Fantasy Land (set 1) Review by: Eirinn - 5/10
delightful little adventure game of days gone byFantasyland is an interesting little adventure game from the earlier and less complicated days of gaming. Unfortunately, try as I might to find a release date, I can't find a definite answer. It's very elusive information apparently. I have however, found two possible dates for it, the earliest of which being 1987, and the later, 1990. And so it is, with this knowledge, we can proceed with the review properly, understanding the limitations of systems back then.
The story begins (and pretty much ends), with a cut scene of a man and a woman standing in a forrest, when a phantom-like creature descends, grabs the woman, and carries her away, as she cries for help.
It is here that the game begins. You play as the man, travelling through the six levels of baddie fighting chaos, trying against all odds, to rescue your honey. Along the way, you will find power ups that serve various purposes. One of which appears to be a crystal ball, that when picked up improves your weapons ability. This was actually my favorite part of the game. Some of those weapon upgrades were pretty strong, and it can be upgraded several times. Each time you get a new crystal ball, your weapon improves a little more, but once you lose a life, your weapon goes back to it's original, weaker state, which is always a bummer.
In addition to your weapon, you have a parrot as a sidekick. This parrot always flies over your head, and fires a shot everytime you do. The shot seems to come from his mouth. Odd, but hey, why not? It is called Fantasyland after all. One thing I really liked about this was that you can actually control the parrot as well, but only slighty. As I said, the fire button makes him fire, but you can also press up to make him fly higher, or down to make him fly lower. He always flies directly over your head though, and cannot be moved side to side. Mr. Parrot is definitely a help against all enemies, but I felt he was especially helpful against the always oversized bosses. Also the parrot must avoid being hit as well, as he will be killed if he takes too many hits, and will not respawn until you die. Unfortunately, we never get any indication of birdies health level, but it is substantially less than our hero's.
But enough intro, it's time to see how this game measures up against it's peers.
Graphics: 9/10
Excellent.
It's difficult to say for sure just how good these graphics are, since I can't determine an exact year. I actually changed this rating four times before I finally settled on it. I really liked some aspects of the graphics, while others were just average.The sprites are very large, making it easy to see all of the details in the action, and even facial expressions. They were pretty smooth for a 1990 game as well. The color choices on them weren't bad, except for the level five boss. He looked like an old school wrestler, armed with an axe. The color choices for him were just plain awful. It didn't help that he happened to be the boss of one of the least attractive levels graphically. His level was bland at best. Just a bunch of gray bricks. However, the boss room was nice, I thought. A stark contrast to the rest of the level. The backgrounds were incredible for the most part. I loved the background art, especially in level one. The trees were beautifully done. The foilage, highly detailed and believable. This was one of the finer pieces of background art I've found from it's time frame. Also the background in level two wasn't bad either, though as you might expect, the exterrior of a castle wall offers little to no depth visually. Though they did include some busted windows and a few other marks that freshened it up a bit. All in all, it was a good background. Level three's background was very nice. Details from the trees, to the mossy color on some of the bricks. Four's was dull and unappealing like five's. Finally the level six backgrounds were good as well. Especially the boss room. Great color scheme. The effects weren't anything special either, but about average for the time, I suppose.
Sound: 5/10
Average.
The music isn't bad for the time, but there are only two tunes: one for the levels, and one for the boss fights. As you might imagine, it gets repetitive before you finish the game. You might even consider turning the volume off mid-game. The sound effects are plain and not very effective in creating much of a game atmosphere. However, they weren't all that bad compared to other games of it's time. Still, this does not equal pleasant.
Story: 3/10
Bad.
There really is no story here, which isn't a necessary evil, since by this time, games were packing quite a bit more story than they were a few years ago. Still, this is an arcade game, and they tend to offer considerably less story than console games. And so with that in mind, I can settle on a three.
Depth: 4/10
Poor.
Again, this is normal for an arcade game. You don't want an arcade game to have too much to do in it, because you don't want the game to last too long. But that doesn't change the fact that the depth is still low. You just travel from place to place, killing enemies. That pretty much sums it up.
Addictiveness: 4/10.
Poor.
While I did play it three times, that's only because I didn't know that the continue ability was unavailable in the final boss fight. When I was unfortunate enough to find that out, I decided to play again so I could finish it. Unfortunately, I learned then that the continue was disabled for the entire last level. On my third trip through, I decided to let the boss of level five kill me, so I could enter the final level with both lives. I managed to enjoy the majority of the game each time, but I don't plan to play again anytime soon. Still, it held my attention nearly three full times through in a row.
Difficulty: 2/10
Very easy.
This could easily be beaten with only three or four credits, on a players first time through. The main character can take alot of damage, and can wipe out a screen full of enemies with ease. The bosses are all pretty easy as well. The only real exception to this rule being the level five boss. No real challenges here.
Overall: 5/10
Average.
This game is a fun experience for retro adventure gamers, no doubt. I really enjoyed myself,so don't let the low score fool you. This rating reflects the various aspects that make up a complete game, not the fun factor alone. My personal rating would probably be a 5.5 or 6. All in all, it's a fun experience.
Summary.
Fantasyland is an old school adventure/platformer mix, that doesn't fail to deliver a good game. Interested in these genres, or old arcade games? If so, give this one a shot. It'll be worth your time. Fantasyland: A delightful little adventure of days gone by.
Graphics
9 Sound
5 Addictive
4 Depth
4 Story
3 Difficulty
2
User Notice 
-1.png "Fantasy Land (set 1) Title Screen")
-2.png "Fantasy Land (set 1) Screenshot 1")
-3.png "Fantasy Land (set 1) Screenthot 2")
