Name:	Phantasy Star series (4 titles) Phantasy Star Phantasy Star 2 Phantasy Star 3 - Generations of Doom (aka Tokino Seishousha) Phantasy Star 4 - The End of the Millenium (aka The Final Terror)
Author/Vendor:	Sega
Released:	various
Type:	RPG
Language:	English, Japanese, and Portuguese
Premise:	A multigenerational saga that mixes together elements of the sci-fi, fantasy, strategy, and RPG genres. The underlying thread that unites the series is that of an ancient evil which arises in various forms to threaten the peaceful existence of the inhabitants of the Algo star system. Time and again it is defeated, only to rise again in an even more threatening form with each new age, until a climatic confrontation is forced in the fourth and final installment.
Impressions:	This is for Sega Genesis/MegaDrive fans what the Final Fantasy series is for the various Nintendo platforms. It is an ABSOLUTE MUST if you an RPG fan. The third game in the series doesn't quite fit, as it deals with a side story, but the fourth and final installment was such a huge success that it inspired its own anime TV series in Japan. Its continued popularity can be judged in part by the demand for the rare G/MD cart of the first game. Don't just take my word for it- play the series and see for yourself!
Variations:	Phantasy Star (aka Phantasy Star MD, PSMD - initally released for the SMS in 1988, rereleased 1993 in a special anniversary edition for the MegaDrive limited to just 1000 copies - it is the rarest known commercial G/MD cart in existence with a current street value of around US$200 - nevertheless, it's an exact copy of the Japanese SMS game, folks, but without the FM music) Phantasy Star 2 (1989, the direct sequel to the first game - according to Chochobo's RPG Ranch, it has the best ending of any game in the series and can hold its own against PS4 - there also seems to have been a variation or derivative with modem support released in Japan that was documented in Mega Play issue #2) Phantasy Star 3 - Generations of Doom (1991, released in Japan under the title Tokino Seishousha - deals with a side story in the saga, as three generations of characters interact, marry, and breed to raise a new crowd to do the same - four different endings based on how the game is played) Phantasy Star 4 - The End of the Millenium (1993, also released to beta testers under the title The Final Terror - takes all of the previous games, even PS3 to some extent, and ties them together into one grand finale) I would also like to note that the entire series is available on one big multigame CD in Japanese for the Sega Saturn - provided you can still find it - and there is an active campaign underway to get Sega to port this collection to IBM PC platforms. There are also at least a dozen or so Game Gear "side story" games, which were eventually collected and released on two separate discs for the Mega CD in Japan.
Recommended Emu:	Genecyst X (all titles except Phantasy Star MD) All attempts to dump Phantasy Star MD have failed as of this date. This is because it is actually a SMS cart in disguise, with additional hardware similar to that found in the PowerBase Converter to activate a real console's SMS compatability mode (VDP mode 4) before running the game. The only other cart documented to date that uses this configuration is the Hong Kong bootleg MegaDrive 14-in-1; see the Super Multi-in-One series for more information.