjoyable.
Phantasy Star was reviewed using review code, physical copies, or hardware provided by myself. Scores are graded on a scale of E (Bad) to S (Special) in homage to Japanese video game grading scales, with the understanding that an S still does not denote a "perfect" score. Scores may have been adjusted from the original source to better fit my personal scale.