Phantasy Star Collection

The Good
I bought this game mainly for Phantasy Star I, the only PS I do not already have a copy of. Was it worth it? Of course! Ah, the Phantasy Star series, whilst Nintendo fans had there Zelda’s Sega supporters got to experience one of the true gems of RPG’s. Here in this collection you get Phantasy Star I, II, &, III. Sorry no IV but more on that later. These games still look and play well, mainly due to the fact that these games were ahead of there time. The Graphics are still colorful and crisp, be it in 8-bit Phantasy Star, or 16-bit Phantasy Star II & III. The gameplay is still packing hours of entertainment, as I found Rolf’s plight to save Algol from Dark Force just as engaging as it was years ago. Phantasy Star III still unfolds over three epic generations. And playing Phantasy Star I, on the cartridge instead of on MEKA, was quite fun, I found myself lost in Alis’s quest for revenge that spans the stars!

The Bad
Alas this game is not perfect, few are right? Phantasy Star I has an unfortunate bug that causes the game to crash while saving, your progress. This bug can be avoided for the most part, if you remember to save often. Fortunately your progress can be saved anywhere. The sound is a little garbled, not to the point of not being able to enjoy the otherwise excellent music. After all the Phantasy Star games have always had an incredible soundtrack. Lastly, it’s true Phantasy Star IV is not included in this collection. Apparently, it did not fit onto the cartridge.(It was a 24-meg cart) Had this game been included I would have given this collection a perfect score.

The Bottom Line
Classic RPG’s on one cart. Missed your chance to experience the PS saga? Have a GBA? Then this collection is a perfect solution. And at $30 that’s only $10 a game. Don’t miss it again.

The Good
This brings back lots of good memories. Being a Sega owner from back in the Master System days I did buy Phantasy Star 1 brand new. Same with II and III when they came out on the Genesis. Being able to take these games anywhere is the best part. Basically they are just good solid old school RPG's. Ports of the originals. Not to complicated and yet not overly easy either.

The Bad
They have the same problem as 95% of all the other ported Sega games. Poor sound quality.

The Bottom Line
Phantasy Star is to Sega what Zelda is to Nintendo. And unlike Nintendo's classics you get 3 full games here. If you are a Sega player you want this collection.