Fantasy Zone II Coming to 3DS

[Oniros]

Sega is running a cool contest for those who live in the US. Gotta submit high scores to win a pretty nice hoodie.

[ryu]

I never played Fantasy Zone before I got my hands on the 3DS version I obtained with the physical collection of those 3D make-over games. The game didn't really catch my interest and I only played it very briefly compared to most other games on the collection, but I now have a reason to give it another chance.

Seems like people living in the EU can also enter that contest

[Special World]

Just watched a vid of Link Loop Land, got myself totally re-hyped. Looks like a great time-killer, which means it's a perfect fit for a handheld.

Also, this is a beautiful game.

[LordHypnos]

S3DCFZII came out yesterday. i bought it, but haven't really played it yet. Just thought I should let people know...

EDIT: Hell yeah, this game is awesome. Link Loop Land is also cool, but the original is where it's at. Definitely my new favorite 3DS game

[BrianC]

I got this too. I like it quite a bit so far, though I haven't had a chance to try Link Loop Land yet.

[Special World]

Picked it up when it came out. This game is the bees knees. The stages are all really fun, the graphic design is fantastic, and I really like that there are two different version of each level. About the only thing I don't like is the last stage of the final boss. He's a real ass.

The main game is great, but I think Link Loop Land is what makes this a really awesome game *for the 3DS.* It's a really manic little score-chaser, and unlike most endless shooters (I assume it's endless anyhow) the difficulty ramps up to a good level really quickly. You don't have to spend 10 minutes fighting garbage waves to reach the fun part, and the core gameplay is really unique and exciting. It obviously feels like Fantasy Zone, but a lot of the enemy shots feel Gradius-style when Gradius ranks up a bit (though obviously less strict). And for some reason the mechanics really remind me of a classic Raizing shooter. You can really blast through the levels quickly if you're good, and the end-boss levels up as you go along, so it feels kind of like the game is ranking up even if it doesn't (?) have a proper rank system. I think there might even be a sort of "suicide" mechanic: I believe the fever mode ship will only appear the first time you get hit, after which you lose your good weapon. You can either enter the ship to get your good weapon back, or take time to shoot it down and earn a fever. Works more like Galaga in that respect (if that's indeed how it works), but it's still a pretty nifty addition. The scoring mechanics are really pure and enjoyable, fever mode is bonkers, and you have three different ships to select from. Great game mode.

Really another ace porting job from M2. Fantasy Zone IIDX was already a great game, and Link Loop Land makes it a great *handheld* game as well. Also, the game looks fucking stunning in 3D. One of the better-looking games I've played in my life, honestly. It's a real charmer, and for $6, I think a lot of people on these forums would do themselves a favor to check it out.

This and 3D Out Run (not to mention Mushi Futari) have earned M2 enough credit that I'll be picking up Gunstar Heroes and Sonic 2 when they release. If they ever release Sonic 3 and Knuckles and Alien Soldier, I'll be very happy indeed.

[Special World]

btw, here's a really enlightening interview with the developers that was touched on earlier in this topic:

http://blogs.sega.com/category/sega-3d-classics/

YO: Fantasy Zone is a rather straightforward shooting game, but that’s because it was built in the 1980s. But we are conscious of the fact that shooting games post-2000 have lots of enemies and bullets flying around, and we wanted to see what that would be like.

- But, the fact that Fantasy Zone II had warps was one of the reasons for its replayablilty, but from the point of view of a portable game, a score attack mode that lets you pick up and play quick in short bursts is a very good fit as well.

YO: You’re exactly right. The Tears of Opa-Opa is a game that requires a lot of thought when you first start playing it, so we wanted to do something that was more fitting for a portable game. Something like the Caravan Modes common in Hudson’s shooting games. But we settled on a design where it was endless rather than having them end after a time limit.

NH: Something that would get your blood pumping in small gameplay spurts, something you could do on the train. Though it could be something that you would sit at home and try to break your own score, and that would be fine, too.

----

- Since the limits of what you can display has been lifted, you can put out more enemies and bullets, you mean?

YO: Yes, that too. The overall difficulty is lower, and those who have played the PS2 version might feel it lacks bite. But if you raise the difficulty to the max, it’s brutal. There are 4 levels of difficulty, and on the highest setting they come at you with red bullets basically from the very beginning.

NH: I’ve haven’t even cleared the PS2 version on its hardest setting, but our guy who made that version goes and makes it even harder? Well, that’s going to be a problem. (all laugh)

YO: On the PS2 version, if would lag if there were too many bullets on the screen at the same time, but that restriction has been removed this time around. Anyone who has played the PS2 or Archives version should give it a shot.

----

NH: Opa-Opa Bros was really impressive, and 3D Shinobi III was another one we were really proud of, but 3D Fantasy Zone II really takes the cake. You could call it the most recent of our proud achievements.

- It’s not just that it looks 3D, but it looks really natural in 3D. That’s the difference. In previous games, you could tell that it’s in 3D, or that a lot of work went into the 3D support, but Fantasy Zone II is the real deal.

NH: It does seem like we crossed a certain threshold somewhere in the production process. It’s like we broke through to the other side. But nothing feels forced. It’s as if everything is as it should be. The people working on it really busted their butts to get it done, but for those enjoying the results, it seems as if a picture-perfect world is popping out at them in 3D.

- It’s like the difference between movies when they first started doing 3D, and movies these days. You don’t see things that seem forced—everything feels so natural. Your eyes don’t get tired.

[Oniros]

I recently picked up the Sega 3D Classics Collection (only to have a physical copy of Fantasy Zone II W) and it needs to be said again: this game rocks. If anyone has any doubts about the quality of the upcoming Garegga or Feveron ports by M2, they should just look at this version of Fantasy Zone II.

[GSK]

Since this thread has been bumped, I'll mention that they apparently made some tweaks to the game for the cartridge release to remove some easy counterstops in Link Loop Land; I wish I could find the specifics but it came out on the JP internet a while ago and I can't remember where I saw the changes listed. (There are cart-only fixes/tweaks for quite a few of these games but they're not comprehensively listed anywhere.)

The price of the compilation has leveled out at around $20 in the US and it's not hard to find but it probably won't be reprinted, so don't hesitate to pick it up: in addition to FZIIW, it includes Sonic 1, Altered Beast, Galaxy Force 2, Thunder Blade (which has a fun new arrange mode with a new final stage), Power Drift, Puyo Tsu (the arcade version), Maze Walker and the SMS versions of both Fantasy Zone games (complete with FM music for FZ1).