Fantasy Zone (Sega Master System) review "Liberation"

Fantasy Zone is a colorful place.

Fantasy Zone is a wondrous place.

Fantasy Zone has suffered interplanetary monetary ruination.

It is the space year of 2616 and the Menon Planet Forces, led by a mysterious figure, have robbed the currencies of all planets within the Fantasy Zone. However, the brave Opa-Opa has charged off to combat this army, take back the stolen money, and restore peace! You'll control this unique being, shaped like an oval red, green, yellow, and blue-colored craft with white feathered wings, within the abstract settings of the Zone.

Using a horizontal side-scrolling shoot'em up structure, Sega's 1986 Fantasy Zone is partially inspired by Williams' 1981 Defender; both games take place on fields that loop at the end of each "side" and you're free to fly in either direction within said fields. But the comparisons end there. As the one guiding Opa-Opa, your mission is to destroy every base in each stage, as doing so summons a menacing boss. It's a straightforward objective, but you'll need to work for it. Menon's minions won't take your attacks lightly and as you're being assaulted by a barrage of enemy formations, you'll also be assaulted by the overwhelmingly cutesy, colorful, and often bizarre landscapes.

Describing anything in this game is impossible without sounding like a deranged person.

As stage one begins, you'll be placed in front of a green mountainside littered with orange dots, along with pink tree-like pillars strewn about, which is perhaps the most normal thing you'll witness. Immediately after taking control of the bold protagonist, you're instantly confronted with the first enemy formation: a group of green... um... twisty pickle-like scissors with googly eyes? Once you either dodge or take them out, you can fly to a nearby floating base, shaped like a bulky, wide-eyed purple bug with small wings and pointy-sharp teeth. Don't linger too long, because not only will more enemy formations appear, but the base itself also dispenses its own spawn to attack.

But during this heroic spree, you quickly realize Opa-Opa's firepower and speed aren't packing the best punches. This is where the game's currency plot point actually becomes a factor; whenever you destroy an entire formation or a base, gold coins of different sizes are dropped onto the field. Gain enough coins and enter the hilariously out-of-place red SHOP circle, where you can buy enhancements and power-ups. From wide beams to rapid-fire lasers, along with double bomb drops and faster wings, as well as extra lives and a comically-large 16 ton weight drop, there's enough variety to trample the army. But be warned: while some stay until you lose a life, the powerful ones are on a short time limit.



Putting stronger powers on a timer is the smartest thing the developers could've done to not only prevent abuse, but to avoid making the game a bore fest. On top of that, every time you repurchase a power throughout the course of your playthrough, the price increases, so you'll need to plan carefully when you feel it necessary to acquire a power; it's not the best feeling reaching a boss, especially one that is a gang of snowmen of differing sizes, filling the screen with projectiles in an attempt to hit you, and you're essentially in your default state.

Planning while surviving is an uphill battle, because enemies and even the bases become tougher with each passing stage. Bases take longer to destroy, even with timed power-ups, meaning more enemy formations spawn in. Dodging most formations isn't a simple task, either, as the devs have taken that into consideration; whether it's crafts that make u-turns right before leaving the screen or dancing penguins moving in wide Z patterns, to outright wall patterns, it goes without saying that destroying formations is a priority. What makes this task daunting is that, if you don't take them out promptly, several formations eventually invade the screen at once. And in true 1980s arcade fashion, there are no continues.



This whole set-up surrounding escalation of difficulty combined with the strictness of power usage could potentially make for a frustrating experience, but it all works out on several levels; the first level is for those wanting a casual interaction, which the first few stages provide, with the second level being for those wanting to complete the game and contend with the increased, but fair, challenge. The third level is for those trying to see how far they can survive once the game starts looping past the ending credits, especially considering shop prices don't reset.

All the while, the game is casually showing you trippy backdrops, like in one stage where environments are made out of Swiss cheese, enemies appear to be colorful-looking DNA strands and bacteria, and the most cheerful, uplifting soundtrack from the 1980s is being heard. At first, it feels like it's luring you in with a false sense of security, only to beat you down with the juxtaposed chaotic gameplay. But all's good in the end; it's easily up there as one of the standout titles for the Sega Master System with its constant engagement and outlandish visuals, and it does justice to the original arcade version by staying shockingly close to its coin-op vision within the console's 8-bit limitations.

Community review by dementedhut (July 25, 2026) Earth.