Fantasy Zone: The Maze

n/a

System E NTSC-U/PAL NTSC-J
Fantasy Zone: The Maze
System(s): Sega System E, Sega Master System
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega Whiteboard
Peripherals supported: FM Sound Unit
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code JP 1987-07-20 ¥? ? JP 1987-12-20 ¥5,0005,000 G-1343 US 1988-07 5108 EU 1988-05 5108 UK 1988-05 5108 AU 1988 MK-5108-50 AU (Strategy Pack) 19xx FSTR04SEC BR 19xx KR 19xx GB-1343

Fantasy Zone: The Maze, known in Japan as Opa Opa (オパオパ), is an entry in the Fantasy Zone series of video games. It was released for Sega System E arcade hardware in 1987, with a Sega Master System version following shortly afterwards. It is often referred to as "Fantasy Zone III", though this is not an official title.

Story

What time period the story takes place in varies by region. Western manuals state that the game takes place after the events of Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa; after their first two defeats by Opa-Opa, the Menons have returned to take over the Fantasy Zone, building mazes on each of the planets. Opa-Opa has lost most of his energy from having previously defeated the Menons twice, and so his younger brother, Upa-Upa, volunteers to fight alongside him to help him defeat the Menons once more.

The Japanese manual and the in-game epilogue instead place the game before the events of the original Fantasy Zone, with Opa-Opa and Upa-Upa undergoing training so that they may be allowed to wield weapons with them at all times and be able to defend the Fantasy Zone from enemy threats one day.

Gameplay

Unlike previous entries in the series, Fantasy Zone: The Maze is similar to Pac-Man. The hero, Opa-Opa (and Upa-Upa in a 2-player game), must navigate around a series of mazes collecting coins while avoiding enemies. The coins placed around the maze vary in value based on their size, and bigger coins will slowly decrease in size and value the longer the player(s) takes to collect every coin. When all coins are collected, all on-screen enemies will be turned into additional coins, and the player has a short amount of time to collect them before the current round ends.

Collected coins can be used to buy weapons, giving Opa-Opa a defense or allowing him to travel faster. Before each round begins, the game shows the possible weapons that can be bought in the current round and the prices for each weapon. To buy them, the player(s) must pass over a circle containing the weapon providing they have enough money to purchase it. Weapons only last for a short amount of time and cannot be carried over between rounds, and will be lost immediately if the player dies. Most weapons are fired using either of the face buttons.

The enemies that primarily roam the mazes are Mobile Bases, emerging from a Master Hole in the center of each maze that gradually builds up energy, turning from black to red. When it's about to reach full energy, the game alerts the player(s) to start moving towards the hole and touch it to reset it. If the Master Hole is allowed to be fully charged, it will send Plasma Wave transmissions to the Mobile Bases, in turn commanding them to release more enemies.

The rounds are based on those found in the original Fantasy Zone, with each planet having three rounds, though there are also bonus rounds at the end of each planet in which Opa-Opa must collect as many coins as possible before the time runs out. Collecting the 2x item in these bonus rounds will double the amount of coins collected. There are a total of 51 rounds to complete.

Weapons

	Twin Shot
	Fires two parallel shots in front of Opa-Opa/Upa-Upa at the same time.
	Wide Beam
	Fires a shot in a half-circle with wider range.
	Laser Beam
	Fires a laser that pierces through enemies.
	Fire Bomb
	A bomb that travels horizontally and blows up an enemy in one blast.
	Heavy Bomb
	Falls from the top of the screen, crushing any enemy in its path.
	Big Wing
	Increases Opa-Opa/Upa-Upa's movement speed.
	Top Power
	Makes Opa-Opa/Upa-Upa invincible, allowing him to defeat enemies by flying directly into them.

Items

Additional items periodically appear in the corners where the player(s) started in the maze, which can be collected by passing over them. They will flash and disappear if left alone.

	Smart Bomb
	Destroys all on-screen enemies.
	Flicky
	A cameo from Flicky. Awards $5,000 when collected.
	1UP Egg
	Awards an extra life.
	50% Off
	Reduces the cost of the next weapon purchased by half.

Planets

	Plaleaf (The Green Planet)
	Tabas (The Sun Planet)
	La Dune (The Sand Planet)
	Dolimicca (The Super Planet)
	Polaria (The Ice Planet)
	Mockstar (The Cloud Planet)
	Pocarius (The Water Planet)

Scoring

Mobile Bases: 200 points.

Menon Soldiers: 100 points.

Time Bonus: Awarded at the end of each round, based on clear time:

• Less than 20 seconds = 20,000 points.
• 20-29 seconds = 10,000 points.
• 30-39 seconds = 5,000 points.
• 40-49 seconds = 3,000 points.
• 50-59 seconds = 1,000 points.
• 60 seconds or more = 0 points.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Fantasy Zone: The Maze	Fantasy Zone: The Maze
English (US)	Fantasy Zone: The Maze	Fantasy Zone: The Maze
Japanese	オパオパ	Opa Opa

Magazine articles

Main article: Fantasy Zone: The Maze/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

PDF

JP flyer

Physical scans

Master System version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 81 The Complete Guide to Sega (UK) PAL 81 The Games Machine (UK) 78 Mean Machines Sega (UK) 81 Power Play (DE) 65 Sega Power (UK) PAL 50 Sega Pro (UK) PAL 84 Soft (DK) 80 Software Gids (NL) 96 User (GR) PAL 61

	76
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Fantasy Zone: The Maze

Master System, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart

Master System, SE (Rental)

Master System, AU
Cover
Cart

Master System, AU (Strategy Pack)
Cover
Cart

Master System, BR
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, KR
Cart

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 d29889ad MD5 d37f86c678b2ad0018518ea7278db24b SHA-1 a2cd356826c8116178394d8aba444cb636ef784e	128kB		Cartridge (EU/US)
?	CRC32 bea27d5c MD5 a31cbbded45f66633fb38b1c1bef9b08 SHA-1 38bd50181b98216c9ccf1d7dd6bc2c0a21e9a283	128kB		Cartridge (JP)