A note on translations: for the purpose of this e-zine I will be going by the script
from the original English release of the game. For example, I will be referring to
Lutz as Noah and using feminine pronouns, because that’s what the in-game
text says.
All packaging photographs were taken by me. All screenshots were taken by me
on an Aiwa VX-S207 CRT TV. All words by me. Any other resource I used is
credited below.
Credits
Shmuplations - World of Phantasy Star Book: Phantasy Star 1993 Developer
Interview
(https://shmuplations.com/phantasystar/) - Reiko Kodama picture, quote about
Noah, dungeon cake shop picture
Nintendocomplete - Phantasy Star (Master System) Playthrough
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHez3iJePI4)
Moby Games - Phantasy Star Master System Credits
(https://www.mobygames.com/game/8194/phantasy-star/credits/sega-mastersystem/?autoplatform=true)
This e-zine is not endorsed, approved, or authorized by Sega Corporation, Sega
of America, or Sega Europe. All rights, including game visuals, packaging, and
trademarked names belong to their respective property owners.
Feel free to scan, post, and/or copy anything in here. Please just credit and
don’t sell it!
Welcome to My Phantasy Zone
For better or worse, the majority of my childhood memories involve video games,
the most vivid of which is the moment I first saw Phantasy Star II. I was eight years old
and at the house of a neighborhood kid named Mike Jones (not the rapper). In his
basement hooked up to the family’s large projection TV was the most futuristic video
game console I had ever seen, a Sega Genesis. I just looked at the machine in awe. The
1989 Batman film had just released and this was like the console equivalent of the
Batmobile in that movie, which I was absolutely obsessed with. Sleek and shiny, the
Genesis was a far cry from the boxy NES I had at home (which I loved).
Mike asked me what game I wanted to play. Oh yeah, this thing isn’t just for gawking
at. It plays games! He pulled out a wicker basket with some cartridges in it. I don’t
remember any of the games in the basket except the one I was drawn to, Phantasy
Star II. The classy gold logo on the top of the cartridge reminded me of my favorite
NES game, The Legend of Zelda, but the art on the front had an other-worldly and
grown up feel to it, like something on the cover of a progressive rock album or Heavy
Metal magazine; things I had only seen in passing from a distance.
We put the cartridge in and I was immediately transfixed. This was the first 16-bit
console game I had ever seen in person. The visuals and audio possessed a level of
fidelity that I had never experienced before. This was a living, breathing world to
explore. The closest thing to an RPG I had played at this point was Zelda, so the turnbased combat was new, but I definitely didn’t hate it. However, combat wasn’t what I
was most interested in. What I remember the most about that time was the dark and
unsettling opening cutscene that transitioned into a jaunty, positive tune as you
explored the utopian (or is it??) town of Paseo.
And explored I did! While it may not seem like much today, this town felt like a
massive, bustling metropolis compared to Zelda’s old people in caves. I talked to
everyone, went in every building, and immediately connected with the late-80s anime
character portraits, an art style that would inform my tastes for years to come. I
didn’t quite have the media literacy and reading skills to fully understand what was
happening, but I could glean that despite the utopian appearance, something was not
right below the surface.
Phantasy Star II compelled me to no end, and when I got home from Mike’s that
evening, I announced to my mom that from this point forward, I would be saving my
allowance to purchase a Sega Genesis. Keeping up with the Joneses, as they say. It
took me five or six (agonizing) months, but I finally picked up my Sega Genesis
(bundled with Sonic the Hedgehog!) from Kmart layaway. I kept an eye out for
Phantasy Star II, but it was always too expensive ($50 - $70 in 1991 dollars!) and
remained unattainable for years.
It wasn’t until a decade after playing Phantasy Star II in Mike Jones’ basement that I
would play another Phantasy Star game. Phantasy Star Online launched for the Sega
Dreamcast in North America on January 30th, 2001, and now a teenager with a job, I
was able to buy it at launch. While I loved my Nintendo and Sony systems, the
Dreamcast connected with me in a whole different way, with its innovative, cool, and
colorful first-party releases. I had played EverQuest at this point, but the anime sci-fi
aesthetic of PSO was the online world I wanted to inhabit.
The next day, Sega announced that they were discontinuing the Dreamcast and
leaving the hardware business.
Honestly? This announcement just made me double down on my love for the
Dreamcast, and over the next few months I played PSO pretty much daily, both solo
and online. Like a loved one with a terminal illness, I was determined to spend as much
quality time as possible with my Dreamcast, and racked up hundreds of hours in PSO.
But eventually, after seeing everything the game (and its Ver. 2 update) had to offer,
multiple times, it was time to move on.
But I didn’t want to move on.
Unsurprisingly, I had fallen deeply in love with the Phantasy Star universe, and while
PSO wasn’t a direct sequel, it did reference the older games in the series. I decided it
was finally time to give them a proper go. I bought a Master System, a copy of the first
game, and got to work. Over the next year or so I played through every game in the
series, sequentially. When I was done, I had a new favorite video game series.
These games are not perfect- they can be tedious, obtuse, and frustrating. But they
are also innovative, ambitious, heartfelt, progressive, and even offer some big and
challenging ideas about ourselves and our world.
This issue is all about the original Phantasy Star released on the Sega Master System.
The subsequent issues will cover its numbered sequels on the Genesis.
Whether you’re a diehard fan or only have a passing familiarity with the series, I hope
these digital zines help you appreciate these fascinating titles and the remarkable
people who created them even more.
-Ryan
@DefStan480 on socials (at the time of this writing: Twitter, Bluesky, Tumblr)
defstan480@gmail.com
www.blueskiesdaily.com
Developer: Sega R&D2
Publisher: Sega
Release Dates:
Japan: 12/20/1987
United States: 11/1988
Europe: 1988
With the growing popularity of role playing games in Japan in the mid-80s, Sega
knew they needed one for their 8-bit console. Sega asked for ideas from the
staff, and the pitch that was selected was from Chieko Aoki. The world of
Phantasy Star was so fully formed in Aoki’s pitch that according to staff
members, almost all of the dialogue that would make it into the game was
already there. Rieko Kodama (aka Phoenix Rie) was the lead character artist and
character designer, while Yuji Naka was the lead programmer, and responsible
for the game’s impressive 3D dungeons. Other key staff members include Miki
Morimoto (who would go on to direct the Master System version of Ys) and
Kotaro Hayashida (Alex Kid in Miracle World, Zillion). Phantasy Star was also
Sonic the Hedgehog designer Naoto Ohshima’s first project at Sega. The
incredible (with or without the FM Sound Unit) soundtrack was composed by
Tokuhiko Uwabo (aka Bo).
Phantasy Star starts with an ending- the death of Nero, Alis’ brother. Nero was
murdered by troops operating under Lassic, a brutal despot who, as Nero states in his
dying words, “is leading our world to destruction.” Nero had discovered Lassic’s
corruption and was killed for what he learned. Alis swears to continue her brother’s
work and sets off on her mission. This dark and somber opening cutscene was an
engaging and unique setup compared to the princess-rescuing stories of the era. There
are no princesses to be rescued in Phantasy Star. Alis is the protagonist, the powerful
warrior leading the party and persevering through challenges. Her in-game
characterization is minimal, but her resolve in this opening cutscene goes a long way.
From here, you take control of Alis in the town of Camineet and Phantasy Star begins
to resemble a more conventional console RPG of the era- until you enter the building to
the northeast of her. Like all of the buildings in the town, it’s a strange rounded shape,
making the game’s science fiction elements apparent. Once you’re in the building, the
game shifts from a conventional top-down perspective to a first-person one. The
movement is shockingly smooth for an 8-bit system; I honestly cannot imagine how
impressive this was at release. After you get a taste of the 3D dungeon crawling here
and find the treasure chest with money (called “meseta” in the Phantasy Star universe),
the game really settles into a more familiar console RPG experience. As you walk
around town talking to NPCs, you learn about Odin, the warrior Nero mentioned and a
spaceport to the west. If you go to the western edge of town you’ll see a walkway to
another area but the stormtrooper / Mandalorian-looking guards at the entrance won’t
grant you entry to the spaceport without a roadpass. In a home near the entrance to
the spaceport an old man will tell you about the planets in the Algol solar system:
Palma, a world of green (where you are now), Motavia, a sand planet, and Dezoris, a
world of ice. The single-biome planets here bring us to another interesting aspect of
Phantasy Star- its Star Wars inspiration. George Lucas was heavily influenced by Akira
Kurosawa and Japanese cinema when creating Star Wars, and Lucas' films would go on
to inspire Japanese creators in all mediums. While the science fiction aspects of
Phantasy Star make it stand out, the overall feel is closer to Star Wars’ “science
fantasy” rather than hard sci-fi.
Continuing through the town you come across some shops, including a “first food
shop” where you can buy cola and burgers, which act as healing items. Considering the
amount of text present, Phantasy Star’s localization is pretty impressive for the era, but
“first food” is an odd and awkward choice. It’s a silly and inconsequential piece of text
here, but unfortunately there are larger localization issues to come, ones that obscure
both series continuity and creator intent. But we’ll cross that walkway when we get to
it!
Camineet serves as a fantastic gateway into the world(s) of Phantasy Star. From the
mini dungeon to the gated off spaceport, the town hooks the player with impressive
tech and compelling possibilities. We know there are three planets in this solar system
and a spaceport- does that mean that we can take a ship to another planet? (Spoiler:
yes). But for now it’s time to honor the greatest of 8-bit RPG traditions: the grind.
When you leave the safety of Camineet and enter the overworld, you’ll be thrust into
a random battle in short order, most likely against a giant flying insect called a “sworm.”
You’ll need to fight these (and the more powerful winged eyeballs, who are inexplicably
named owl bears) for a while to earn xp and meseta, as you graduate to better
equipment and tougher enemies. Combat follows the turn-based menu conventions of
the era. Visiting a nearby town and pestering the merchant there will get you the pass
you need to proceed to the spaceport, and the game’s next major event.
In the spaceport you’ll learn a bit more about the other planets (and some galactic
politics). You’ll also need to answer some questions and pay a nominal fee to acquire a
passport and become a true citizen of the stars. Once you have the passport you can
board the Motavia-bound spacecraft for your first galactic voyage. All of the game’s
music to this point- town, dungeon, overworld, and combat- has been phenomenal, but
I really love the tune that plays as you travel in the spaceship. Maybe it’s the excitement
of the moment or simply the fact that you don’t hear it very often, but this tune gets me
pumped every time.
When you land on Motavia you emerge in the Paseo spaceport, where you learn
about the antlions in the desert, and strangely, a cake shop in the bottom of a cave on
Palma. This brings us to another reason why Phantasy Star rules- it’s deeply weird. In
the city proper you’ll meet a man offering to sell you a “rare animal” for a billion
meseta, which you don’t have. He will, however, also take a strange pot in trade. Give
him the Laconian pot and you’ll gain your first party member- an adorable talking cat
with a vial hanging from its neck named Myau. See, weird.
Alis and Myau endeavor to rescue Odin from the cave where he has been turned to
stone. But first, grinding. Motavia introduces some variations of enemies you fought on
Palma, but also some cool new ones, like the Jawa-esque E. Farmers. When you arrive at
the dungeon, it’s pitch-black, so you’ll need to use an item to illuminate the area. After
making your way through the fairly simple maze you’ll find Odin, turned to stone. Using
the vial of Alsulin carried by Myau, Odin is cured of his condition. He states his intent to
kill Lassic, but he also wants to kill Medusa, who was the one who turned him to stone
(and has an axe he covets).
Odin joins Alis and the town-grind-dungeon loop continues. Some great-looking
enemies like werebats and evildeads appear as you make your way to the dungeon with
the cake shop. After buying the shortcake, you’ll give it to a robot in Paseo to gain an
audience with Motavia’s governor.
The governor is sympathetic to your mission to kill Lassic and gives you a letter to
present to an “espar” named Noah. While this character is referred to as Noah here,
their name in Japanese (and future English localizations) is Lutz. To make matters more
confusing, the governor refers to Noah using female pronouns. Noah’s appearance is
androgynous, and when asked about their gender, Rieko Kodama stated: “In the original
story drafts of Phantasy Star, Lutz was a hermaphrodite, and as Alisa (Alis) grew up, Lutz
could become male or female. I thought that was interesting so I depicted Lutz that
way.” Later entries in the series present Lutz as male. Despite (or maybe partly because
of) all of this confusion, they remain a fascinating part of the series lore.
After your conversation, the governor encourages you to rest at his estate. After
falling asleep the game cuts to a combat screen. The background is pitch black and the
enemy before you is “Saccubus,” a gruesome disembodied head that wipes out your
entire party. A text box appears on a black background and states: “You had a bad
dream.” The governor reappears and tells you he has faith that you will kill Lassic and
sends you on your way.
The dream sequence is one of my favorite moments in the game. It’s an unsettling
subversion and nearly every time I get to it during a replay I have a moment of panic,
trying to remember if I’m supposed to be able to win or not. It’s not only a memorable
story moment, but another way the Phantasy Star team was thinking outside of the box
in terms of game design of the era.
From here it’s time to go find Noah. After making your way through the dungeon, you
walk in on her training and she’s not too happy to see you. But after showing Noah the
governor’s letter, she agrees to join you. Next stop? According to Noah, it’s “The Gothic
manhole in the spaceport.” Well, ok then.
The town of Gothic is back on Palma, and you indeed take a manhole in the spaceport
to enter the dungeon that takes you there. Gothic is unlike any town you’ve visited so
far. The homes are decrepit and empty, and all of the NPCs are wearing rags. They’ll talk
to you, but only if you spare them a cup of cola. You’ll learn that someone named
Doctor Luveno once had a lab here, but he “went bonkers” and has been imprisoned.
You’ll find the doctor locked away in the jail to the south of Gothic. He initially refuses
to help you because he says he cannot accept “such responsibility,” but if you badger
him enough, he relents and (now freed from his cell) offers to meet you in Gothic. Also in
one of the dungeon cells is a giant spider who tells you about the solvent “polymeteral.”
It’s a very strange encounter, given no further explanation.
After he is set back up in his lab with his assistant present, Doctor Luveno agrees to
build you a spaceship. Once it’s complete he tells you to find a robot named Hapsby to
fly it. Hapsby is buried under a pile of junk that you need to use polymeteral to dissolve.
As you travel around on this quest you begin to see the impact of Lassic- more towns
are run down or destroyed and people are fearful. It’s a far cry from the relative bliss of
Camineet at the beginning of the game.
With a pilot for Doctor Luveno’s spaceship, you now have more travel options. In
Uzo on Motavia you learn of a landrover that is able to bypass the antlions on the
planet’s surface. You’ll purchase the landrover in the nearby town of Casba, only to get
vehicle FOMO when residents tell you of a hovercraft that can travel over water. The
landrover certainly aids in traveling over treacherous surfaces, and it’s just a cool,
unique vehicle in the context of 8-bit RPGs. And yet, the most unconventional vehicle
in Phantasy Star is still to come later in the game.
For now, the landrover will help you get to the hovercraft, which you can use to
travel to Drasgow, a small island town on Palma seemingly untouched by Lassic’s
wickedness. Here you can purchase a gas shield, which will protect the party from the
fumes surrounding the town of Sopia on Motavia.
This chunk of the game can feel extremely tedious, going back and forth between
two planets, making incremental progress via fetch quests with minimal story.
Fortunately, things will pick up soon.
In Sopia, the residents tell of a time when their town was prosperous, before Lassic.
The town elder explains the plight of the townsfolk and asks for a meager donation.
When you give it to him, he tells you that the shield Perseus used to defeat Medusa is
buried on an island.
Medusa appearing in a game doesn’t necessarily mean it has ties to Greek Mythology
(see Castlevania, released a year prior to Phantasy Star). But by bringing Perseus into
the mix, the mythology becomes something worth acknowledging. How did Perseus’
shield end up on another planet in another solar system? I mean, the obvious answer is
just because it’s a cool idea, but still, it’s something fun to think about.
The best NPC in Sopia however, is Miki. When you enter her home she asks you the
most important question you can ask someone: “Do you like Sega games?” If you
answer no, she asks “then why have you played so far?” But if you answer yes (the
correct choice) she responds “Of Course! Sega games are best.” This fourth-wall
breaking moment is great for two reasons 1) it’s just cute and fun, and 2) Miki is the ingame representation of Miki Morimoto, a designer on the game!
After going to the island and grabbing the mirror shield for Odin it’s time to get some
more story (and a great piece of armor) for Noah. Tarzimal’s cave is located on Motavia
and filled with challenging enemies- some new, some palette swaps. One highlight is
batalion, a palette swapped version of zombie, which drops its jaw to its stomach while
liquid pours out its mouth as it attacks. It’s gross when the zombie does it, but the grey
and red batalion looks even more sickly. Another enemy encountered here is the
amundsen- a tall, orange, humanoid creature with jagged spikes protruding from its
head and limbs. It’s a very unique and cool enemy design!
At the bottom of the dungeon you will find Noah’s teacher, Tarzimal. He tells Noah
that if she’s going to fight Lassic, she needs to pass a final test which means defeating
her teacher in a duel. During this battle you only control Noah- a small but surprising
change from the party-based combat you’ve grown accustomed to. When you defeat
Tarzimal, he tells Noah that she has grown stronger and is now prepared to fight Lassic.
As a reward for completing her training, he gives Noah a “Frad Mantle,” a strong piece
of armor. It’s another small thing, but this moment does carry some weight considering
when you met Noah she was focused on her solitary training, but the way she truly grew
stronger was by adventuring with Alis and company.
With all that squared away, it’s time to travel to the third and final planet in the
game. Keeping with the Star Wars-inspired single biome theme, Dezoris is a white, icy
planet. When your ship lands outside of Skure, you have to go through a tunnel to get
to the town proper. In the tunnel, you will have your first encounter with Dezorians, tall
green-skinned people who are the natives of the planet. They try to kill you.
Once in the town, which mostly consists of Palma emigrants, you learn a few pieces
of interesting information. For one, there are places in the mountains that are
impassable on foot due to ice. You also learn that Lassic fears Laconian weapons, which
are hidden away in side-dungeons. Finally, you hear about a village of Dezorians in the
far reaches of the mountains, and that their people value something called an Eclipse
Torch, which is lit during the eclipse that occurs every 100 years.
On your way to the village you will likely encounter a horseman, one of the coolest
enemies in the game. He’s a centaur covered in shiny blue armor with a brutal mask and
big sword. He can hit you with his sword or throw fireballs at you (horsemen can be
found in other areas of the game as well, this just seemed like a good time to write
about them). Once you get to the Dezorian village you’ll notice that it has a
symmetrical layout and is essentially divided into two halves. And the best part? Each
half of the town says the other half is lying, so you get a bunch of information about
dungeons and laerma nuts but you have no idea what’s true so it’s all kinda useless! The
visit to the town is not useless however, as you can buy an ice digger from a shop here.
This vehicle has two drills on the front that can clear away icebergs in a very satisfying
fashion. The digger will help you make your way to a cave with the Aeroprism, a crucial
item for later in the game. The prism is guarded by Titans, large angry ogres that take up
a good chunk of the screen and are wearing nothing but shorts and boots.
The next stop is Corona Tower. This dungeon is pretty intimidating because the
interior is extremely red and black, like a delve into a Virtual Boy game. There are some
pretty great enemies in this area, like sorcerers with red robes and skeletal tubes
hanging from their masks.
When you get to the end of the dungeon you’ll find a Dezorian who offers to trade
you some fire from the Eclipse Torch for a gem from a dragon. With the torch in tow,
it’s time to blast through some icebergs in your digger and find a lone tree. When you
use the torch on the tree you’ll get a Laerma Nut. Put this in the Laconian Pot (which
you reclaimed by killing Dr. Mad earlier).
We’re nearing the last stretch of the game and arguably its toughest challenge: Baya
Malay. You start by making your way through a prison where Lassic keeps his captives.
Most are despondent, telling you that there’s no point to even trying to take on Lassic.
Others are hysterical, like the woman who states that Lassic is planning to sacrifice
them. Once you make it through the prison, there’s a short passage to traverse, and
then it’s time for Baya Malay Tower itself, a lengthy and brutally difficult dungeon.
In the dungeon you’ll run into Damor the Soothsayer, who will ask you some weird
questions. Answer them all “correct” and he’ll give you a magic crystal. Following this,
you’ll make your way to the top of the tower and emerge at a spot overlooking the
mountains and trees of Palma. Use the prism here and a castle will appear in the sky.
Now comes one of my favorite moments in the game.
Atop Baya Malay Tower you can see Lassic’s floating castle in the distance. How do
you get there? Take the Laerma Nut from your inventory and give it to Myau. There’s a
cute, magical cutscene where Myau transforms “into a beautiful winged beast.”
Everyone hops on Myau’s back and flies to the castle, where the party is attacked by a
gold dragon. There have been plenty of dragons in the game so far, but this one is by
far the best. Part of that comes from it being stationed outside of Lassic’s flying castle
guarding the entrance (a sky battle!), and the other part is that it’s simply a cool looking
dragon. It has a huge open wingspan, a mean face, and claws positioned ready to
attack. The gold dragon’s primary attack is breathing fire, which also looks awesome.
After defeating the dragon, you head to Lassic’s castle for the final showdown. But
before you enter the castle there are some homes on the outskirts. In each home there
is an old man, most of them won’t say anything, but one warns you not to go against
Lassic. In the last home you walk in there is a serpent that you have to fight. This whole
sequence is eerie, similar to the empty town before Dracula’s Castle at the end of
Castlevania II (which was released around the same time as Phantasy Star). I like it a lot.
Also worth noting, the music for both the sky town and Lassic’s castle is incredible. It’s
always nice to get some great music towards the end of a challenging game, as a little
treat for persevering.
The walls in Lassic’s Castle are all gold, a sign of the opulence of its inhabitant. It’s
not a long dungeon, and finally you are face to face with the man himself. Lassic calls
you “his children” before asking if you “really wish to kill an old man.”
That’s weird.
The battle is tough, but shorter than you’d expect considering what you went
through to get to this point. The post-battle text reads: “Lassic has died. Alis
accomplished her wish. Nero is satisfied now in heaven. Hurry to the governor!”
With Lassic defeated, it’s off to The Governor’s mansion on Motavia to share the
great news. This should be your Dragon Quest I-esque victory lap through the land, but
it’s not. Enemies continue to attack as if you haven’t just overthrown the tyrannical
ruler of the Algol System.
That’s weird.
You get to The Governor’s mansion and he’s not there. You fall through a trap door,
into a dungeon beneath the mansion.
The dungeon looks and sounds similar to others in the game, and there aren’t too
many enemies (just a couple of giants, an androcop, and a red dragon). Still, I find a
dungeon existing beneath the mansion of a government official to be pretty unsettling.
What’s behind the last door of the dungeon is even more frightening. In front of a
stark black background, Darkfalz fills nearly the entire screen. Darkfalz is a giant blue,
Gigeresque creature with red eyes and terrifying dagger-like teeth. It fires extremely
damaging energy bursts from its mouth, making this a grueling fight.
When you finally defeat it, the screen goes completely black and simply reads:
“Darkfalz is killed.”
Suddenly you’re back in the mansion, where the governor explains that he was
possessed by evil. He thanks the party and drops the bombshell on Alis that her father
was once king of Algol, before Lassic rose to power. The governor gives Alis (the player)
the choice whether or not to take her father’s throne and become queen of Algol.
Regardless of your choice, peace has returned to the Algol system. The ending text
reads: “A gentle breeze caresses Baya Malay. But does the breeze knows [sic] of the
hardships that they endured?” After showing the characters one last time, the final
message before the credits reads: “Even though the memories of evil fade away, their
names will be kept in the hearts of the people of the Algol [sic] forever!!!” The credits
are displayed on the walls of a dungeon. A cute touch, even if the player may have had
enough dungeons for the time being.
Phantasy Star Credits (parenthesis = how names appear in the game)
Executive Planning: Kotaro Hayashida (Ossale Kohta)
Story: April Fool
Scenario Writer: Kotaro Hayashida (Ossale Kohta)
Assistant Coordinators: Pata (as Finos Pata), Chieko Aoki (Otegami Chie), Miki Morimoto
(Gamer Miki)
Monster Design: Kazuyuki Shibata (Chaotic Kaz)
Design: Naoto Ohshima (Rocky Nao), Koki Sadamori (Sadamorian) Takako Kawaguchi
(Myau Choko), G Chie, Yonesan (as Yonesan)
Executive Design: Rieko Kodama (Phoehix Rie)
Game Testing: Works Nishi (as Works Nishi)
Assistant Programmers: Com Blue (as Com Blue), Asi (as Asi), Masahiro Wakayama (M
Waka)
Sound: Tokuhiko Uwabo (Bo)
Lead Programming: Yuji Naka (Muuuu Yuji)
Presented by Sega
Standard Definition Gaming will return
with Phantasy Star II