Famitsu's Phantasy Star comics

Looking on Famitsu's website today, I noticed that they have been publishing a regular Phantasy Star comic as part of their "Bros. Comics EX" series.

Both Phantasy Star Portable and Phantasy Star Zero have received manga adaptations, as have Shining Wind and Shining Force. Valkyria Chronicles was also turned into a manga comic and anime cartoon series, unrelated to Bros. Comics EX.

The comics are printed in every issue of Famitsu, with many other RPGs being given the manga treatment. Kingdom Hearts has been one of the most popular so far, even being translated into English and released in the West.

The comics are later available to buy in anthologies from Enterbrain, usually for around ¥1000 (£6.75) each.

What in the name of Sega is going on here?

As you would expect, the comics are completely insane. At least they are nice to look at, despite being unreadable to most of us! The comics also read from back to front - at least the online version does.

Unfortunately, we will probably never see English translations of these. The only Sega game ever to see a major Western comic adaptation is Sonic, which occasionally had one-off specials for games such as Streets of Rage. Looks like I'll have to dig out my old Sonic the Comics!

[Source: Famitsu]

New Japanese Virtual Console games revealed

A list of games to be released on the Japanese Virtual Console has been published, and includes some Sega! The first game, which has been released this week, is Sonic Chaos. Phantasy Star will then be released next month.

You may have noticed that Sonic Chaos is not the Japanese name for the game. Annoyingly, it has a different title in every region - Sonic Chaos in North America, Sonic the Hedgehog Chaos in PAL regions and Sonic and Tails in Japan. The reason why Sonic Chaos has been released is because it is the Master System version - Game Gear games are not yet supported on the Virtual Console, the only version to appear in Japan.

The next game to be released is Phantasy Star on the Master System, Japan being the first region where it is available. For those who don't know, it is an RPG set on multiple planets. It was unique in that it was a Japanese RPG that combined both 2D overworld maps and 3D dungeons, something only Western RPGs had done before.

Both games will cost 500 Wii Points.

[Source: Virtual Console Reviews]

Phantasy Star Zero beta screenshots released

Prototype games website Unseen 64 has released some images of Phantasy Star Zero in beta stage, shown at the release party of the game in December.

Apparently, areas from Phantasy Star Online were recreated as a starting point for the game. Enemies and graphics were then reduced to suit the DS hardware.


Some pictures show enemies that are not in the final game, as well as character concept art. The graphical style also changed throughout development.

See the rest of the screenshots here.

Phantasy Star Zero coming to the West

In a press release issued yesterday, Sega revealed that Phantasy Star Zero would be released in the West.

They said that the upcoming DS RPG, released in Japan on Christmas Day 2008, will hit our shores this autumn/winter.

There has been some confusion about which winter it will be released in, that is Q1 or Q4 2009. The press release actually says "Fall 2009", whilst other sources say "Winter 2009", leading me to believe that it will see a Q4 release.

[Source: Sega Nerds]

Lots of Sega animation released!

Over the past few days Sega has been releasing new animation projects for Phantasy Star Zero and Sonic Unleashed. The Phantasy Star trailer features both animation and in-game footage, tied to some strange music.



Also released was the finished "Night of the Werehog" short, based on Sonic Unleashed. Expect no voice acting, or plot for that matter. The animation and graphics are brilliant, however, but the whole thing feels too late; it should have been released three weeks ago. See it here.

Phantasy Star Zero to have crossover weapons

Further proof that it is impossible to look normal in RPGs.

A few weeks ago I reported that Phantasy Star Zero would feature a huge list of weapons. It has been announced today that some of these will be "crossover" weapons; in other words weapons from other Sega games.

These include weapons from Blazer Drive, Valkyria Chronicles, Shining Wind and Project Diva. Four "guest cards" contain codes for the weapons, which are then typed in on the official website. The weapons can only be used in certain story missions. Unfortunately that means that you can't just use the gunsword throughout the entire game!

Phantasy Star 0 to have a lorra lorra weapons

In this month's Famitsu, Sega has announced that upcoming DS game Phantasy Star 0 will feature 350 different weapons, split into the following classes:

• Swords
• Spears
• Sabers
• Double sabers
• Daggers
• Claws
• Machine guns
• Handguns
• Launchers
• Rifles
• Bazookas
• Wands
• Magic rods
• Slicers
• Shields
• Gunslashes

The best weapons are definitely the new Gunslashes, which are gunswords designed only for expert players. And Squall fangirls.

New online modes have also been announced, such as Free Mode, where you are randomly assigned to a party; Friend Mode, where you join a party with your friends; and Single Mode, which features one-on-one combat.

The game is released in Japan on December 25th, but there has not been any Western release dates announced.

Phantasy Star Portable gets European release date

On Thursday I reported that Phantasy Star Portable was being released in North America in March 2009, with no word of a European release. However yesterday Sega announced that the game would be released in "Spring 2009" in Europe, and revealed new screenshots which you can see here.

This is great news for European Phantasy Star fans, as games are rarely released in Europe so soon after the North American release. It's so much fun waiting months or even years for a game, then paying twice the price for it!

Phantasy Star Portable coming to North America

Sega announced at TGS that Phantasy Star Portable would be released in North America in March 2009. Sega is hoping it will be as successful as it was in Japan, where it sold 600,000 copies (with some help coming from the overwhelming success of Monster Hunter).

The game feature wireless "ad hoc" multiplayer, and may take advantage of the new PS3 functionality of the PSP-3000. So far there has been no mention of a European release (surprised?).

What? No brown? My eyes aren't used to colour! ARGH! *eyes melt*