Such a sexy console
Did you know? The Master System is still being made and sold in Brazil!
This is the latest model of Master System available here by TecToy, it's nothing but an emulation machine with 132 games (I think it's 132, I'm probably right). The controller is also a bit... Excessive, seeing as how the Master System only uses 2 buttons, but hey! It's got a pause button and that's great.
Anyways, the point of this series of posts is to talk about my favourite game for each system, not the system itself, so what Master System title gets that distinction from me?
Such a sexy box
I personally love Master System boxes and cartridges, even if they are simple as heck.
The boxes themselves feel sturdy and like something you can proudly display, unlike NES boxes which were often just cardboard.
What's so special about Fantasy Zone 2? The gameplay loop! This game is probably the most addictive shoot-em'up for me from this generation of consoles, even more so than Gradius, another game I love a lot.
Just like Defender for the Atari, you're basically going left and right and getting rid of enemies. But you've also got a shop and boss battles! It's really addicting to kill kill kill, get stronger and just keep at it. You've got two forms of attack, a main shot and a bomb, just like Gradius, and during boss fights sometimes you have to face a particular direction or look straight at the boss.
What really makes this game so special for me is the shop system.
There are newer SHMUP games that I play quite often that also have a shop system, such as Konosuba: Attack of the Destroyer and Trouble Witches, but I'm pretty sure Fantasy Zone 2 was the one who started this kind of shop system, wherein you find an icon called SHOP on the playfield, go in and buy your stuff.
It being such a seminal title and being so addicting lead it to be really well received back in its day, with a 90% from Console XS, and I have to say it's totally deserved. Fantasy Zone 2 is simple but addictive, it's a 2 meg cartridge due to how pretty it is, but at the same time there isn't unnecessary fluff. It's just a great game all around!
This one was a shorter post, but if I have anything to add, it is: play Fantasy Zone 2! You can emulate it or even play it through the best game ever made (Yakuza 0) by getting enough friendship points in Sotenbori's arcade lol.
Thanks for reading!
