Phantasy Star

RETRO VIDEO GAME NEWS

My Arcade finally locked in an October 31st release date for its long-delayed Gamestation Retro Go handheld, an 8-inch, Switch-style device loaded with 200+ Capcom and Bandai Namco classics like Pac-Man, Mega Man, and Street Fighter II, priced at $199 and up for preorder at GameStop.

Meanwhile, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers got a fresh NES drop of their own, with Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom, Ikari Warriors, and R.C. Pro-Am 2 all landing in the Nintendo Classics catalog as of September 2nd.

PRESS START

An Introduction To Today’s Game

Long before loot boxes and open worlds, Sega handed players a laser gun, a grudge, and three planets to search.

That is the setup for Phantasy Star, the 1987 Master System RPG that sends its hero, a young woman named Alis, after the tyrant king who had her brother killed. It arrived just two days after Final Fantasy hit Japanese shelves, in the same season Dragon Quest II was turning heads back home.

Sega needed a real contender for the RPG crowd, and it built one by flipping a few genre expectations, with a female lead, a sci-fi setting, and dungeons rendered in first person.

BEHIND THE PIXELS

Let’s Dive Into The Game

If a friend asked me to describe Phantasy Star in one sentence, I would call it a science fiction RPG that borrows the structure of Dragon Quest and builds something stranger on top.

It is a turn-based RPG at heart, but the setting swaps castles and dragons for star systems and androids.

The story follows Alis Landale across the Algol solar system, made up of Palma, an Earth-like world under King Lassic's rule, Motavia, a desert planet overrun with monsters, and Dezoris, a frozen world hiding in much of the game's back half.

Combat runs on the standard menu-driven system of the era, with a four-person party mixing melee fighters, gun users, and spellcasters.

What actually sets the game apart is the dungeon crawling. Towns and the overworld play out from a top-down view, but stepping into a dungeon shifts the game into a first-person, pseudo-3D perspective, which was a genuinely rare trick to pull off on 1987 hardware.

Mapping those dungeons by hand is part of the original challenge, since the initial release offered no auto-map, and more than a few players will admit to getting turned around in Dezoris at least once.

The goal is simple on paper. Recruit allies, chase down clues, track Lassic, and end his rule.

Getting there means grinding through random encounters, saving up for better gear, and piecing together where to go next from town dialogue, since there is no quest marker doing the work for you.

For 1987, the presentation was a genuine showcase, pushing the Master System's color palette with detailed backdrops and surprisingly expressive character art during story scenes.

The soundtrack, composed by Tokuhiko Uwabo, leans into moody synth work that holds up as some of the best music on the console.

Granola Runs Revenue On Attio

"When I think of revenue, I think of Attio." - Shreman Shrestha, Head of Business at Granola

Here's what that adds up to:

• Zero missed leads and 10x faster access to customer context

• Lead triage 83% faster

• Five hours saved per week with automated updates

Start Your Trial

GAME INFORMATION

WHERE TO PLAY

• Nintendo Switch - Sega Ages.

• Phantasy Star Collection for the GBA.

• Original Copies of the Game (All prices in USD)

  • Loose: $75

  • Complete: $155

  • New/Sealed: $310

COVER ART

Two Minutes to Know What Slow Billing Is Costing You

Most SaaS finance teams know their billing process is slow.Most SaaS finance teams know their billing process is slow. Few know what it's costing them.

The Tabs Billing Lag Calculator puts a dollar figure on it in two minutes — benchmarked against top SaaS companies.

See your number.

GAME OVER

Why You Should Play This

So why play Phantasy Star now? For one, it is one of the more approachable retro RPGs out there, especially with the right version in hand.

The Switch release through Sega's Ages line adds an auto-map, an easier difficulty option, a bestiary, and a music player, clearing away most of the friction that could make the 1987 original a slog.

Want the unfiltered version instead? The Master System cartridge is still floating around the secondhand market, though it will cost you more than it used to. The Game Boy Advance's Phantasy Star Collection is another route if you would rather have four games in one cartridge.

Wherever you land, this is the game that helped kick off an entire era of console RPGs, with a heroine doing her own avenging long before that was common in the genre. It earns its place in Sega's history, and it is still a decent way to spend a weekend.

SUPPORT

This is a passion project made with love, and every open or read means the world.
If you’d like to show extra support, you can use the button below.

RETRO HARDWARE

The Miyoo Flip V2 is a tiny clamshell retro handheld that lets you carry a whole library of classic games in your pocket. With a bright screen, solid controls, and the nostalgic flip design we all remember, it’s perfect for quick gaming sessions anywhere. Click the picture to check it out. My readers can use the following code for a 12% discount: NY12