Phantasy Star puts Sega on the RPG map on December 20, 1987


It was a Monday, and rather an unremarkable one beyond the icy temperature. However, on an island nation in the Pacific Ocean known as Japan, a small electronic box was preparing to do something quite remarkable. This box, affectionately known as the Sega Master System, was about to unleash a universe. And not just any universe, but one teeming with three planets, advanced technology, ancient evils, and a protagonist who, astonishingly, wasn’t a barbarian with a rather oversized sword and a penchant for shouting.

Yes, on December 20, 1987, a small cartridge containing the digital essence of Phantasy Star was released. Sega, in an act of staggering spatial efficiency, managed to cram three entire planets—Palma, Motavia, and Dezoris—into a four-megabit cartridge. This was, at the time, considered an achievement of such monumental proportions that it briefly made the invention of sliced bread look like a minor clerical error.

The story begins in a way that most things do—with a certain amount of unpleasantness. A young woman named Alis Landale witnesses her brother’s untimely demise at the hands of King Lassic’s robot cops. Lassic, it should be said, was the kind of tyrant who had clearly never been given a hug as a child and had decided to make that everyone else’s problem. Rather than filing a strongly worded complaint with the local authorities (who were, inconveniently, the ones doing the killing), Alis decides to embark on a quest of planetary proportions.

She is joined by a motley crew: Myau, a talking cat-like creature who carries medicine in a jar around his neck and is much more useful than your average feline; Odin, a warrior who had been turned to stone (a condition generally considered a major career setback); and Noah, a wizard who, in keeping with the traditions of the genre, is mostly there to look mysterious and run out of magic points at the worst possible moment.

But the truly revolutionary thing about Phantasy Star—the thing that made people drop their toast in surprise—was the dungeons.

Up until 1987, most video game dungeons were flat, two-dimensional affairs that behaved as if the concept of "depth" was a dangerous radical theory. Phantasy Star, however, introduced smooth-scrolling, first-person 3D dungeons. For the first time, players could walk down a hallway and experience the genuine, visceral sensation of being utterly lost in a labyrinth of identical-looking walls, a feeling previously reserved for people trying to find their way out of a large department store.

Of course, being the most expensive cartridge ever produced at the time (thanks to its massive 4-megabit size and that fancy save battery), it wasn't exactly flying off the shelves. But for those who persevered through the grinding, the cryptic dungeons, and the occasional encounter with a monster named "Sworm", it offered an epic scope that felt utterly vast on an 8-bit console. That the soundtrack contained numerous bangers was merely gravy.

Here was a game that dared to suggest that "fantasy" didn't have to mean solely medieval castles and grumpy dragons. It could mean spaceships hurtling between planets, each with its own bizarre ecology and societal quirks. It meant cybernetically enhanced tigers as companions, and talking, flying cats. It meant a government run by a despotic king who, rather than just being a bit of a curmudgeon, turned out to be a shape-shifting alien overlord who had discovered an entirely new religion. The sheer audacity of it all was, frankly, breathtaking.

It was bold. It was colorful. It featured a female protagonist who didn't spend the entire game waiting in a castle for someone else to show up with a sword. It was, in short, a masterpiece of 8-bit engineering.

So, as we look back on this day in 1987, let us remember Alis and her friends. They taught us that no matter how many robot cops are chasing you, or how many planets you have to hop between, as long as you have a talking cat and a reasonably high level of experience points, things will ultimately be okay.

Though, if you’re planning on visiting Dezoris, you might want to bring a very thick coat.

Location: Japan

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