Original Series (PS franchise)
With the release of
Phantasy Star in 1987,
Sega launched a series of classic turn-based RPGs across the
Master System,
Genesis, and
Game Gear, which helped define a generation of games. This franchise is best characterized by the millennium-spanning multi-generational battles against the malevolent Dark Force, spanning four numbered games and several "gaiden" side stories. PS ranks highly among all gaming franchises for the number of compilations, re-released ports, and remakes that the original four games have received.
After laying dormant throughout the the
Saturn/
Playstation era which saw a renewed interest in Japanese RPGs amongst Western gamers, Sega re-booted the series with
Phantasy Star Online on the
Dreamcast. A 3D action RPG with online and offline play, PSO was worlds apart from its 8 bit predecessors, but became a hit, spawning three additional episodes across the Dreamcast,
Gamecube,
PC, and
Xbox.
In December 2008,
Phantasy Star 0, the first new PSO game since 2005, was released on the
Nintendo DS.
In 2006, with PSO service nearing shutdown,
Sonic Team launched
Phantasy Star Universe, a second reboot of the series. With a new universe to explore, along with a large number of gameplay changes PSU was, despite similarities, a large departure from PSO.
In July 2008, Sega released
Phantasy Star Portable, which took PSU's gameplay and gave it a new storyline set between PSU's first two chapters.
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