Phantasy Star

[bobster]

So in the 10/10 games thread I saw someone mention Phantasy Star as one of theirs. Rather than derail the thread, I figured I'd post this here.

As someone who didn't grow up with anything Sega until I bought a Dreamcast after they were discontinued, I've had very little exposure to Phantasy Star (or Shining Force while we're at it.) Where would you start if you were coming into this new? I see there's a couple remakes/re-releases of the original four. Would you recommend them? Also, are the online versions any good? I was thinking about picking up the PSO games for the Dreamcast and maybe playing local multiplayer with my girlfriend if that's possible.

[soera]

Phantasy star and PSO are two entirely different boats. Its the same as Metroid and Metroid prime.

As far as the games themselves, I would most definitely start with the 1st game. Any version works too. SMS, GBA, any of the compilations. I would actually recommend one of the compilations cause you end up with all 4 games (#1 requires unlocking on most of them but 2/3/4 are available from the start and usually unlocking the first one only takes 15-20 minutes). SMS version is great but its expensive compared to all the others.

PSO I couldnt stand. Just like Metroid prime, it shouldnt even have the PS name on it. Other people have enjoyed it but, for me, it was painfully slow and boring. Of course I didnt try the online aspect. I tried to play it co-op with my buddy. We ended up walking around in a circle for hours trying to figure out what we could do to advance and nothing. We eventually gave up and never went back.

[bobster]

Any idea why you'd need to unlock #1? That seems strange to me.

I do have some experience with PSO. If I remember correctly, I signed up for a beta for a PC version back in the day. It was somewhat fun playing with my room mate at the time, but seemed repetitive. From what I've ready, it seems like later versions may have focused more on single player story, but with online components.

[soera]

I didnt understand the unlocking thing either. I bought the game for the PS3 for PS1 and Golden axe warrior so I could play them in my living room and both of those two games required unlocking. But once its unlocked, its available for good. And it took less than an hour to unlock both of them. The game is only like $20 new so its definitely worth the price to play considering either of those games on the SMS itself is $50+ not to mention the rest of the games :

    Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
    Alien Storm
    Altered Beast
    Beyond Oasis/The Story of Thor
    Bonanza Bros.
    Columns
    Comix Zone
    Decap Attack
    Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
    Dynamite Headdy
    Ecco the Dolphin
    Ecco: The Tides of Time
    ESWAT: City Under Siege
    Fatal Labyrinth
    Flicky
    Gain Ground
    Golden Axe
    Golden Axe II
    Golden Axe III
    Kid Chameleon
    Phantasy Star II
    Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom
    Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
    Ristar
    Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention
    Shining Force II: The Ancient Seal
    Shining in the Darkness
    Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master
    Sonic & Knuckles
    Sonic the Hedgehog
    Sonic the Hedgehog 2
    Sonic the Hedgehog 3
    Sonic 3D Flickies Island/Blast
    Sonic Spinball
    Streets of Rage
    Streets of Rage 2
    Streets of Rage 3
    Super Thunder Blade
    Vectorman
    Vectorman 2
    Alien Syndrome (arcade)
    Altered Beast (arcade)
    Congo Bongo (arcade)
    Fantasy Zone (arcade)
    Golden Axe Warrior (Sega Master System)
    Phantasy Star (Sega Master System)
    Shinobi (arcade)
    Space Harrier (arcade)
    Zaxxon (arcade)

Also has the first 2 Shining force games since you mentioned those as well.

[bobster]

I'm definitely thinking this is the way to go. If i end up really liking some of those games, I'll purchase them for the actual console at that point .

[kimimi]

Phantasy Star 1 and 4 are amazing, 2 was good but is incredibly grindy and dated now and 3 was never good to start with. Phantasy Star Online is totally different bar a few name-checks and designs, and it's also brilliant If you want to play multiplayer you'll have to pick up one of the GC releases as the DC games only supported online multiplayer. The GC games also have extra classes/quests/areas/weapons, etc.

[bobster]

GC version seems like the thing to do. Especially with my wavebird controllers, it'd be much more comfortable to play . Anyone have any opinions on the remakes? I think they were called Phantasy Star Generations?

[kimimi]

The remakes are very good - and Japan only

[bobster]

So it is! I guess that excludes me

[soera]

The Gamecube PSO games are among the most expensive games on the system.
http://videogames.pricecharting.com/game/gamecube/phantasy-star-online
http://videogames.pricecharting.com/game/gamecube/phantasy-star-online-episode-i-&-ii-plus

There is apparently also a card game but I have 0 info on it at all.
http://videogames.pricecharting.com/game/gamecube/phantasy-star-iii-card-revolution

The cube version is the one I played. Not sure if the Dreamcast version is any different.

[desocietas]

This thread reminded me of this one: http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,4086.0.html

There might be info in there that might be of help, too!

[bobster]

The Gamecube PSO games are among the most expensive games on the system.
http://videogames.pricecharting.com/game/gamecube/phantasy-star-online
http://videogames.pricecharting.com/game/gamecube/phantasy-star-online-episode-i-&-ii-plus

There is apparently also a card game but I have 0 info on it at all.
http://videogames.pricecharting.com/game/gamecube/phantasy-star-iii-card-revolution

The cube version is the one I played. Not sure if the Dreamcast version is any different.

Yeah I've noticed that those are on the pricier side. I guess at this point I'll try the original 4 and if I really like them, I'll pick up the GC versions of PSO assuming I don't run into them on the cheap before then.

Deso: Thanks for the link, I'll read through that thread in a second

[soera]

The only other thing I can add is if you are considering PSO, dont think of it as "PS" at all. It literally has nothing to do with the SMS/Genesis games at all other than the name Phantasy star on the front of the game/title screen.

And lol, I guess I gave you the same advice I gave the other person on the thread Deso posted.

[bobster]

The only other thing I can add is if you are considering PSO, dont think of it as "PS" at all. It literally has nothing to do with the SMS/Genesis games at all other than the name Phantasy star on the front of the game/title screen.

And lol, I guess I gave you the same advice I gave the other person on the thread Deso posted.

The first thing I noticed in that thread was you gave the exact same advice lol. I guess I should have done a search of the forum to see if that'd already been posted. Sorry to repeat a thread only 2 months later .

Like I said earlier, I did play one of the PSO betas and enjoyed the world and setting a lot. I'll try not to have it affect my judgement of the original ones though. I'm just excited to be digging into some of the Sega classics!

[desocietas]

The first thing I noticed in that thread was you gave the exact same advice lol. I guess I should have done a search of the forum to see if that'd already been posted. Sorry to repeat a thread only 2 months later .

Haha, it happens.  The title of that one is also not very obvious in regard to what the thread ended up being about.