On this day in 1987, SEGA released a science-fiction/fantasy role-playing game by the name of Phantasy Star for their Master System console in Japan. It was later localized in English and Spanish, ported to numerous systems, and spawned three direct sequels and several spin-off titles. Hugely successful and highly innovative for its time, Phantasy Star helped to lay the groundwork for the role-playing game genre alongside it’s contemporary, Final Fantasy, with both titles being released within days of each other. Today, it is regarded as one of the most important video games of all time, and has consistently been listed as one of the very best games of its kind.
SEGA is celebrating the series’ 25th anniversary with the release of the Phantasy Star Complete Collection, which is now available on the Japanese PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 for the price of ¥800 (approximately $10 USD). Phantasy Star, Phantasy Star II, Phantasy Star III, and Phantasy Star IV are all fully translated and playable in English, so these titles should not be overlooked by English speakers.
Originally released for the PlayStation 2 as part of the SEGA AGES series, the collection includes the following titles:
–Phantasy Star (Master System)
–Phantasy Star II (Genesis/Mega Drive)
–Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom (Genesis/Mega Drive)
–Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium (Genesis/Mega Drive)
–Phantasy Star II Text Adventures (Genesis/Mega Drive)
–Phantasy Star Adventure (Game Gear)
–Phantasy Star Gaiden (Game Gear)
Phantasy Star II Text Adventures is a compilation of eight visual novels, each centered around one of the main characters from Phantasy Star II and was first available through the SEGA Meganet modem accessory for the Genesis/Mega Drive console, while the eight stories — made available in two separate compilations — were later ported to the console’s SEGA CD/Mega CD add-on. Phantasy Star Adventure and Phantasy Star Gaiden were both released for the SEGA Game Gear in 1992, just months apart each other. Adventure was the first Phantasy Star title to be released for SEGA’s handled and features a different gameplay style than other titles in the series, being a first-person text-based adventure game that takes place during the events of Phantasy Star II. Gaiden, on the other hand, is a traditional role-playing game in the style of Phantasy Star I, which Gaiden is an indirect sequel to. It’s worth noting, however, that according to series continuity both Adventure and Gaiden are considered non-canon.
Ristar (also known as Ristar the Shooting Star) is the 1995 platformer developed by Sonic Team and released for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive and later for the SEGA Game Gear. The game follows the titular young star as he travels across the Valdi Galaxy in pursuit of the evil space pirate Kaiser Greedy, who has kidnapped the Legendary Hero that watches over the galaxy and protects it from harm. Although it is often overshadowed by Sonic Team’s other popular series, including Phantasy Star, Samba de Amigo, NiGHTS, and, of course, Sonic the Hedgehog, Ristar has managed to hold its own over a veritable who’s who of video game classics, and today it is often considered to be one of the very best and most beloved games on the platform.
Without further ado, let’s blast off and take a look at a cheerful little tune called “Star Humming”.
Ratings for Shining Force: Sword of Hajya and Defenders of Oasis have been published on the Australian Classifications board and are likely to be released on Nintendo’s 3DS Virtual Console in the coming months. Shining Force: Sword of Hajya (also known as Shining Force Gaiden II in Japan) is a Game Gear title and was also included as part of Shining Force CD (which included the first of the Gaiden series) for the SEGA CD/MEGA CD platform as the second half of the title. Defenders of Oasis, another Game Gear RPG is part of the Oasis titles (known as The Story of Thor in some regions) available on the Genesis/Mega Drive and Saturn game consoles. though no official word from SEGA has been made about either of these titles as of yet.
Although no release platform is specified for these downloadable games, they are fully expected to be the next games in SEGA’s Game Gear releases for the Nintendo 3DS’ Virtual Console as it has been the only platform to ever receive ports of the games.
In an article by Nintendo Power on the recently revealed Epic Mickey title for Nintendo 3DS it was announced that the title will be designed as a follow-up to the 1990 SEGA classic Castle of Illusion: Starring Mickey Mouse. The game will see Mickey Mouse traveling around various Disney worlds, meeting with several characters (Scroodge McDuck is cited as an example) in a 2D action platformer style perspective. The game will feature high-detail sprite art with several layers of parallax scrolling for added 3D-effect.
Not to be confused with Junction Point and Blitz Gammes’ upcoming Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 title Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two, Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion is it’s own unique game developed by Dreamrift, whom are best known for their highly regarded Monster Tale and Henry Hatsworth games on Nintendo DS. No release dates have been discussed, but it is expected to be released around the same time as Epic Mickey 2 later this year.
Gain Ground is the 1988 action-strategy arcade classic set around 350 years in the future where The Federated Government has created an era of peace. Because war ceases to exist the human race has begun to lose their fighting spirit; Worried of threats from outside of Earth, it is decided that a virtual reality simulation of various periods in time will be created to re-introduce their civilization to conflict. An unforeseen problem occurs and instead traps everyone inside the virtual world, turning the test of strength, knowledge and courage into a dark reality.
Included after the break are numerous variations of the ‘Origin’ zone, the first location in the game.
Shining Force II is the classic 1993/1994 strategy role playing game by ‘Sonic! Software Planning’ (now known as Camelot Software Planning) for the SEGA Genesis/Mega Drive. Composed by renowned video game musician Motoaki Takenouchi, the soundtrack with much of the Shining series has been renowned for it’s encouraging and lighthearted take on a sinister, war-torn fantasy world. Shining Force II is no different, with the main overworld theme being considered one of the best in the franchise. Not just a memorable tune, but an impressive use of the Genesis/Mega Drive’s sound system with brilliant use of authentic horn and drum sounds all brought together in a wonderful sweeping adventurous style.
Continue after the break to listen to different variations including the rarely heard Game Gear version and an official orchestral release.
Space Harrier is the 1985 pseudo-3D third-person rail shooting game developed by SEGA-AM2 on the System-16 arcade hardware under the supervision of Yu Suzuki who would become one of the most successful and revered people in the industry. Unusual to many of his later games, Space Harrier is designed in the unique “Fantasy Zone” setting where many of the objects and enemies the player must face are nonsensical or mythical beings.
Today we will be listening to what is considered the main theme of the game.
Ecco: The Tides of Time is the 1994 Genesis/Mega Drive sequel to Ecco the Dolphin, both of which were developed by Novotrade International (now known as Appaloosa Interactive) and headed by the unexampled Ed Ettore Annunziata. Best known for their uniquely dark style of gameplay, sci-fi storytelling and incredible difficulty level, the first two Ecco the Dolphin games have gone on to become two of SEGA’s most recognizable games of all time.
Hit the jump to continue reading and to listen to different versions of the song.
I made this video back in 2007 or so, when I was first learning how to use video editing tools, and that is a little more than obvious. However, I feel my passion for the company and their games is very apparent and overrides most major complaints I have with it. I put a lot of love into this for no real reason other than a thank you to the thousands – Perhaps millions of great games SEGA has made that so much of us all over the world have loved through the years.
The song is “Don’t Stop Me Now” by the band Queen. After the jump is the list of games included in the video, along with the format they were recorded on in their correct order.
The SEGA Source 