A playthough of Sunsoft's 1992 arcade-style shoot 'em up for the Sega Genesis, Super Fantasy Zone.
Played through on the default difficulty level. This video was recorded from the original 50hz PAL Mega Drive release of the game. Super Fantasy Zone didn't receive an NTSC English release until 2008 when it appeared on the Wii's Virtual Console service.
It seems a bit strange that Sunsoft, and not Sega themselves, would produce a Fantasy Zone game for a Sega system, but it's difficult to argue with the results here.
Super Fantasy Zone plays just like the original arcade game, but the game has seen a few upgrades and improvements to its controls and the shop/ship upgrade system, as well as a massive overhaul to the entire presentation.
The Fantasy Zone games may initially look your garden variety horizontally-scrolling shmup dressed up in pastels, but it feels very different from the likes of Gradius or Darius. The goal of each stage is to destroy each of the enemy generators (marked by the icons at the bottom of the screen), after which the boss will appear. But, the game doesn't scroll on rails: you can freely travel left or right, and the screen follows your ship in a way similar to that seen in Defender.
Each stage has an item shop from which you can buy a variety of engine upgrades, shields, special attacks, and improved weapons with money collected from enemies. The upgrades you take have a huge impact on how you approach the challenges of each stage, and it pays to be careful with your spending, because those upgrades only last until you die. If you get wiped out, you have to buy them all again, and each time you purchase something its price increases. If you blow all your money and get killed at a boss, you're going to find yourself having a very hard time. The game isn't among the harder Genesis shooters, but it isn't a cakewalk. It doesn't have any qualms about killing you if you lose your focus, and knowing the patterns is a must. It is a lot of fun, though, and quite satisfying to beat.
The gameplay is extremely smooth and never slows down regardless of how crowded the screen gets, and the use of color is excellent - the entire game carries a happy-go-lucky cartoon vibe, and it pulls it off far better than the original arcade game ever did.
The music is even better than the graphics, believe it or not, and marks a real high point for Genesis audio. Naoki Kodaka (Sunsoft's resident composing genius) worked on this one, and his work here rivals even that of his stellar Genesis Batman soundtrack. In my humble opinion, the soundtrack really helps elevate an already excellent game to classic status.
The style and the free-form gameplay might not be to everyone's taste, but it's hard to imagine anyone finding much to complain about here. Super Fantasy Zone's rock solid gameplay and lavish production values makes it a standout in the system's library, and it's a perfect pick for the upcoming Genesis Mini.
I just wonder why the US never saw a release of this one back in the early 90s!
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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