Phantasy Star | |
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Original Phantasy Star logo
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Genres | Role-playing video game |
Developers | Sega, Sonic Team |
Publishers | Sega |
Creators | Kotaro Hayashida, Miki Morimoto |
Platforms |
Dreamcast Game Boy Advance GameCube Game Gear iOS Windows Nintendo DS PlayStation 2 PlayStation Portable PlayStation Vita Sega Genesis Master System Sega Mega-CD Sega Saturn Virtual Console Xbox Xbox 360 |
Platform of origin | Sega Master System |
Year of inception | 1987 |
First release |
Phantasy Star December 20, 1987 |
Latest release |
Phantasy Star Nova November 27, 2014 |
Spin-offs | Phantasy Star Online |
Phantasy Star (ファンタシースター Fantashī Sutā?) is a series of console role-playing video games and other supplementary media created by Sega. The series debuted in 1987 on the Sega Master System with Phantasy Star, and continues into the present with Phantasy Star Online 2 and other extensions of the Phantasy Star Online sub-series. Each of the games in the series features a science fantasy setting featuring a cross-genre combination of magic and technology.
The first four games in the series are set in or related to the fictional planetary system of Algol, and are single-player RPGs. Later titles bearing the Phantasy Star name are for the most part massively multiplayer online games. Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe are set in other galaxies, sharing minor canonical links with the original series, mostly in the recurrence of common themes and antagonists.
The original series takes place in the Algol Solar System, which consists of four planets: Palma, a fertile agricultural world; Motavia, a desert planet; Dezoris, an ice planet; and the mysterious Rykros, whose elongated orbit brings it within visible range only once every thousand years. Players travel to all four planets throughout the series, interacting with each unique set of inhabitants and discovering the secrets to the solar system's genesis, which is irrevocably tied to an ancient conflict.