Fantasy Zone

aka: 3D Fantasy Zone, 3D Fantasy Zone: Opa-Opa Brothers, SEGA AGES: Fantasy Zone
Moby ID: 8220
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Description official descriptions

The Fantasy Zone is a solar system consisting of eight brightly colored, fantastic planets. The evil Menons are trying to take over all of the planets in the Fantasy Zone by using misappropriated foreign currency to build their forces. It is the player's job to recover all of the coins and save the solar system!

Fantasy Zone is an arcade style shooter for one or two players. The goal is to destroy all of the creatures on each planet and collect as many of the lost coins as possible. To be allowed to battle the boss of a level player will have to locate with the help of their radar ten of the enemy bases and destroy them. The boss enemy that will then have to be defeated before moving on to the next world.

At various points in the game, the player will be able to find a parts shop, which allows purchasing improvements for his spaceship, including better weapons and faster engines.

Some differences worth noting when between the original arcade version and its ports are:

  • Sega Master System and MSX version - Lacks the base location radar, six bases are found per stage as opposed to the original ten, two of the bosses are completely different.
  • NES Sunsoft version - There are only eight bases per stage instead of ten.
  • NES Tengen version - There are only six bases per stage instead of ten.
  • Sharp X68000 version - Contains an arrange mode in which the bases drop letters in the word Harrier. Spelling Harrier in each level will reward the player an extra Space Harrier themed level called Dragon Land that let the player battle all the bosses from that game.
  • 3DS version - Has game options like setting the number of lives to start with, setting the difficulty level, and selecting the firing speed of the ships weapons. Once a level is unlocked it becomes available on a level select screen. Also, coins get added to a coin stock and can be carried over to subsequent games.

This version also has an unlockable Upa-Upa mode where the player controls Opa-Opa’s brother. In this mode, weapons can be switched on the fly, with the penalty being that each shot will cost the player coins. The game also has a unique ending which differs from the original version. Another unlockable in this game will replace two of the Arcade version bosses with the Sega Master System's versions bosses.

Spellings

  • 3D ファンタジーゾーン オパオパブラザーズ - 3DS Japanese spelling
  • SEGA AGES ファンタジーゾーン - Japanese Nintendo Switch spelling
  • ファンタジーゾーン - Japanese spelling

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Credits (SEGA Master System version)

14 People (10 developers, 4 thanks)

Programmer
Design
Music
Director
Special Thanks
Produced by
  • Sega

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 75% (based on 33 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 51 ratings with 1 reviews)

Fast, colorful and fun. One more reason to own a Master System.

The Good
There's not much to not like about Fantasy Zone. It's cutesy presentation is deceptive. Underneath is a tough but balanced shooter.

The Bad
Short ending.

The Bottom Line
Judging by it's looks, Fantasy Zone is deceptive. What appears on the outside is not what awaits you inside. Your job is to destroy all the bases within a level, then to fight the boss. While you are attempting to do this, there are tons of on-screen enemies that will either float on past, or open fire on you. You are armed with two weapons, a cannon and bombs. For each enemy you destroy, a small (or large) coin will fall. Collect this money and eventually it adds up so you can buy faster engines, bigger bombs or cannons. Defeating an end level boss will award you with a lot of coins. There are a total of 8 bosses, the last one being the most difficult. The best way to tame this game, is with a turbo controller. If you can grab one of these it's a walk in the park. If not, be prepared for a long battle.

SEGA Master System · by Ash_1 (74) · 2004

Discussion

Subject By Date
Pending correction Corn Popper (68975) Oct 26, 2010

Trivia

Cartridge

Fantasy Zone was the first ever Master System game to be released on cartridge. With their 32 kilobyte limitation, Sega Cards were no longer a viable option for modern games.

Opa-Opa

The main character of this game, Opa-Opa, has been an unofficial mascot of sorts for Sega, and has been seen in other games such as Zillion, Alex Kidd, and Phantasy Star Online.

Information also contributed by chirinea

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Related Sites +

  • Fantasy Zone
    A Fantasy Zone fan site displaying anything and everything related to the game. The site includes information, screenshot comparisons between consoles, promotional items, cameos, spin-offs and more about each Fantasy Zone game.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 8220
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Servo.

Nintendo 3DS added by Michael Cassidy. Arcade added by 666gonzo666. Nintendo Switch added by Rik Hideto. MSX added by Martin Smith. Wii added by gamewarrior. Sharp X68000 added by Terok Nor. TurboGrafx-16, NES added by Katakis | カタキス. SEGA Saturn added by ケヴィン.

Additional contributors: J. Michael Bottorff, chirinea, coenak, Fred VT, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, Harmony♡.

Game added January 22, 2003. Last modified September 30, 2024.