Phantasy Star (SMS)

Picture the year 1987, an era of jagged text RPGs on monochrome screens — and suddenly a fluidly animated 3D dungeon opens up before you, one you walk through from a first-person view. Phantasy Star was not just a game; it was a demonstration of just how far a console RPG could reach.

Technically it was a small miracle. While the competition made do with static screens, Phantasy Star offered dungeons with fluid movement animation that made you truly feel you were exploring three-dimensional corridors. Add to that a colorful, detailed world spread across three planets and a sci-fi/fantasy mix that combined magic with blasters and spaceships — a combination unheard of at the time.

The story followed the heroine Alis, who sets out to avenge her brother's death and topple a malevolent ruler. That the main character was a woman was remarkably progressive for its day — female protagonists were a rarity in the RPGs of that era. A colorful party gradually forms around Alis, and the game leads you through travels between planets, battles, and the discovery of a vast world.

In terms of gameplay it is a classic JRPG with turn-based battles, gathering equipment, and gradually strengthening your characters, but all of it wrapped in a presentation that tried to be ahead of its time. Much of what Phantasy Star showcased, rival genre titles were still catching up to years afterward.

The game's significance is hard to overstate — it laid the foundation for one of the most important sci-fi RPG series and proved that SEGA could compete in the realm of storytelling and adventure as well, not just in action games. For anyone interested in the roots of the genre, it is an indispensable milestone.

Why play it: For the experience of a pioneering JRPG that, with its 3D dungeon and strong heroine, was ahead of its time — a historic milestone worth discovering even today.