Ys: The Vanished Omens

The Good
Ys: The Vanished Omens was one of the best Sega Master System games to be released, at in America. Everything about the game is groundbreaking, both as an RPG and as a game for the ill-fated Master System.

The Sega Master System was quite popular in many nations, but its success in the United States was much more limited. For American Master System owners, such as myself, this meant that we only had official access to a small library of games, many of which were not terribly good.

Luckily, Ys: The Vanished Omens was one of the Sega Master System games to be officially released in America. I had never heard of the Ys series prior to playing this game, and (for years) was I disappointed by the fact that this was the only Ys game given a American release.

Everything about this game -- its graphics, music, storyline, character development and playability -- is perfect. The game shows off what the Master System can do, in the right hands, and it also introduced Americans to one of the best RPG series that has ever existed.

The Bad
The worst thing about this game was, that (after beating the game) no sequel existed for us, lowly, Americans.

NEC gamers got Ys I and II released together as a CD set, which (as far as I could tell) was the only way for Americans to officially play the second game. Instead, Ys III (not Ys II) was -- eventually -- given an official released on the Sega Genesis.

I had hoped that the Ys series would be re-released for the Xbox 360, but that does not seem to be in the pipeline.

The Bottom Line
Ys: The Vanished Omens is a great Master System game. It is one of the best RPG game series ever made. It is also probably the best Master System released in American Hopefully, more American gamers will -- one day -- be able to explore all the Ys games.