New Fantasy Zone remake

Opa-Opa · Post by **Opa-Opa** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 12:08 pm

La la la. Sega Ages is making a new one. Fantasy Zone 2 DX. Finally! Opa-Opa is back and his pissed.

http://ages.sega.jp/lineup.html

Oh yeah. And Monsterworld IV for Wonder Boy fans. I think Monsterworld IV is like... Wonder Boy 6? I don't know anymore.

MegaKitsune · Post by **MegaKitsune** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 2:13 pm

Aren't these Sega Ages remakes always broken?

I must say though, as a fan of the original arcade game and the Dreamcast's Oratorio Tangram, I'm PSYCHED for the Virtual ON:Cybertroopers port.

Post by **G.Silver** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 3:39 pm

The existing PS2 version of Fantasy Zone is a travesty. It's visually sloppy, the 3D graphics aren't so much bad as they are lazy, the simple animations used in the original are translated "literally" into 3D, rather than enhancing them in a way that makes them look good. The gameplay is there, but because it is so fast-paced I think it's seriously hampered by load-time. This is a game that only loads once on the Saturn, but on the PS2 there's lengthy load time between every stage, and this seriously interupts the flow of the game. I did not like it.

I'd be more psyched for the VOOM port if I didn't like VOOT so much more, it seems silly for me to ever play the original ever again. It's nice that it'll get a more arcade-perfect (one assumes) port though.

Did anyone get Dynamite Deka/Die Hard Arcade? I meant to get it but never did. I played it in the arcade once or twice and had a pretty good time, but the main allure is how much I enjoyed the sequel (Dynamite Cop in the US) on Dreamcast.. just fpr the sake of completion. I wish they put both games on the same disc. It's nice that they're doing Monster World 4, too.

smiths32 · Post by **smiths32** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 7:22 pm

Oh yeah. And Monsterworld IV for Wonder Boy fans. I think Monsterworld IV is like... Wonder Boy 6? I don't know anymore.

After Wonder Boy IV, the numbering system got kind of dodgy due to the "Monster World" subtitle, but yeah it is probably the 6th one. It was never released out of Japan and is supposedly the best 16 bit one so I'm looking forward to this one.

Opa-Opa · Post by **Opa-Opa** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 2:23 pm

G.Silver wrote:The existing PS2 version of Fantasy Zone is a travesty. It's visually sloppy, the 3D graphics aren't so much bad as they are lazy, the simple animations used in the original are translated "literally" into 3D, rather than enhancing them in a way that makes them look good. The gameplay is there, but because it is so fast-paced I think it's seriously hampered by load-time. This is a game that only loads once on the Saturn, but on the PS2 there's lengthy load time between every stage, and this seriously interupts the flow of the game. I did not like it.

Really? I'm having a great time with PS2 Fantasy Zone. I just finally finshed Arcade mode after years of playing it on arcade/emulator/NES/Master System. Actually I think it's a pretty good remake, since it's got everything a remake should have.

The 3d is nice. It doesn't destroy the cartoon/psychodelic feel of the original sprites. And there are 3 modes:

Arcade, which is the old game with the new graphics and that's that. It's great for nostalgia's sake.
Normal, where they actually explore the 3d with new camera movements, boss animations and Space Harrier-like special stages.
Extra, and this is what made them succeed so well, where you can play each level separately to raise enough money to buy new levels (there are 4), new weapons and engines and cheat options like Continue and Inflation off.

Also, you can collect enemy data so there's a gallery with all the enemies and bosses.

I mean. C'mon, it's a frigging ship with feet and bird wings. That's a lot more than I expected them to do.

Post by **G.Silver** » Sun Nov 19, 2006 2:50 pm

I dunno, I just look at Opa Opa's walk cycle and think that only works when you have two frames of animation. :) Load time is something I've become more and more intolerant to as time goes on, and for FZ I just think it's unforgivable. Did you get the US version? I wonder if they might have cleaned it up a bit for that, mine's the import, so it's just Fantasy Zone by itself.

Opa-Opa · Post by **Opa-Opa** » Mon Nov 20, 2006 1:40 am

Yup. Mine is US. I *cough* downloaded *cough* it some time ago, but just now I really spent some time into it. The four new levels are very nice. I don't know if they took it from some other FZ game (like, Fantasy Zone Gear, I guess that's the only one I never played), the look and feel, even the songs, are VERY Fantasy Zone-ish.