Fantasy Zone (Arcade)

Fantasy Zone is a goofy shoot 'em up starring the living ship Opa-Opa, destroyer of Greek dinner plates and "I am your father" subplots.

To do: Document the prototype ROM (fantzonepr in MAME).

Early Version Message#

A message from a work-in-progress build is still in the game. The subroutine to display this message starts at 00A4BA, but it's not referenced at any point in the code. Enter this code in MAME's fantzone.xml cheat file and enable it to see this message in place of the high score table.

  <cheat desc="Coming Soon Message">
    <script state="on">
      <action>maincpu.mw@00C14A=E370</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@00C14C=6000</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@00C14E=0116</action>
    </script>
    <script state="off">
      <action>maincpu.mw@00C14A=0074</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@00C14C=41FA</action>
      <action>maincpu.mw@00C14E=0150</action>
    </script>
  </cheat>

Unused Graphics#

NOTE: Unless specified otherwise, the palettes used for these sprite rips are just guesses.

A walking, woodlouse-esque enemy. Just look at that stride!

A vaguely-fishy enemy that wouldn't look too out of place in Dolimicca.

...Some kind of animal? Whatever it is, it's likely a placeholder given the sprite's sloppiness.

Finally, this strange car. It looks nothing like anything else in the game style-wise and is wider than most enemies, so who knows what it was meant for.

Early (bottom-mouthed)	Early (top-mouthed)	Final

Two unused, likely earlier variations of the Plaleaf base exist in the sprite ROMs. Notably the top-mouthed version's death frames use an incorrect color for the yellow shading, implying they predate the final palette or were intended to use a different palette altogether.

Revisional Differences#

New ver.#

Two of the songs in the game's earliest revision weren't finished on time. Oddly enough, the original music Easter egg in Super Fantasy Zone uses the early versions of both songs.

In the finished version of the stage clear theme, the clunky-sounding backing instrument was replaced with higher-pitched trumpets. The version in Super Fantasy Zone has the clunky synth raised up an octave, but the notes are more in line with the later version.

A lead melody was added to the finalized version of "Hot Snow." The early version of the song is used (with reduced instrumentation) in the Master System, MSX, and Famicom ports, and forms the base for the remix used in Fantasy Zone: The Maze.

3D Fantasy Zone: Opa-Opa Bros.#

This Nintendo 3DS port was released in 2015 as part of the 3D Classics series. It supports 3D stereoscopic vision, and coins earned during gameplay are stored in a "Coin Stock" that can be withdrawn in any amount at the start of the game. Also, by completing the game, Opa-Opa's younger brother, Upa-upa, is unlocked. Many changes apply when playing as Upaupa.

General changes#

• The timers for shopping, equipment selection, and name entry have been removed and are now infinite.
• Only when certain conditions are met will the two bosses from the Master System version be replaced with regular bosses.　You can optionally prevent them from appearing.

Upa-Upa Mode Changes#

Opa-Opa's younger brother, Upa-Upa, steals his brother's money and sets out on a journey to save the Fantasy Zone.

• Opa-Opa has been replaced by Upa-Upa.
• An engine must be selected before starting a new game, and there is no cost to choose the most expensive engine.
• "OPA-OPA!" has been replaced with "UPA-UPA!"

• Shop balloons will not appear.
• As mentioned above, there is no shop in Upa-Upa mode, but you can quickly change the weapons and bombs you use using the touch screen.
• However, coin will be consumed while using default weapons, weapons other than bombs, and bombs.

• The default Shot fires only one bullet per shot instead of two, making it weaker.
• Enemies are trigger-happy.
• Projectile speed has been changed to 0.75x speed.²
• O-Papa was replaced by an unnamed Upa-Upa's mother, she frowned instead of shedding tears, and the ending story was changed.

Upa-Upa mode scrapped Weapons and Bombs#

Koga's first idea for the "Upa-Upa" weapon. This was scrapped as it was not realistic to implement.³

References#