Could there be more shooters on the VC? Yes, there could, as evidenced by this week’s releases. We’re getting Fantasy Zone from the Master System and Mega Turrican from the Genesis. No matter how many Sega games they release it will always seem weird to me. Sega…on a Nintendo system. Does no one else find this extraordinary? Anyway, moving on, here are some opinions and recollections from us here at DHGF!
Fantasy Zone
Genre: Shooter
System: Sega Master System
Release Date: 1986
Price: 500 Wii Points
Mark B.: Ooh, a Sega classic. I generally prefer the second title in a lot of respects, but Fantasy Zone is also a fun, enjoyable shooter in all respects. It’s a little primitive by today’s standards, but still pretty challenging overall, and the mechanic of buying parts upgrades is still as neat as it ever was. If you’ve never played a Fantasy Zone game before, or if you’re a fan, it’s as colorful and bizarre as it ever was, and it’s still a hell of a lot of fun.
Charlie Marsh: A damn fun game that will probably turn a lot of people off because of its bright, cute color scheme. Whatever, they can have their brown/gunmetal laden, unoriginal and inexplicably popular wankfests; I’ll be playing Fantasy Zone. Just good old fashioned shooter fun, and I’m fine with that. And the more fantastic elements to it are just so weird that they’re awesome. I am getting rather weary of them releasing more shooters onto the VC in lieu of…at this point I’ll take ANYTHING else, but this is a classic shooter, so it all works out.
Bryan Berg: I remember Fantasy Zone… barely. I just remember thinking it was a pretty cool game. Then again, I was 8 years old at the time. If I were a gamer who’d never heard of it, I wouldn’t be particularly inclined to try it from Nintendo’s description – it sounds extremely generic.
Christopher Bowen: Think Defender on an acid trip. You take control of this little spaceship, blow things up for coins that you can use in a shop that has become iconic over the years, and fight bosses. It’s a simple game, but gets hard quick. I fully recommend this purchase, and the Master System is pretty faithful to the original arcade version.
Mega Turrican
Genre: Shooter
System: Sega Genesis
Release Date: 1994
Price: 800 Wii Points
Mark B.: Generally speaking, nothing named Turrican is generally worth investing in, so I can’t see this being any different.
Charlie Marsh: It would help if you could shoot up, but otherwise it’s a good, but not great shooter. Personally, I’m waiting for Contra, which does everything Mega Turrican does, only better, but Mega Turrican is fun for what it is.
Bryan Berg: Mega Turrican, I don’t have too many memories of. Unless you count “actually knowing it existed” as a memory.
Christopher Bowen: Contra meets Bionic Commando meets a septic tank. This was a side scrolling shooter that was far behind the times; you couldn’t shoot up, you took a lot of cheap hits, and the grappling hook/chain/whatever took an awful long time to get used to. Save your $8, as Mega Turrican is simply not worth it; use it on better shooters.
This week wasn’t so bad, all things considered. I think we all recommend Fantasy Zone, just be prepared for the bright colors burning your retinas. See ya’ll next week!
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