-Fantasy Zone: Arcade-
-Overview-

This is the game that started it all, it's when Opa-Opa promptly took off for the Fantasy Zone where...

This game must have been extremely rare outside of Japan, I only know of one person who's seen it in an American arcade, and the machine he saw wasn't even a dedicated cabinet.

-Short Review-


The graphics are fantastic: rich vibrant colors, fanciful enemies, imaginative bosses, and a great atmosphere. 
The music's exellent too, with many tunes that will stick in your head for years to come.
The gameplay's top notch, imagine Defender, without the crazy controll scheme, and the addition of a bomb button.  The game's intense, but not so hard that you'll walk away in shame.
In short, this game is an all time classic, and certainly a game that Sega should NEVER forget, for we, their fans, will always remember it as one of their best.
Final Grade: A+
Playing Tips:

Buying special weapons can make defeating the bosses easier, learn the patterns and always try to have big wings and twin bombs.

Tree stump boss (round 1)
Shoot it in the mouth when it's open, and don't get too close, or the leaf-bullets will boomerang on you.  Special weapon's aren't especially helpfull on this boss.

Round thing with orbiting "bells" (round 2)
To defeat it, you've got to shoot the inner ring of spheres away.  I reccomend using the 7-way shot if possible, the heavy bomb can help too.  Watch out for the falling bullets and seek an opening, or else you're dead.  Often there's a large gap in the bullets directly under the boss, so try getting under it if there's no where else to hide.

Laser face thing (round 3)
This boss is a breeze if you stay above it.  Quickly bomb away the top gun, and you'll have a place to hide where you can bomb away peacefully.  The Heavy bomb, 7-way shot, or wide beam can be helpfull too.  To avoid getting shot, you can also fly behind this boss if you choose.

The boss with the wavy arms (round 4)
Not much strategy, just shoot the arm segments untill they turn orange, and avoid the bullets.  The 7-way shot, or smart-bombs can be usefull here (3 smart bombs will kill this boss).

Snowmen (round 5)
The best way to deal with this boss is to take out the first row as quickly as possible.  Each row must be cleared before you can harm the next, so the 7-way shot is the best choice here.  Exellent bullet dodging skills are necessary if you can't afford any special weapons.
I've also seen a special technique used on this boss: Destroy all the snowmen in the first row, then just the top and bottom snowmen in the second row.  From there, if you can dodge the bullets for about a minute, it will stop shooting at you, making it a sitting duck.

Tornado (round 6)
When this boss shows up, quickly fly to the right side of the screen and start firing.  Trying not to get hit by the rows of swirls is your top priority, and try to shoot it in the eye when you go around it.  The heavy bomb can be of some help, but it's not really necessary.

Big square face (round7)
You NEED at least big wings, but the normal engine is better.  When the face seperates, move away, because it's coming after you.  And when it's in one piece, blast away.  Any weapon should work well against this boss, but buying a fire bomb or heavy bomb couldn't hurt.

Final boss (round 8)
Your standard double shot should work fine for the first 4 spiders, but for the last 2, you NEED heavy bombs, so after the 4th spider, move to the upper-left corner of the screen, and drop the bomb when it gets near.

Version
Japanese
American
Flyer:
   
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Cabinet:
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Instruction Card:
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PCB:
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