Fantasy Zone Gear
From Sega Retro
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fantasy Zone Gear | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
System(s): Sega Game Gear | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Sanritsu (Japan), Sega (US, Europe) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Sanritsu[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distributor: Tec Toy (BR) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Licensor: Sega (JP) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Genre: Shooting[2][3][4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of players: 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Fantasy Zone Gear: Opa Opa Jr. no Bouken (ファンタジーゾーンGear オパオパJr.の冒険), released outside of Japan as just Fantasy Zone, is a Game Gear shoot 'em up game that is part of the Fantasy Zone series. Despite having the same name as the Master System game in western regions, Fantasy Zone Gear is in fact a completely different game which makes use of the Game Gear's extended color palette.
Contents
Story
In the space year 6216, Opa-Opa had defeated the Menon forces and restored peace to the Fantasy Zone. Peace has reigned in the Fantasy Zone for the next century, and it is now the year 6344. However, rumours of impending trouble have begun to arise in the Fantasy Zone, and just as the rumours have reached Opa-Opa Jr., the son of the legendary hero Opa-Opa, his friends start disappearing one at a time until his father also disappears.
One day, Opa-Opa Jr. receives a letter that reads "Fantasy Zone will be converted into Fantasy Zone Gear according to our plans. Your father is our captive. He will be of no help to you if you try to resist us. You have one week to decide what to do. We suggest that you surrender." Not willing to surrender, Opa-Opa Jr. sets out to defeat the Menon forces and save his father and friends.
Gameplay
Compared to other games in the series, Fantasy Zone Gear offers very little to the table, other than new stages and music (though many of the jingles are identical to that of the original Fantasy Zone). Due to size restraints, it is unable to show any kind of HUD in game, however Opa-Opa Jr.'s equipment can be changed at any time by hitting the START button at any point before encountering the boss. The D-Pad moves Opa-Opa Jr. around, fires the main weapon, and
fires the secondary weapon.
Weapons
Listed here are all the items purchaseable through shops, with a base price as well as the price inflation (how much the item increases in price) for each additional purchase, if applicable:
Rounds
Unlike previous games, levels in Fantasy Zone Gear were given generic titles by Sega of America. They are all very similar, the only major difference each time being the choice of enemies.
Woods | |
---|---|
Wood's boss, Lephant (レファント[13]), is a large, tree-like creature with a spring. It simply extends its nose to try and defeat Opa-Opa Jr. (the nose also doubling up as the weak point). After it attacks, it will spring up into the air and try and land on top of the player. | |
Fire | |
Fire's boss, Filleme (フィレーム[14]), is an odd creature which moves in a circular motion, stopping every now and then to fire a missile in one of four directions. These missiles then explode into eight chunks which spread across the screen. Everything is a weak point. Thanks to the Game Gear's small resolution it's very easy to accidentally collide with this boss, so it's a good idea to upgrade in advance. | |
Ice | |
Ice's boss, ICES (アイシーズ[14]), is simple in comparison to the previous boss battle. Parts of a face will slowly track Opa-Opa Jr.'s position and the player simply needs to destroy the eyebrows, eyes, nose and mouth; then they'll be able to attack the head itself in a similar manner, provided, again, they've upgraded their speed. | |
Water | |
The only static boss in the whole game, Aquette (アクエット[13]), simply fires four green orbs in the player's general direction, which will slowly hunt them down until they destroy them. Alternatively, water will fall from the top of the screen which will need avoiding, though if the player can keep at least one orb on screen this will never occur. Its head is its weak point. | |
Cloud | |
The extremely large boss of Cloud, Mock Owl (モッククロウ[13]) is a blimp-like creature which follows Opa-Opa Jr. around the room. It occasionally stops to fire forwards and launch several floating bombs which litter the screen. Like many bosses in this game, the difficulty comes from the cramped conditions the player is forced to fight in. Unlike previous bosses, this one seems to take a lot longer to kill. | |
Desert | |
Desert's boss, Deathnet (デスネット[14]), is a large totem-pole creature, in which sections of the boss fly hoizontally across the screen to try and hit Opa-Opa Jr.. | |
Phantoms | |
The final level, like all Fantasy Zone games, simply puts Opa-Opa Jr. against all of the bosses he's encountered so far, before having him face the end boss, Gears Base (ギアーズ・ベース[14]). As Fantasy Zone Gear drops the backgrounds when bosses are encountered, this level has no identity of its own. The player never "sees" where Opa-Opa Jr. actually is, only that he's got bosses to fight. |
History
Sequels and re-releases
As with all Fantasy Zone games, Fantasy Zone Gear was re-released in 2008 as part of the Japanese PlayStation 2 compilation, Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 33: Fantasy Zone Complete Collection.
Versions
Localised names
Language | Localised Name | English Translation |
---|---|---|
English | Fantasy Zone | Fantasy Zone |
English (US) | Fantasy Zone | Fantasy Zone |
Japanese | ファンタジーゾーンGear オパオパJr.の冒険 | Fantasy Zone Gear: Opa Opa Jr. no Bouken |
Production credits
- Main Planner: Masakazu Sato
- Planner: May, Yama
- Programmer: Dirty, Teiou
- Main Graphic: Yama
- Graphic: Masakazu Sato, Nao, Nobuo Matsushima
- Sound: Yoko (Nasu) Wada
- Special Thanks to: Sega
Magazine articles
- Main article: Fantasy Zone Gear/Magazine articles.
Physical scans
Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
73 | |
---|---|
Based on 30 reviews |
Game Gear, JP (Meisaku Collection) |
---|
Technical information
ROM dump status
System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
? |
|
128kB | Cartridge (JP/EU) | |||||||||||
? |
|
128kB | Cartridge (US) |
References
- ↑ http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Sanritsu
- ↑ File:FantasyZone GG EU backcover.jpg
- ↑ File:FZoneGear gg jp 1991cover.jpg
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 http://sega.jp/fb/segahard/gg/soft_licensee.html (Wayback Machine: 2013-01-01 20:24)
- ↑ Sega Visions, "May/June 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 58
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 GamePro, "April 1992" (US; 1992-xx-xx), page 76
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1992-04-20), page 19
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1992-04-27), page 17
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1992-04-20), page 19
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1992-04-27), page 17
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Sega Force, "May 1992" (UK; 1992-04-16), page 61
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Sega Power, "June 1992" (UK; 1992-05-07), page 36
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 File:Fantasy Zone Gear JP Manual.pdf, page 12
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 File:Fantasy Zone Gear JP Manual.pdf, page 13
- ↑ Ação Games, "Abril 1992" (BR; 1992-04-xx), page 42
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "July 1991" (JP; 1991-06-08), page 32
- ↑ Consoles +, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-04), page 124
- ↑ Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 148
- ↑ Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 166
- ↑ FX (UK) (+0:00)
- ↑ Game Mania, "May 1993" (UK; 1993-xx-xx), page 70
- ↑ Games-X, "15th-21st August 1991" (UK; 1991-08-15), page 40
- ↑ Game Zone, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-22), page 57
- ↑ Game Zone, "May 1992" (UK; 1992-04-22), page 74
- ↑ Hippon Super, "August 1991" (JP; 1991-07-04), page 89
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Mayo 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 60
- ↑ Joypad, "Octobre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-17), page 70
- ↑ Joystick, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 157
- ↑ Mega Force, "Mai 1992" (FR; 1992-05-05), page 73
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 143
- ↑ Player One, "Mai 1992" (FR; 1992-05-10), page 110
- ↑ Play Time, "6/92" (DE; 1992-05-06), page 88
- ↑ Power Play, "11/91" (DE; 1991-10-11), page 169
- ↑ Score, "Únor 1994" (CZ; 1994-02-01), page 48
- ↑ Sega Pro, "November 1991" (UK; 1991-xx-xx), page 66
- ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-21), page 57
- ↑ Sega Pro, "July 1992" (UK; 1992-06-18), page 32
- ↑ Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 74
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 88
- ↑ Super Juegos, "Mayo 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 21
- ↑ Supersonic, "Mai/Juin 1992" (FR; 1992-xx-xx), page 24
Fantasy Zone Gear | |
---|---|
Main page | Comparisons | Hidden content | Magazine articles | Video coverage | Reception |
- 1 player games
- JP Game Gear games
- US Game Gear games
- EU Game Gear games
- UK Game Gear games
- BR Game Gear games
- Game Gear games
- 1991 Game Gear games
- All 1991 games
- Game Gear shoot-'em-up games
- All shoot-'em-up games
- All games
- Credits without reference
- Old technical information
- Fantasy Zone Gear
- Fantasy Zone (franchise)