I got this console when I was a kid just for Phantasy Star. It's unquestionably the best 8 bit RPG, and the weak sequels disappointed me constantly growing up.
Phantasy Star was the first RPG I played, when I was about 7 years old.
The translation was awful, a lot of the things in the game were cryptic, and I got ultimately got stuck at the Blue Dragon in Casba Cave. Only finished the game when I returned to it years later.
But hell if that game didn't have a lasting impact on me. The absolute sense of wonder o exploring an open world. One of the first things I did when I played was an attempt to walk around a mountain range and being obliterated by a group of spiders. I was utterly amazed when I could travel board a starship and trabel to Motavia. Exploring an entirely new world was mind blowing.
To this day when I have to pick between male and female on an RPG, I typically pick female because Alis Landale became in my mind the prototypical main character. At a time where the heroes I was used to were Rambo and Conan the Barbarian, there was something charming about going against an intergalactic dictator as a girl wieldin a sword and wearing a pink skirt. And I am a guy. Maybe that'd partly why I always get puzzled when people want to see themselves represented in videogames. I don't, I want Alis.
I am currently playing Phantasy Star, on a Japanese Master System. Note Phantasy Star supports FM sound. Unlike the Mark III and the export Master System, this console has FM sound and 3d glasses support built in.
I am not playing the original, but a recent re-translation effort[0]. It is amazing for that "generation" of consoles.
At least they tried something different/interesting with 3. It might not have felt like a PS game but it was unique I guess. I still think they made up for it with 4 though.
