Fantasy Zone (series)

Fantasy Zone (Japanese: ファンタジーゾーン) is a horizontal scroller shoot 'em up video game series created by Sega and designed by Yoji Ishii.

The series' gameplay involves the player controlling a sentient spaceship named Opa-Opa, who is placed in a level with a number of bases to destroy with only two buttons: shooting projectiles and dropping bombs, facing the stage boss when all the bases are gone and moving on to the next stage when they're defeated. There is also a shop that Opa-Opa can access to buy items and weapons from it, using coins from defeated enemies.

Opa-Opa, the main character and primary protagonist of the series, was the first mascot of SEGA, but would later be replaced by Alex Kidd, and then Sonic the Hedgehog.

History
The original Fantasy Zone was released for the arcades in Japan on March 1986, and was later ported for a wide variety of consoles, including the Master System. It was created as a response to success of Konami's Gradius, which was a smash hit in the arcades upon its release in May 29, 1985.

Fantasy Zone opted for vibrant pastel-coloured worlds and joyful music rather than the traditional "space" settings of previous shoot 'em ups at the time. It is often credited with the creation of the "cute 'em up" sub-genre alongside TwinBee, which was also released earlier in 1985 by Konami, like Gradius.

The game Space Harrier, also by Sega and released the previous year, supposedly takes place in the "Fantasy Zone" as well, including the same bright pastel color scheme, although the game scrolls into the screen as opposed to horizontally. The cancelled game, Space Fantasy Zone, attempted to bridge the gap between both series.

Games

 * Fantasy Zone (Arcade/Sega Master System, 1986/Sharp X68000, 1989)
 * Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa (Sega Master System, 1987/Arcade, 2008 - as Fantasy Zone II DX: The Tears of Opa-Opa)
 * Fantasy Zone: The Maze (Sega Master System/Arcade, 1987 - known as Opa Opa in Japan)
 * Galactic Protector (Sega Master System, 1988 - only released in Japan)
 * Fantasy Zone Gear (Sega Game Gear, 1991)
 * Super Fantasy Zone (Mega Drive/Genesis, 1992/Wii Virtual Console, 2008)
 * Space Fantasy Zone (PC Engine CD-ROM² - Cancelled)