Phantasy Star Zero going dual-screen, sets a new starting point

By Stephen Munn | October 12, 2008

If you aren’t familiar with Phantasy Star, let me give you a quick rundown. It’s a series of sci-fi RPGs from Sega that started on their 8-bit Master System and continued in the Genesis/Megadrive generation. The games had a lot of brilliant innovations that are largely ignored due to higher profile competitors like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. Later appearances of the brand were in online games like Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe, but Sega is bringing a “zero” episode of the game to the DS, and it was shown at TGS. You’ll see the debut trailer for the game above, and some gameplay footage below.

The DS has really become the platform of choice for these blockbuster RPGs, and I have to say I’m pretty pleased. Handhelds may not be able to provide the audiovisual explosion that consoles can, but let’s be honest here. I’m getting old, and I don’t have nearly as much time to sit on my couch to play games, particularly long ones like the average RPG.