VG Music: Dragon's Curse / Wonderboy III

It's been over 3 years since I first posted the first article here, Lifting the Dragon's Curse. Like many Turbo classics, this game has a rockin sountrack, and Imphnk's video nicely splices every track into one 7:25 video.

I'm almost certain the Sega Master System shares the same music as well.

Psychic World

Like Legacy of the Wizard, Psychic World was also originally an MSX game entitled Psycho World (but really they mean Psychic). The anime screenshots are actually taken from Psycho World, although Psychic World has some cutscenes in it as well--almost an industry standard by 1991 (upon it's North American release), but still a novelty in 1988 (in Japan). I suspect it was a bigger deal overseas because from 1988-1991 gaming technology developed rapidly; Psychic World might be fun, but it wasn't ever noteworthy. Sega ported it to their Master system and Game Gear, but the game has remained relatively obscure and the franchise was never picked up again. You play as Lucia, daughter of Dr. Konvak. You dad was into genetically mutating flowers and demons, and the divine will sets these monsters lose upon your family. If you can kick enough ass, the curse on your family's honor will be restored. Or something.

Your one super power: an ESP booster capable of telekinetic and elemental super powers. Not bad. As you progress through the game some cool abilities because available: flight and invincibility being the most enjoyable. The only problem with the controls is that the player is required to switch in real time (no pause-menu switching) and the command to switch powerups is down+jump+2 directions to select and activate, say, invincibility. Monsters drain your health quickly -- Lucia gets NO frames of invincibility for free upon being hit. These quirks make the game much harder than it needs to be.

If the player can overlook these shortcomings, the game truly is quite solid. Check out the box art, doesn't this look like the type of game you'd play?



The jumping physics are great, similar to Journey to Silius. However, unlike JtS and Mega Man, Lucia can run really fast if the player walks in one direction for about 2 seconds. It's a strange running system, and I've never played anything quite like it. You can not double tap a direction to start running, and you don't build momentum like Mario. All of a sudden your character just starts hauling ass. The levels are built around this concept at times, like the running parts of Super Metroid.



Now the game is noteworthy as an enjoyable and obscure underrated gem. I can't beat the third stage, but I'm getting close. Beating a stage truly feels like an accomplishment because every time you die it's back to the beginning of the very, very long stage. Almost every game out there features checkpoints, and not having this cushion admittedly makes the gameplay more exciting--but painfully difficult.

What's also exciting is mapping the console reset button to the normal "select" key so you accidentally reset 15 times while playing. This adds another layer of difficulty you simply cannot achieve on the home console.

If you have a Master System, I can't imagine not owning this game. Despite the flaws, the music is good enough to keep the player interested long enough to get hooked on the gameplay. The enemy and level design are both original, and from looking at some youtube videos of the later levels, the game gets even better in Stages 4 and 5.



The Game Gear version, while extremely similar, is a different game and not as good as the Master System version. I haven't played the MSX game, and typically games got better once ported to the Famicom or SMS, but this is not the case. Many features are missing in the Sega version, and the levels were modified from exploration-focused into a slightly more action-platforming focus. Psychic World definitely feels like an MSX adventure, which is a difficult thing to describe. Hit detection, gravity, music, colors, and enemy AI feel similar to other MSX games perhaps.



Psychic World is great, and it's a wonder people can even play Alex Kidd with gems like this sitting around on the SMS. Psychic World features great, action-packed gameplay, with zero downtime. You'll always be running or fighting or dying. Beating a stage in one life really isn't that bad; it's just good gameplay. This game will demand a moderate amount from the player, but once mastered stages become extremely fun to play through again. You won't feel bad about turning the game off/on for a 30 minute break/gameplay session.

Phantasy Star Review

Martial law has been declared across the star system, and your brother was beaten to death in the street for rebelling against Lassic's government.

I've always known about Phantasy Star, and I've briefly test-driven the roms a few times, but I've never dedicated time to beating any of them. In the past, I don't think I had the patience. But a few days ago, as I mournfully looked at my well-played copy of Dragon Warrior 2, I was desperately in need of something to play. I found Phantasy Star.

Phantasy Star is a world not unlike Earth. It's made of concrete, houses, shops, cars, airplanes, governments, passports, fast food, guns, violence, death, friendship, family, moving sidewalks, spaceships, money, and corruption.

Alis and her friends will explore first-person dungeons, travel to other planets, find treasure, and exact an unsettling revenge for the death and destruction evil King Lassic has wrought across the 3 planets of Palma, Motavia, and Dezoris. One imagines life would be a lot like this if the Sol system had three habitable planets.



But nothing engrossed me like the first-person segments. The first-person buildings are far smoother than, say, Moraff's World, but a lack of any overhead view makes them a serious challenge. Without mapping these places out manually, many areas are simply impossible to navigate because everything looks the same. Liberal use of Phantasy-Star.net makes the impossible into a nice challenge, so modern gamers have little excuse to avoid this game. Sometimes these areas are used masterfully, for example: an abandoned installation in a later town is represented in first person, and walking through this building conveys the feeling of actually being in a very strange and faceless cinderblock building. Ultima Exodus attempted first-person segments, Phantasy Star nearly perfects them.

Over time the series has spawned maybe sequels and MMORPGs. Admittedly, I'm just getting into the franchise.This game, however, started it all. Its $5.00 pricetag offers no excuses to the Wii owner -- buy this game now! You may have been putting off Phantasy Star in favor of another series like Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior, but if you're looking for a more serious story in a world much more familiar and exciting then look no more. Nothing else will make you miss 1988 like Phantasy Star. Pretend you rented it from the video store for $5.00 (more like $10.00 in 1988)--and hurry, because the entire solar system is counting on you and your friends!

The artwork is an early example of anime art reaching America, and the sprites have the distinctly 1980s highly-detailed style. The world feel so complete, that it's a wonder so many games chose to go the fantasy, instead of sci-fi route. In Phantasy Star, the towns feel like real towns (no 3-house "towns"), and exploring some buildings in the first persons creates a surreal pseudo-3d environment. It is like nothing else you have ever played.



Many RPGs feature a random monster trying to destroy the world. This isn't really scary, because everyone knows dragons and giant monsters don't really exist. But Phantasy Star (and FFVII) feature human enemies with crazy goals. It's easier to believe that Lassic is running a town into the ground because he has declared martial law and blocked the trade routes than it is to believe you are reviving an elf prince under a sleeping spell. In Final Fantasy, you save that town, and this is expected. In Phatasy Star, the demolished towns keep on being shitty--and that's realism; Phantasy Star doesn't offer easy moral answer to every situation (it's got its share of cliches, no doubt). Often the heroes do nothing to save the day.

In fact, the entire quest is questionable. Should Alis be seeking vengeance? Even bloodbaths like No More Heroes 1-2 and willing to ask this question. Unlike Travis Touchdown, however, Alis can't just walk away: Lassic rules all three planets in the system and his crimes are arguably worse than the Santa Destro Corp.

The story remains puzzling in the end, though some closure is offered. Playing through Phantasy Star this week has been one of the most memorable RPG experiences of my life. I anticipate exploring the Algol System in Phantasy Star II, and wonder what Alis's brother meant about her "being reborn." Other games abandon characters and stories in each game; Sega offers cliffhangers. Phantasy Star for the Sega Master system: the greatest 8-Bit RPG of all time.