Fantasy Zone - I'm missing something

[miffy495]

I was excited this morning. Fantasy Zone hit Virtual Console for North America and I was pumped to play it. Up until I got my Dreamcast used a while ago, the only Sega system I'd ever owned was a Game Gear, and I've been relishing in every Sega classic that's been released that I'd always kind of wanted to play but had never had the means to. While this has lead to the occasional disappointment (Kid Chameleon seemed so much cooler when I was 7 and playing it at my friend's house...) I was fairly confident that Fantasy Zone would be worth it.

Now, it probably made more sense when there was an instruction booklet with it, but I was jumping in cold here, so it took me forever to figure out exactly what the hell I was supposed to do. I will say that it was really cool to be able to go in more than one direction, as lately I've been playing things like R Type which don't give you that freedom. The customizing of the ship was also pretty sweet, despite the fact that the weapon power-ups you buy disappear way too quickly. Another major plus is the atmosphere of the game in general. Again, compared to the R Type and Gradius style shooters I'm used to, whimsical is always a plus. The only other shmup that's had this vibe that I've gotten on the VC has been Air Zonk, which I really loved.

The problem is, I played for a good 10 minutes scrolling around wondering when I was going to find a boss before I realized that I could kill those pink winged things that kept on dispensing little blue balls of hatred. When my shots made a *plink* noise against them, I figured they were ineffective and just started looking around for some way to advance to a boss or a different world. Little did I know that after 15 or 20 *plink*s the pink thing would explode. When I discovered this, I started killing them all, figuring that maybe I'd kill enough to anger a larger one and goad it into starting a boss fight with me. After about 10 kills, my prayers were answered, and a giant laser-spitting version of Whispy Woods appeared and promptly raped poor little right into explodey oblivion. I've fought him and died about 10 times now, each time dodging for longer and longer while pelting him with my seemingly useless twin cannon (and bombs when I'm feeling brave) but I always find myself drifting into a stray shot in his constant barrage.

I'll admit that I'm not all that great a twitch gamer, particularly for games of the shmup genre. I still enjoy them, I just usually have to make liberal use of whatever continue system may be in place. There is a definite appeal to Fantasy Zone, but I can't help feeling like I'm missing a bit of the greatness. I really want to love this game, and I figured on a forum that has an opa opa smiley, I'd be able to get some encouragement and some words that may let me see it in a happier light. As it is, it's frustrating me, but I'm not ready to give up yet. Anyone want to step up and give me a reason to keep at it?

[toblix]

If you don't you're a pussy.

[twmac]

I wish I could be encouraging but between Ghouls 'n' Ghosts on the Megadrive, Fantasy Zone on the Master System and Gun Valkyrie on the Xbox I have been brought close to tears, to the point where I think that I might have been tempted to give up gaming.

Fantasy Zone is great but I would recommend spending a little time playing something peaceful and easy then playing it for a bit then when you die don't do what I did (I had to buy a new MS controller). I would consider myself a twitch gamer and I still had problems with it.

[miffy495]

Hey! I beat that Laser Whispy Woods guy! Hooray!

...only to get promptly smashed in the next level. Still, I'm making progress! I feel much better knowing this.

[n0wak]

Go play Ikaruga instead. THAT will definitely bring you to tears.

[miffy495]

I have it. Two copies, actually, as I owned it on Gamecube long before buying it on XBLA yesterday. I'm just as rubbish at that, but whatever. Both are fun.