4/26/2023 0 Comments Gradius rebirth loop 1![]() ![]() From better engines to 1UPs to alternate weapons, these goodies allowed for a certain degree of customization, similar to Wonder Boy II or any number contemporary Capcom action titles. ![]() Where Fantasy Zone's additional depth came into play was with the inclusion of a free-floating shop in each stage where players could buy temporary upgrades with the money they collected from fallen foes. With the bases destroyed, a boss would appear for a more traditional fixed fight in which protagonist Opa-Opa could only face to the right defeating that boss would allow players to progress to the next stage. Rather than taking place in a fixed-scrolling space, Fantasy Zone instead let players scroll left and right at their own leisure in an infinite loop populated by enemy bases that disgorged a constant stream of smaller enemies. The game wasted no time ramping up the difficulty to make players sweat, and it offered considerable substance to go alongside its challenge. it was simply about whimsical fun, made lively by the upbeat FM synthesis audio that Sega loved so much back in the day.ĭespite looking roughly as menacing as the Easter bunny, though, Fantasy Zone didn't lack for teeth. It wasn't about teenage angst or biotechnical grotesqueries or manly men reeking of testosterone. With its pastel graphics and soft, adorable enemies, it lacked the heavy metal edge that typifies most shooters. Sega's 1986 was arguably the first "cute-'em-up" - a side-scrolling shooter that was one part Defender, one part Candy Land. It helps, of course, to understand precisely what the original Fantasy Zone was all about. ![]() and they greatly increase its play value as well. While less conceptually impressive, they speak of a deep understanding of the original game. Instead, M2's enhancements for this remake center more around actual in-game play mechanics than around the physical ephemera of its original format. Its presentation format comes down to crisp 2:1 pixel upscaling, a horrible full-screen stretched mode for people who like to pretend they have glaucoma while gaming, and a fun distorted mode that imitates the rounded corners and pinched visuals of an old CRT monitor - nice, but nothing particularly revolutionary. So M2's remake, 3D Fantasy Zone, lacks the wacky accelerometer tricks of some of their other games. It was your typical coin-op upright, just a step or two ahead of its eventual home conversion to Sega Master System, nothing particularly unusual by the standards of the mid-'80s. When it comes to something like Fantasy Zone, however, the particulars of what made the game experience so unique become a little fuzzier than with more elaborate Sega cabinets like Out Run or After Burner. You may not be able to own a classic Super Hang On sit-down bike-style machine, but M2 will do its damnedest to recreate the feel of playing that cabinet to the best of their ability within the limited confines of a system like the Nintendo 3DS. They're people who have strong memories of the classic days of the arcade people for whom those memories continue to resonate people who hope to share that love with other fans of those games. The appeal of M2's work comes from the fact that they don't simply emulate games they try above all else to emulate what it was like to play those games. So instead, M2 strives for a more experiential approach. M2's projects for that system, such as their Game Gear Virtual Console and Sega 3D Ages arcade and Genesis remakes, can't get that granular or precise. The idea of cycle-accurate emulation is all the rage these days (that is, not just approximating the functions of a console, but emulating each and every detail of the motherboard) but it requires far more power than the 3DS has. Lots of developers port classics to modern systems, and they don't always do a good job of it. That alone doesn't make M2 great, though. They don't make many original games - the only ones that come to mind are Castlevania: The Adventure Rebirth and Gradius Rebirth, two easily forgotten WiiWare titles from about five years ago - instead focusing on remakes and compilations of classic games. Most gamers haven't heard of this little studio, and for good reason. The USG staff didn't answer, of course, so as not to play favorites.īut, if you were to put a gun to my head and demand I come up with my own answer, I might just have to say M2. Last week's USgamer Community Question asked you, our readers, to name the best developer currently working in the games industry. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team. This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247.
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