Phelios

From Sega Retro

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Phelios MDTitleScreen.png

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Phelios
System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Virtual Console
Publisher: Namco (Japan, US), Sega (Europe)
Developer:
Original system(s): Namco System II
Sound driver: Namco sound driver
Genre: Shooting[1]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP
¥5,8005,800 T-14013
Sega Mega Drive
US
14016
Sega Mega Drive
EU
1131
Sega Mega Drive
UK
£34.9934.99[4] 1131
Sega Mega Drive
SE
(Rental)
Sega Mega Drive
BR
Wii Virtual Console
JP
600pts600[10]
CERO: B
Non-Sega versions

Phelios (フェリオス) is a Sega Mega Drive vertical shoot-'em-up game developed by Namco. A port of the developer's titular 1988 arcade shoot-'em-up Phelios, it was first published in Japan by Namco themselves in July 1990, with the company bringing the title to the United States the following October. Later in December 1991, the game also received a European release courtesy of Sega.

Story

Apollo, the god of the sun, sets off on the legendary winged horse Pegasus to rescue his lover Artemis, the goddess of the moon. Artemis has been turned to stone by the monstrous Medusa and imprisoned by the Titan Typhon.

The game is inspired by but diverges significantly from Greek mythology, where Artemis is goddess of the hunt and the twin sister of Apollo.

Gameplay

Phelios, Cutscene.png

Artemis

The game is a vertically scrolling shooter played as Apollo, who is mounted upon the back of his winged horse Pegasus. At the end of every stage, Apollo enters a temple and must defeat a boss character from Greek myth. Once he has done so, he proceeds to an enchanted mirror at the back of the temple, where he receives a vision of Artemis, before the game segues into the next stage. Apollo fires light beams from his sword, Phelios, with A, B, or C. Holding the fire button charges the sword; releasing it fires a larger and more powerful fireball depending on how long the weapon is charged. Apollo can obtain up to two options that augment his fire. Collecting the letters "PHELIOS" in the last stage empowers Apollo's charged attack for the final boss.

Apollo starts with three hit points and loses one when he takes damage from an enemy. He dies if he loses all of his hit points but respawns at predetermined checkpoint if the player has lives remaining. The game ends if the player runs out of lives. There are two selectable difficulty levels, Novice and Advanced. Only the first four stages are playable on Novice difficulty. The player gains an extra life every 20,000 points in Novice difficulty and every 50,000 points in Advanced difficulty. Completing the game unlocks an additional Expert difficulty level.

Items

Phelios, Charged Sword.png

Fully charged sword
Phelios, Items.png
Golden Owl
Destroy to release an item.
Phelios, Items.png
Speed Up
Increases the movement speed of Pegasus.
Phelios, Items.png
Option
Creates a diamond of light that follows Apollo and augments his fire. Apollo can have up to 2 options at a time.
Phelios, Items.png
Beam
Replaces Apollo's light beam with large, rapid-fire waves.
Phelios, Items.png
Homing
Makes Apollo's light beam home in on enemies.
Phelios, Items.png
Across
Augments Apollo's fire with triangular projectiles that bounce off obstacles.
Phelios, Items.png
Life
Restores one hit point to Apollo, up to a maximum of 4.
Phelios, Items.png
Golden Medallion
These appear on the last stage. Destroy to release either a blank item or one of the letters in PHELIOS.
Phelios, Items.png
Blank
No effect.
Phelios, Items.png
PHELIOS
Collect all seven letters to replace Apollo's charged attack with a larger and more powerful beam before facing Typhon.

Stages

Phelios, Stage 1.png

Phelios, Stage 1 Boss.png

  • Phelios, Stage 1.png

  • Phelios, Stage 1 Boss.png

Devil in Delos
The boss is Medusa.

Phelios, Stage 2-1.png

Phelios, Stage 2-2.png

Phelios, Stage 2 Boss.png

  • Phelios, Stage 2-1.png

  • Phelios, Stage 2-2.png

  • Phelios, Stage 2 Boss.png

Death Dungeon
The bosses are the Graeae.

Phelios, Stage 3.png

Phelios, Stage 3 Boss.png

  • Phelios, Stage 3.png

  • Phelios, Stage 3 Boss.png

Blue Parboleos
The boss is the Siren.

Phelios, Stage 4.png

Phelios, Stage 4 Boss.png

  • Phelios, Stage 4.png

  • Phelios, Stage 4 Boss.png

Fire Devildom
The boss is Antaeus.

Phelios, Stage 5.png

Phelios, Stage 5 Boss.png

  • Phelios, Stage 5.png

  • Phelios, Stage 5 Boss.png

Icebound Soul
The boss is Scylla.

Phelios, Stage 6.png

Phelios, Stage 6 Boss.png

  • Phelios, Stage 6.png

  • Phelios, Stage 6 Boss.png

Watchdog in Hell
The boss is Cerberus.

Phelios, Stage 7.png

Phelios, Stage 7 Boss.png

  • Phelios, Stage 7.png

  • Phelios, Stage 7 Boss.png

The Temple of Typhon
The boss is Typhon.

Versions

The arcade version uses plenty of zoom and rotation effects, which could mostly not be replicated in the Mega Drive version due to hardware limitations. Stage layouts, enemy, and boss behaviour are significantly different between the arcade version and the Mega Drive version. Namco's other shooting game, Dangerous Seed, was also subdued to such a remixing process.

For unknown reasons, the Mega Drive port shows only English text in all versions. However, the Japanese version has Japanese voice acting while the others have English.

Production credits

  • Programmer: Hiroki.A
  • Game Planner: Saturo.Y
  • Graphic Designer: Nobuhiko.A, Hiroshi.K
  • Sound Designer: Yoshinori.K
  • Translator: Ritaro.O
  • Programmer (Arcade): Masayoshi.T
  • Special Thanks: Atsushi.W, Takatoshi.K
Source:
In-game credits
Phelios MD credits.pdf
[11]

Magazine articles

Main article: Phelios/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Phelios MD US Flyer.pdf

PDF
US flyer
Phelios MD US Flyer.pdf
Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in GamePro (US) #18: "January 1991" (199x-xx-xx)
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Mega Drive version

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
60
[12]
Ação Games (BR)
83
[13]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
70
[14]
Complete Guide to Consoles (UK)
77
[15]
The Complete Guide to Sega (UK)
77
[16]
Consoles + (FR)
70
[17]
Console XS (UK) PAL
60
[18]
Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) NTSC-U
83
[3]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1 (RU)
60
[19]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
73
[20]
GamePro (US) NTSC-U
84
[21]
Famicom Hisshoubon (JP) NTSC-J
50
[22]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
82
[23]
Joypad (FR)
84
[24]
Joystick (FR)
79
[25]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK)
80
[26]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
71
[27]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
79
[28]
Mega Force (FR) NTSC
80
[29]
MegaTech (UK)
77
[30]
MegaTech (UK) PAL
70
[31]
Micromanía (segunda época) (ES)
73
[32]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
77
[33]
Player One (FR)
84
[34]
Play Time (DE)
66
[35]
Power Play (DE)
74
[36]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
51
[37]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC
50
[38]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
60
[39]
Sega Pro (UK)
56
[40]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
64
[41]
Supersonic (FR)
86
[42]
Tricks 16 bit (RU)
64
[43]
User (GR) NTSC
91
[44]
Sega Mega Drive
72
Based on
34 reviews

Phelios

Mega Drive, JP
Phelios MD JP Box.jpg
Cover
Phelios MD JP Manual.pdf
Manual
50x50px
Reg Card
Phelios MD JP pcb.jpg
PCB
Mega Drive, US
Phelios MD US Box.jpg
Cover
Phelios MD US Cart.jpg
Cart
Phelios MD US Manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
Phelios MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
Phelios MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Phelios MD EU Manual.jpg
Manual
Mega Drive, SE rental (HENT black)
Phelios MD SE Rental Box back.jpgNospine.pngPhelios MD SE Rental Box.jpg
Cover
Mega Drive, BR
Phelios md br cover.jpg
Cover
PheliosMDBRCartTop.jpg
Phelios MD BR Cart.jpg
Cart

Technical information

Main article: Phelios/Technical information.

External links

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
  2. https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.video/c/eULXOXGZDgU/m/mf7VfzCouw0J
  3. 3.0 3.1 Electronic Gaming Monthly, "October 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 75
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Sega Power, "January 1992" (UK; 1991-12-05), page 11
  5. Games-X, "19th December 1991-1st January 1992" (UK; 1991-12-19), page 6
  6. Sega Pro, "Christmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-12), page 7
  7. Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1991-12-09), page 27
  8. Supergame, "Setembro 1991" (BR; 1991-09-xx), page 36
  9. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/software/07.html (Wayback Machine: 2018-03-05 23:01)
  10. http://vc.sega.jp:80/vc_phelios/ (Wayback Machine: 2008-04-21 16:54)
  11. File:Phelios MD credits.pdf
  12. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 175
  13. Ação Games, "Setembro 1991" (BR; 1991-09-xx), page 23
  14. Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume III" (UK; 1990-08-xx), page 77
  15. Complete Guide to Consoles, "Volume IV" (UK; 1990-11-xx), page 34
  16. The Complete Guide to Sega, "" (UK; 1991-05-xx), page 48
  17. Consoles +, "Juin 1992" (FR; 1992-0x-xx), page 94
  18. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 132
  19. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 346
  20. Famitsu, "" (JP; 1990-xx-xx), page 1
  21. GamePro, "November 1990" (US; 1990-xx-xx), page 98
  22. Famicom Hisshoubon, "1990-14 (1990-07-20)" (JP; 1990-07-06), page 13
  23. Hobby Consolas, "Mayo 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 112
  24. Joypad, "Mars 1992" (FR; 1992-02-1x), page 140
  25. Joystick, "Septembre 1990" (FR; 1990-0x-xx), page 89
  26. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "September 1992" (UK; 1992-xx-xx), page 81
  27. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 93
  28. Mega Drive Fan, "October 1990" (JP; 1990-09-08), page 79
  29. Mega Force, "Novembre 1991" (FR; 1991-11-19), page 81
  30. MegaTech, "Xmas 1991" (UK; 1991-12-06), page 79
  31. MegaTech, "March 1992" (UK; 1992-02-20), page 38
  32. Micromanía (segunda época), "Abril 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 38
  33. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 140
  34. Player One, "Janvier 1992" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 50
  35. Play Time, "4/92" (DE; 1992-03-04), page 88
  36. Power Play, "10/90" (DE; 1990-09-14), page 132
  37. Sega Power, "February 1992" (UK; 1992-01-02), page 30
  38. Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 54
  39. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 66
  40. Sega Pro, "December 1991" (UK; 1991-11-21), page 68
  41. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 87
  42. Supersonic, "Mai/Juin 1992" (FR; 1992-xx-xx), page 14
  43. Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 135
  44. User, "Fevrouários 1991" (GR; 1991-0x-xx), page 66


Phelios

Phelios MDTitleScreen.png

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