Retro Weekends Episode 42: Fantasy Zone

"I really love this game, its just so much fun, its fast and imaginative and it keeps you very focused on the action with all the dodging about required. The shop system is also fantastic (though I wish you were able to change your weapon set-up on the fly) and on top of all that its got good music and graphics, I like the colourful, funky styling of the game. There's not a lot of variation in the levels truth be told but this cannot dent my love for the series so its just scraping a 5/5 for me "

"I think this is a fantastic game. When designing the game Yuji Ishii was charged with creating a response to Gradius and in a lot of ways he was successful, he created a very imaginative and original game that takes inspiration from a variety of places as on top of Gradius we have elements from Defender, and perhaps Twinbee as well. The bosses are amazing in this game for the time, they blow Gradius' bosses away entirely and these battles are exciting and varied. The shop system is quite interesting as well, with you able to choose different weapons for each level. A nice departure from the usual space themed shooters of the time."