Fantasy Zone

For other versions of the game with their own pages as well as similarly-titled media, see Fantasy Zone (disambiguation).

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System 16 Master System Famicom NES TurboGrafx-16 MSX X68000 Neo Classic
Fantasy Zone
System(s): Sega System 16, Sega Master System, MSX, Famicom, Nintendo Entertainment System, TurboGrafx-16, PC Engine, X68000, Virtual Console
Publisher: Sega Enterprises, Ltd. Sega Corporation Dempa Micomsoft Sunsoft Tengen NEC Home Electronics NEC Avenue Pony
Developer: Sega R&D 1 Sega R&D 2 Dempa Micomsoft Sunsoft Pixel Bits Laboratory Pony M2
Distributor: Ariolasoft (DE) Korea Oacs (KR) Aaronix (TW)
Licensor: Sega Enterprises, Ltd.
Genre: Shooting
Number of players: 1-2 (alternating), 1
Release Date RRP Code JP 1986-03-28 ¥? ? US 1986 $? ? UK 19xx £? ? JP 1988-10-14 ¥¥4,900 H49G-1001 {{#ifeq: 0 | 0 | US 1989-11 $$? TGX020017 {{#ifeq: 0 | 0 | JP 1987-07-20 ¥5,300 SS8-5300 US 1990 $39.95 ? JP 1986-06-15 ¥5,0005,000 G-1301 US 1986-09 5052 US (Rerelease) 1990 EU 1987-08 MK-5052-50 BX 19xx DE 1987 DM 7979 41002 UK 1987-08 £19.9519.95 MK-5052-50 AU 1987 MK-5052-50 MX 19xx KR 1988-10 GB-1301 TW 19xx G-1301 ZA 19xx JP 1987-03 ¥5,5005,500 R55X5812 JP 1989 ¥7,8007,800 JP ▼ 2008-03-11 500pts500 US ▼ 2008-04-14 500pts500 EU ▼ 2008-04-11 500pts500 AU ▼ 2008-04 600pts600
Sega

Fantasy Zone (ファンタジーゾーン) is a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up by Sega, originally released in 1986 for Sega System 16 arcade hardware. It is the first entry in the Fantasy Zone series, a franchise that would be supported by the company in the late 1980s but largely abandoned by the mid-1990s.

Story

“	Long ago, far away in space, there existed a "Fantasy Zone" where a couragous hero called Opa-Opa (the player) fought in a valiant cause to rescue the "Fantasy Zone" from its enemies.	„

In the Space Year 1422 (6216 in the Master System version), the interplanetary monetary system collapsed, causing all of the planets in the Fantasy Zone to become panic-stricken. An official inquiry made by the space guild reveals that someone is leading the Menon planet forces, using them to steal the foreign currencies of the other planets and construct a huge fortress in the Fantasy Zone with the stolen funds. To put an end to the Menon forces' ambitious plans, Opa-Opa promptly takes off for the Fantasy Zone.

Gameplay

Fantasy Zone stars the sentient being "Opa-Opa", a spaceship tasked with saving the "Fantasy Zone" from an army of invaders orchestrated by an unknown force. It is similar to Williams' 1980 arcade game Defender, in that the player can move both left and right across an endlessly repeating playfield, though makes a number of changes and additions to keep the game unique. Rather than simply destroying enemies, Opa-Opa has to eliminate eight "bases" across each level before being presented with an end boss, where horizontal scrolling is clamped.

Opa-Opa has two firing modes - a pair of twin lasers which fire ahead, and a bomb which curves downwards to hit ground targets. Weapons and engines can be upgraded through the use of in-game shops, represented by balloons which appear at the start of the level. Yellow balloons also allow the player to switch weapons, assuming they have bought more than one.

Unusually for shoot-'em-ups of the time, Fantasy Zone opted for vibrant pastel-coloured worlds and joyful music rather than the traditional "space" setting of previous attempts. It is often dubbed as the first "cute-'em-up" as a result. Despite this, Fantasy Zone is known for being an extremely difficult game, as the slow moving camera and swarms of enemies quickly lead to "bullet hell" scenarios.

Enemies

	Moocolon
	Quili-Quili
	Simple enemies which move backwards and forwards across the screen, sometimes in pairs. They are spawned by the bases of Plaleaf.
	Sourtham
	Bottaco
	Thaya-Thaya
	C-Soul
	Asworm
	Botelynn
	Chamba
	Bat-like creatures spawned by the bases of Tabas. They simply fly upwards.
	Coulon
	Goro
	Onyamma
	Bont
	Poyon
	Shatboo
	F-Zab
	Squel
	Floweye
	Spawned by the bases in Dolimicca, these enemies lock on to Opa-Opa's Y position and attempt to collide with him.
	Jerry
	M.F.
	Billian
	Recal
	Pata
	Unknown
	This enemy is dropped by the bases of La Dune - it wanders along the floor, occasionally jumping to fire a shot. It is absent from the Master System version of the game, so its name is not yet known.
	Base
	Bases differ in design depending on the level, but all have the same function. They are the only static enemies in game, the only enemies to show up on the radar and are the primary target for Opa-Opa. Bases produce other enemies, typically weaker types such as Quili-Quili or Chamba. They will also fire at the player if Opa-Opa has had engine upgrades, making them a serious threat. Bases are the only enemies in game (aside from the bosses) which require more than one hit - the "damage" being shown on in the circle located in the centre - blue indicates full health, which changes to cyan, green, yellow, orange and finally red before being destroyed. A base does not disappear from the screen when destroyed like other enemies - the wreckage is left on the map and can be seen even during the boss fights.

Stages

	Plaleaf (Planet of Greenery)
	Plaleaf is the easiest stage of the game, and so shouldn't put up much of a challenge. Compared to later levels, the amount of enemies on screen is small (and most follow set patterns, so they can easily be avoided), so a decent player shouldn't need any upgrades to succeed. The boss, Stunpalon, is also fairly simple. It tries to lock on to the player's Y position and fires a flurry of green bullets at them, though watch out as they sometimes rebound of the left hand side of the screen too. The weak point is the mouth. Enemies seen in this level include Moocolon, Quili-Quili, Sourtham, Bottaco and Thaya-Thaya.
	Tabas (Planet of Fire)
	Tabas predictably ups the difficulty, though can just about be overcome without spending money on weapon upgrades. Volanda, the boss of this round who is regularly featured in cover artwork, does require some skill to overcome, however. It attacks Opa-Opa by erupting, causing fireballs to rain down on the player. Luckily, everything is a target, so the only concern is dodging the attack. Enemies seen in this level include C-Soul, Botelynn, Asworm, Chamba and Coulon.
	La Dune (Planet of Sand)
	By this point, the game will start to crush novice players, as the number of enemies vastly stats to increase. It marks the introduction of the "Goro" enemy - one that locks onto the screen position and will keep firing at the player until it is destroyed. This means, unlike previous stages, the player can't run away from their problems in the hopes they'll disappear while off-screen. La Dune's boss, Cobabeach, can also be tricky. The player needs to destroy each of the laser cannons located on the left hand side, though once most of them are out of the way, the boss will start to chase them. Predictably the player has a much higher chance of survival if they've upgraded their engines at this point. Enemies seen in this level include Goro, Pata, Onyamma, Bont and Poyon.
	Dolimicca (Super Planet)
	Dolimicca is, surprisingly, an easier stage than La Dune, thanks to its decision to put all of its bases on the ground. This means if the player buys the right weapon, they can scoot along the floor and wipe out several bases very quickly. That being said, the game still throws out a number of tricky enemies that will need to be deal with, and by now, everything will start firing at the player. Dolimicca's boss, Crabumger, is a typical "bullet hell" opponent. Opa-Opa has to destroy both arms, which swing about launching bullets all over the screen. Much like Tabas, the trick is to avoid enemy fire rather than concentrating shots, though the boss' body is invulnerable to attack. Enemies seen in this level include Shatboo, F-Zab, Squel and Floweye.
	Polaria (Planet of Ice)
	Polaria is a typical ice stage, and packs on even more pressure to assure the player runs out of lives. It's more masses of bullets when it comes to the boss, Poppos, which consists of various different sizes of snowman. The player has to destroy each column in order, starting with the smallest, though as they progress, the size of the bullets also increases. Enemies seen in this level include Jerry and M.F. Sourtham, Bont and Coulon also return.
	Mockstar (Planet of Clouds)
	There's nothing particularly remarkable about any of the later stages in Fantasy Zone - they just throw out different assortments of enemies, most of which return from previous stages. By this point, the player will suffer if they have not upgraded their engine. Mockstar's boss, Winklone, is perhaps the cheapest in the game, as it comes into view from six different angles, increasing the chance of the player being destroyed before they've even seen what's going on. The objective is to shoot the eye while it spins around at increasing speeds. The only new enemy to be introduced is Billian. The rest, Jerry, Asworm, Botellyn, and Squel, come from earlier levels. On a side note, the music played on Mockstar's stage is used in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing, as Opa-Opa's "All-Star" theme.
	Pocarius (Planet of Water)
	Though it appears to be more inviting with its lush reservoirs, Pocarius is the hardest level in the game as enemy aggression is at its maximum. It becomes extremely difficult for the average man to avoid the number of bullets, even if the arcade operator has put the game on "easy mode". If by chance the player does succeed, they will be greeted by one of the hardest bosses, IDA-2. Though it doesn't attack, it will attempt to teleport on top of Opa-Opa, which means it's a case of "avoid, shoot, avoid, shoot". But once again, speed is proportional to damage, so in order to overcome this one the player will need fast reactions and the ability to fire rapidly. On a home system, it's the perfect example of how a turbo controller could come in handy. Recal is introduced as an enemy here, though C-Soul, Pata, Poyon and M.F. also return.
	Salfar (Planet of Evil Spirits)
	The final stage, Salfar as Opa-Opa duel with all the bosses he has encountered in the game so far, before the final showdown with the end boss. It's the only stage in the game that forces the player to enter the shop at the beginning and after losing a life - a smart idea as they're the only chances they'll get to use it. The final boss sends up to six Menons out to create impassable trails to block the player. Most of them follow set patterns and are progressively faster, however the final Menon is the most difficult as it moves the fastest and will chase after Opa-Opa directly, resulting in a quick death unless the player is well-prepared and destroys it quickly enough. Defeating this boss will end the game and reveal the true mastermind of the Menon forces...
	Dragon Land
	Dragon Land is a secret stage, exclusive to the X68000 version of the game. To access it, the bases in Plaleaf need to be attacked and destroyed in a certain order (from left to right, according to their positions on the radar). Doing so will drop the letters "H", "A", "R", "R", "I", "E", and "R", and when collected you'll be taken to this stage after Pocarius. Dragon Land is based on Space Harrier, and features enemies, music and a boss from that game (though everything is altered to work with Fantasy Zone's sideways perspective.

History

Legacy

Fantasy Zone was popular enough to see several ports to home consoles, though most remained exclusive to Japan. The watered down Sega Master System port is perhaps the most famous, as Fantasy Zone was one of the console's most highly rated games. Two of the more processor-intensive bosses were replaced in the SMS version - Dolimicca's boss, which now resembles a fish, and Mockstar's which resembles a turtle. The Master System version was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console service.

Sega would later release a near-perfect port of the game for Japanese Sega Saturns. The Saturn port has a karaoke mode, with vocals added to the tracks, and a replay mode.

The game was ported to non-Sega consoles too. MSX, X68000 and TurboGrafx-16 ports were handled by Pony, Dempa Micomsoft and NEC Avenue respectively. The game was brought to Nintendo's Famicom by Sunsoft, but strangely Tengen also ported it to the NES for sale in North America. The Famicom and NES ports are both different, despite being made for what is essentially the same console. Previously, Tengen merely edited the Sunsoft versions and released the edited ROMs overseas; this may have had something to do with the decision to make Fantasy Zone from scratch. Nevertheless, both ports were done by Japanese companies (Tengen contracting to a group called Pixel, who outsourced (parts of?) the sound to Masaharu Iwata). There is also an unofficial Sharp MZ-700 port.

Most home ports of Fantasy Zone greatly reduce the quality of the graphics, going so far as to remove backgrounds from boss fights altogether. The Master System version also removes the "radar", allowing the user to see where bases are placed on the map. Others, such as the NES port, reduce the number of bases in across the level, and drop the number of enemies in order to maintain a decent framerate.

The X68000 port, however, is almost perfect, and is also notable for devoting a secret stage to Space Harrier (also set in the "fantasy zone"). Contrary to popular belief, the Game Gear game often known by the same name is a completely different game.

The game was re-released twice as part of the PlayStation 2's Sega Ages 2500 series in Japan. Volume #3 of the series sees a remastered Fantasy Zone with 3D modes and four extra levels. This version was brought to the western world through Sega Classics Collection. It was later included in Volume #33 of the same series, along with the rest of the franchise, as part of Fantasy Zone Complete Collection. This version also includes an enhanced version of the Sunsoft Famicom port, named Fantasy Zone Neo Classic.

In 2014, the arcade version was converted to 3D and released for the Nintendo 3DS as 3D Fantasy Zone: Opa-Opa Bros.. It was later included in the Sega 3D Fukkoku Archives compilation. The Master System version was also converted to 3D and included in Sega 3D Fukkoku Archives 2 as a hidden bonus game. This version also adds new audio for the FM Sound Unit, which the original did not support.

Fantasy Zone was followed by Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa, a similar game which was primarily developed for the Master System and subsequently released in arcades for the Sega System E hardware.

Versions

Comparisons

Main article: Fantasy Zone/Comparisons.

Production credits

Main article: Fantasy Zone/Production credits.

Digital manuals

• 

  Judgment manual

Hints

• 

  Master System US hints

• 

  Master System US hints

Magazine articles

Main article: Fantasy Zone/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

PDF

System 16 JP Flyer

Print advert in Pixel (GR) #66: "Máios 1990" (1990-xx-xx)

Artwork

Physical scans

System 16 version

System 16, JP
Instuction card(s)

Master System version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average

Publication Version Score Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 87 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 87 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) PAL 87 Computer Action (DK) 75 Console XS (UK) PAL 91 Computer & Video Games (UK) 90 Game Mania (UK) 87 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 87 S: The Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 91 S: The Sega Magazine (UK) PAL 81 Sega Power (UK) PAL 100 Sega Pro (UK) 95 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 91 Tilt (FR) 70 Video Games (DE) 71

	86
Based on 15 reviews

Fantasy Zone

Master System, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, US (Made in Japan; ℠)
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, US (Made in Japan; ®)
Cover

Master System, US (Made in Taiwan; ℠)
Cover
Cart

Master System, US (rerelease)
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, US (demo)
Cart Manual

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, EU (Sega®)
Cover

Master System, EU ("No Limits")
Cover
Manual

Master System, DE
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, BX†
Cover

Master System, AU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, AU (Not for rental sticker)
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, TW
Cover
Cart

Master System, KR
Cover
Cart

Master System, MX

Master System, ZA
Cover

Mega-Tech version

Mega-Tech, ??
Cart

MSX version

MSX, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

NES version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score VideoGames & Computer Entertainment (US) 40

	40
Based on 1 review

Fantasy Zone

NES, US
Cover
Cart Manual

NES, JP
Cover
Cart

X68000 version

X68000, JP
Cover

TurboGrafx-16 version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

{{{{{icon}}}|L}}
Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Computer Entertainer (US) 42 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 88 Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 80 Tilt (FR) 60

	67
Based on 4 reviews

Fantasy Zone

TurboGrafx-16, US
Cover
Card File:FantasyZone TG16 US Manual.pdf Manual Jewel Case

PC Engine, JP
Cover
Card File:Fantasy Zone PCE HuCard JP Manual.pdf Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 0ffbcaa3 MD5 3a1dfad2cea111d0dbfb4a545bf3f87e SHA-1 b486d8be0cf669117e134f9e53a452bf71097479	128kB		Cartridge (JP)
?	CRC32 5fd48352 MD5 e4497d344386a9fe0826e6d166e0f2b3 SHA-1 5162cd4923cdcad66fee0aa18d5e63fcf5259c00	128kB		Cartridge (TW)
?	CRC32 65d7e4e0 MD5 fed8690ee5fb895c09caa8e2b879ebd6 SHA-1 0278cd120dc3a7707eda9314c46c7f27f9e8fdda	128kB		Cartridge
✔	CRC32 10119e6b MD5 8471e1ee89c218a4cfc3b94fb506cea4 SHA-1 1854e0a1fdebef05ed303ca85e9a4cc2849254c5	128kB		Cartridge (JP)
✔	CRC32 0ffde258 MD5 fa5dcc5882d8bb1c209f7c75d23c50c9 SHA-1 27d25b95dd212854571bc8f5a083f84825631331	128kB		Cartridge (US)	(Unl)
?	CRC32 72cb0f9d MD5 9f3078e85b7604f5df6d858dea879696 SHA-1 9dfc979fdf65d6425504aff68dc80e83c69e7b40	256kB		Card (JP)
?	CRC32 e8c3573d MD5 0c5fc299491c50c2d2f532308597a159 SHA-1 7c419163d860691dfea9720639921190e20e3c97	256kB		Card (US)

External links

NEC Retro has more information related to Fantasy Zone

• Sega of Japan Virtual Console pages: Master System
• Nintendo catalogue pages: US, AU