Super Fantasy Zone
Encyclopedia
Super Fantasy Zone was the last addition to the Fantasy Zone
series of video games and was released for the Sega Mega Drive. It was originally released in Europe
and Japan
but, for unknown reasons, not in the United States
. However, North America would eventually receive the game in the form of a Virtual Console
release on July 21, 2008.
The game is a free moving shoot 'em up
, like its side-scrolling predecessors, and essentially has the same core gameplay as the arcade original.
The soundtrack to the game was composed by Naoki Kodaka, but also features themes from earlier Fantasy Zone games composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi.
The Gold Values are as follows:
5000, 2000, 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 10 gold
To buy weapons, etc, the player has to fly into the "shop". The shop is shown as a red weather balloon. Here many different items may be purchased to increase Opa-Opa's chances of victory.
The items for sale and their prices are as follows:
SPEED UPGRADES:
1: Big Wings, 200 Gold.
An upgrade from the small wings.
2: Jet Engine, 5,000 Gold.
An upgrade from the Big Wings.
3: Turbo Engine, 20,000 Gold.
An upgrade from the Jet Engine.
4: Rocket Engine, 100,000 Gold.
Insanely fast; the ultimate upgrade.
WEAPON UPGRADES:
1: Wide Beam, 1,000 Gold.
This item shoots off semicircles of energy. Can be useful at close range.
2: Laser Beam, 4,000 Gold.
The laser is a powerful weapon that fires a continuous beam of energy that damages enemies greatly.
3: 7-Way Shot, 10,000 Gold.
This item has a large range.
4: Cross-Rang, 20,000 Gold.
A boomerang-type weapon.
BOMB UPGRADES:
1: Twin Bomb, 200 Gold.
Double the firepower of the default weapon.
2: Quartets, 1,000 Gold.
Four heat-seeking missiles.
SPECIAL WEAPONS:
1: Ultra Bomb, 2,000 Gold.
A powerful bomb, with cumulative damage.
2: Heavy Bomb, 2,000 Gold.
A giant weight that kills any enemies that are under the player.
3: Thunder Volt, 2,000 Gold.
Random thunderbolts strike across the screen.
4: Hurricane, 2,000 Gold.
Whirlwinds spiral out from the player's ship, killing anything that comes in contact with
them.
5: Smart Bomb, 2,000 Gold.
Destroys all weaker enemies on screen. This does not include Enemy Generators or bosses.
6: BackFire, 2,000 Gold.
A burst of flame comes from behind the ship.
7: Shower Bombs, 2,000 Gold.
Six bombs are dropped from the player's ship.
OTHER ITEMS:
1: Extra Life, 5,000 Gold.
Another chance.
2: Shield, 40,000 Gold.
A bubble will surround the player's ship and defend the player from attacks for a short time.
3: Rubber Boots, 5,000 Gold.
Useful to insulate electricity.
4: Super Lights, 4,000 Gold.
Used to see in the dark.
The boss for level one is a giant floating pumpkin, which can be seen on the cover art for the game. Its attacks by spitting a seed that splits into eight spiraling projectiles once it lines up with Opa-Opa either vertically or horizontally. It also teleports around the screen, moving to where Opa-Opa has just been.
Round Two - Kazarne
The boss for level two is a metal face covered with small gun turrets, which all need to be destroyed to defeat it. The gun turrets shoot in turn, and when a couple have been destroyed the rest will start to rotate.
Round Three - Niagara
This boss is a floating metal fish, which attacks by sucking the player in and shooting scales at them. It is hard to kill as the only time it is vulnerable is when it is inhaling, and this is when its mouth is open.
Round Four -Risscave
This boss is a metal octopus, which attacks by swinging its axe-like tentacles and shooting at the player. The only vulnerable part of this boss is its face.
Round Five - Grandiuss
The boss for this level are two square stone heads. They move in sequence, parallel to each other round the screen. As they move they open and close their eyes, and they can only be damaged when their eyes are open.
Round Six - Le-Picker
The boss for this level is a metal ship that conducts electricity from the ground and air, and then uses it to fire balls of energy at the player. When he has run out of energy he charges again, creating bolts of energy at his top and bottom.
Round Seven - Aflorious
This Boss is a giant nautilus that fires balls of energy at the player. Once the player destroys him, it multiplies. First into four, then into sixteen. Although the smallest nautili do not shoot at Opa-Opa, they remain on-screen when defeated, still able to kill by collision.
Round Eight - Menone
A gambit where you must defeat every boss you have faced so far. You can use the shop before the start of this round.
is extremely similar to Level One's (Picknica) theme. Given Sonic 3D Blast was released later than Super Fantasy Zone, it's plausible that this was thrown in as an easter egg
reference.
Fantasy Zone
thumb|Fantasy Zone arcade PCB is a surreal arcade game released by Sega in 1986. It was later ported to a wide variety of consoles, including the Sega Master System. The player controls a sentient spaceship named Opa-Opa who fights nonsensical invader enemies in the titular group of planets, full...
series of video games and was released for the Sega Mega Drive. It was originally released in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
but, for unknown reasons, not in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. However, North America would eventually receive the game in the form of a Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
release on July 21, 2008.
The game is a free moving shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
, like its side-scrolling predecessors, and essentially has the same core gameplay as the arcade original.
The soundtrack to the game was composed by Naoki Kodaka, but also features themes from earlier Fantasy Zone games composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi.
Story
The game follows Opa-Opa as he fights to avenge the death of his father, (O-papa), who was killed defending the Fantasy Zone against the invading "Dark Menon". Opa-Opa must rid the Fantasy Zone of the minions of the Dark Menon and restore peace.Gameplay
Opa-Opa must clear the levels by moving through them and shooting down all of the "Enemy Generators". Once every "Enemy Generator" in the level has been destroyed a "Menon Guardian" will appear. These are essentially the bosses of each level. In order to obtain better weapons/equipment, etc, the player needs to collect gold. Gold coins can be collected when an enemy is destroyed. Vast amounts of Gold will also be given when Menon Guardians are defeated.The Gold Values are as follows:
5000, 2000, 1000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 10 gold
To buy weapons, etc, the player has to fly into the "shop". The shop is shown as a red weather balloon. Here many different items may be purchased to increase Opa-Opa's chances of victory.
The items for sale and their prices are as follows:
SPEED UPGRADES:
1: Big Wings, 200 Gold.
An upgrade from the small wings.
2: Jet Engine, 5,000 Gold.
An upgrade from the Big Wings.
3: Turbo Engine, 20,000 Gold.
An upgrade from the Jet Engine.
4: Rocket Engine, 100,000 Gold.
Insanely fast; the ultimate upgrade.
WEAPON UPGRADES:
1: Wide Beam, 1,000 Gold.
This item shoots off semicircles of energy. Can be useful at close range.
2: Laser Beam, 4,000 Gold.
The laser is a powerful weapon that fires a continuous beam of energy that damages enemies greatly.
3: 7-Way Shot, 10,000 Gold.
This item has a large range.
4: Cross-Rang, 20,000 Gold.
A boomerang-type weapon.
BOMB UPGRADES:
1: Twin Bomb, 200 Gold.
Double the firepower of the default weapon.
2: Quartets, 1,000 Gold.
Four heat-seeking missiles.
SPECIAL WEAPONS:
1: Ultra Bomb, 2,000 Gold.
A powerful bomb, with cumulative damage.
2: Heavy Bomb, 2,000 Gold.
A giant weight that kills any enemies that are under the player.
3: Thunder Volt, 2,000 Gold.
Random thunderbolts strike across the screen.
4: Hurricane, 2,000 Gold.
Whirlwinds spiral out from the player's ship, killing anything that comes in contact with
them.
5: Smart Bomb, 2,000 Gold.
Destroys all weaker enemies on screen. This does not include Enemy Generators or bosses.
6: BackFire, 2,000 Gold.
A burst of flame comes from behind the ship.
7: Shower Bombs, 2,000 Gold.
Six bombs are dropped from the player's ship.
OTHER ITEMS:
1: Extra Life, 5,000 Gold.
Another chance.
2: Shield, 40,000 Gold.
A bubble will surround the player's ship and defend the player from attacks for a short time.
3: Rubber Boots, 5,000 Gold.
Useful to insulate electricity.
4: Super Lights, 4,000 Gold.
Used to see in the dark.
Bosses
Round One - PicknicaThe boss for level one is a giant floating pumpkin, which can be seen on the cover art for the game. Its attacks by spitting a seed that splits into eight spiraling projectiles once it lines up with Opa-Opa either vertically or horizontally. It also teleports around the screen, moving to where Opa-Opa has just been.
Round Two - Kazarne
The boss for level two is a metal face covered with small gun turrets, which all need to be destroyed to defeat it. The gun turrets shoot in turn, and when a couple have been destroyed the rest will start to rotate.
Round Three - Niagara
This boss is a floating metal fish, which attacks by sucking the player in and shooting scales at them. It is hard to kill as the only time it is vulnerable is when it is inhaling, and this is when its mouth is open.
Round Four -Risscave
This boss is a metal octopus, which attacks by swinging its axe-like tentacles and shooting at the player. The only vulnerable part of this boss is its face.
Round Five - Grandiuss
The boss for this level are two square stone heads. They move in sequence, parallel to each other round the screen. As they move they open and close their eyes, and they can only be damaged when their eyes are open.
Round Six - Le-Picker
The boss for this level is a metal ship that conducts electricity from the ground and air, and then uses it to fire balls of energy at the player. When he has run out of energy he charges again, creating bolts of energy at his top and bottom.
Round Seven - Aflorious
This Boss is a giant nautilus that fires balls of energy at the player. Once the player destroys him, it multiplies. First into four, then into sixteen. Although the smallest nautili do not shoot at Opa-Opa, they remain on-screen when defeated, still able to kill by collision.
Round Eight - Menone
A gambit where you must defeat every boss you have faced so far. You can use the shop before the start of this round.
Fun Facts
-The music theme that plays in the Special Stages in the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis version of Sonic 3D BlastSonic 3D Blast
Sonic 3D is an isometric platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was developed in the United Kingdom by Traveller's Tales and published by Sega. The Japanese version was also Sega Saturn exclusive...
is extremely similar to Level One's (Picknica) theme. Given Sonic 3D Blast was released later than Super Fantasy Zone, it's plausible that this was thrown in as an easter egg
Easter egg
Easter eggs are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime.The oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans...
reference.