Fantasy Zone on the Mega Drive

The simply gorgeous Fantasy Zone Mega Drive boxart. 

Last year, Fantasy Zone was added to the Mega Drive mini 2's collection of games as a, somewhat, surprising inclusion having never previously found it's way onto Sega's 16-bit console. Yes, the Mega Drive never received a Fantasy Zone port; the only FZ game released on it was the Sunsoft developed Super Fantasy Zone, which is a completely original title (I have a page for it up at some point). This is probably common knowledge to most fans, but I have come across some comments online where 'Super' is viewed as a port or even a modified version of the Arcade original. 

The story behind the the FZ port to the MD mini 2 is an interesting one. An independent developer Hideki Konishi (AKA Hidecade, who previously coded a MD Darius port that was included on the original MD mini) spent 4 years working on the port, where he met challenges matching the game's audio with the arcade's and also having the problem of balancing gameplay to authentically mimic the Arcade. This was a passion project, with Hidecade installing the PCB in his home for research purposes, building his own Astro City table top cabinet and creating a Fantasy Zone label for a replica Mega Drive cartridge (see pictures below).

Hidecade's Mega Drive Fantasy Zone set up.

In a similar fashion to the Darius port, Sega assisted development in Fantasy Zone's final stages, with Kazuki Kubota (director at M2) overseeing the finishing touches. 

Darius received a physical release in Japan courtesy of Taito and Columbus Circle and in the West, through Strictly Limited games. It goes without saying that I would love to see Sega do something similar for Fantasy Zone. 

For more on Hidecade's development check out his article here.