3D Fantasy Zone II W

Genre: Shmup

Players: 1

.

Review:

(Note: This game is included in the Sega 3D Classics Collection Compilation on Nintendo 3DS, along with 3D Altered Beast, 3D Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa, 3D Galaxy Force II, 3D Maze Walker, 3D Power Drift, 3D Puyo Puyo 2, 3D Sonic the Hedgehog, and 3D Thunder Blade)

Fantasy Zone II is a Shmup originally released in Arcades in 1987, with a remake of the game coming to PlayStation 2 in Japan as a part of the Sega Ages series, with a Nintendo 3DS release of the game based on this remake coming out in 2015, adding a “W” at the end of a title as well as a new endless mode. As with the rest of this series, this game features bright, colorful levels, and gameplay that has you moving on a repeating landscape (like Defender and Choplifter) taking out enemy bases and fighting a boss. In fact, so much of this game plays like the original game that I’ll be copying much of my review of that game here.

Visually, Fantasy Zone II stands out in the genre thanks to its colorful graphics and imaginative landscapes, and these visuals have aged pretty well more than three decades later. The game also has an upbeat, memorable soundtrack. Thankfully, this game doesn’t seem to have the same issue as the first game with shots being too difficult to see.

As for the gameplay, it’s a bit hit and miss. The game makes use of an inventive mechanic where enemies drop coins that players can use to purchase power-ups from a shop at the beginning of each stage, doing so in a way that’s not quite like other upgrade systems I’ve seen. However, the flipside of that coin is that the weapons players can purchase have limited ammo, and players can’t swap weapons to conserve ammo in the middle of battle, meaning that it’s pointless to buy a weapon to use against a stage boss since you’ll run out of ammo well before you get to the boss.

The new endless mode here abandons the story mode’s shop system entirely, having you start off with a powerful shot but only two hits away from a game over with no continues. This mode would be pretty decent, except it doesn’t take long for enemies to start swarming so much it’s hard to make your way through it at all.

Beyond this mode, the Nintendo 3DS release of the game adds a few extra features, such as the ability to play the game with different international versions, screen settings, button reassignments, save states, and some other features that are unlockable.

Overall, I think Fantasy Zone II W is a notable improvement over the first game in the series, though it still feels lacking. The impermanence of purchased items and the absurd swarms of enemies keep this game from being as enjoyable as it could be. If you’re looking for a Shmup to add to your collection, this may be worth looking into, but it’s definitely got its fair share of flaws.

tl;dr – Fantasy Zone II is a Shmup originally released to arcades in 1987, and some parts of it have aged pretty well, like its presentation. Other parts of the game, like its promising but frustrating upgrade system… not so much. The Nintendo 3DS port is a solid port of this game, not only offering a good selection of features, but a new endless mode. However, even so, most players may want to look for a better game within the genre.

Grade: C

^{You can support eShopperReviews on Patreon! Please click HERE to become a Sponsor!}

^{This month’s sponsors are Ben, Andy Miller, Exlene, Homer Simpin, Johannes, Talissa, Eli Goodman, Gabriel Coronado-Medina, Ilya Zverev, Kristoffer Wulff, and Seth Christenfeld. Thank you for helping to keep the reviews coming!}