Back in the late 80's, a little known system called the Sega Master System spawned a game that would span generations with epic storylines and solid RPG action. Phantasy Star III was actually my first official RPG that I bought for the Genesis way back when. I paid $90 for it at my local Toys R Us. That's how much games like that cost back then and there wasn't a lot of competition as far as places to buy them. We were stuck and a lot of games cost well over $50. Remember that one when you think about bitching that a new game cost $40.

Back to the topic. For a mere $30, you can pick up a cart which features three games which would have set you back about $230 originally. Not a bad deal if you just think about it that way and $30 is certainly not a bad price for a nice slice of RPG history. While I'm sure that most gamers out there will certainly feel that $10 each for three classic RPGs is quite fair, be warned that there are some issues which may hamper your enjoyment of the old school RPGs.

First, let me tell you about the good stuff. I already touched upon the value of the cart. That can't be denied. There is a lot of game for your dollar on this cart and that is a large plus. I'm a big fan of compilation carts for the most part. When they are done well, such as Konami Arcade Classics, you are in for a great time. Phantasy Star Collection is no exception. You get the first three games of a spectacular RPG series which hopefully will go back to their roots and get away from this online shit. (Sorry, sore subject.)

Secondly, I love the Phantasy Star universe. The techno-organic settings, creatures and storyline really strike a chord with me. It a perfect setting for an RPG which gives it a spectacular mix of elements from medieval swashbuckling to combat cyborgs who aid you in combat and magical spells which annihilate the dark forces. There is something in there for everyone really which is why I think that a lot of people enjoy the series. To me at least, it is a perfect atmosphere for an epic RPG.

The graphics vary in the games. The original Phantasy Star is a port from the 8-bit Sega Master System game. Obviously, this game is the weakest of the three in most areas, however, if you can think about when this game was released, it was pretty damn impressive. The dungeons in the game used a pseudo 3-D crawling engine which isn't found in the later games on the cart. Phantasy Star II arguably has the best graphics, especially when it comes to the battle scenes. In the second game, you actually see each member of your party on screen attack the various monsters, which is one of the biggest omissions of the third game.

The character designs are pretty solid throughout, with my personal favorites coming from the third game actually. You have your standard heroes with blue hair, cyborgs with guns, people who are better at healing than fighting, etc. The story in the first game is the lightest, showing the age of the game, however it picks up pretty well in the second and third games of the cart. The third game features a branching storyline which follows your characters through three generations. I always liked how the third game played out, although, again, I am in the minority in that opinion.

Musically, the cart isn't bad. Sure, the first game is a little bland because it was an old 8-bit game, but it picks up quite well in the 16-bit games. I can't compare the music to the actual originals since I no longer have the carts, but from memory the music sounds like it is complete. In the end, however, the games still fall victim to the overall sound quality of the Genesis, which wasn't exactly cutting edge even in it's own generation.

The action is standard fare for classic style RPGs. The games are all menu driven and feature plenty of equipment collecting, random battles and town people who say the same things over and over again. If Final Fantasy VII wasn't you're first RPG, you should be pretty familiar with the setup. The first game on the cart feels much more uneven with the battles as compared to the other games since it seems to always remain dangerous. Most RPGs tend to level out after a while, making early enemies almost non-effective. In Phantasy Star, I found myself in many situations where even weenie enemies were whittling away at my health no matter what my level or equipment was. The last two games have a slightly better grasp in that area, however there still are a ton of random battles which may annoy today's gamers.

The game totally falls apart in two critical areas in my opinion. First, they shipped the fucking game with a fucking game crashing glitch, that shows up when you try and save your fucking game while playing the original Phantasy Star. I mainly wanted this cart for the original game since that is the one I was most curious about, and I have to deal with worrying if my game will crash or not while I'm saving. What the developers were thinking by not fixing that, I don't know, and don't tell me you didn't fucking know about it. I can't tell you how many hours were pissed away in that game due to the game save glitch. On the bright side, it didn't seem to be an issue in the 2nd or 3rd game.

The second complaint is that they didn't add in a "quick save" feature which I think is essential in portable gaming, especially an RPG. Portable gaming, by its very nature, caters to short bursts of gaming. It actually comes in handy for RPGs since you tend to do a lot of leveling up. You turn on the GBA, wander around a bit, gain a level, save right away and then worry about everything else later. The save mechanisms work exactly the way they did in their original form. Phantasy Star II has a bit of equipment which will let you save on the fly, but it's not in the beginning of the game. In Phantasy Star III, you are stuck with having to get back to a town. Phantasy Star allows you to save pretty much any time and any where, however there is that nifty game crashing glitch that makes you hesitant to want to try and save. I just feel that quick saves are essential to these types of games.

In the end, the cart is still a great value due to the sheer amount of history and gameplay, however the problems limit you to only playing the game when you have some serious time to set aside for it for the most part. Shipping a game with a crippling glitch that rears its ugly head when you try and save your game is ridiculous. It seems you can work around the glitch since it seems to be related to the music looping, but most gamers aren't going to be tenacious enough to look for that info on the net or figure it out for themselves. It should not be an issue, simple as that.