Phantasy Star Collection (GBA) worth it?

[Sarthraa]

Alright, I have Phantasy Star IV on the Virtual console, and I was wondering if I should get the Phantasy Star Collection for the GBA? Would that be a good choice, or would I be better off getting the games on the Wii's Virtual Console? I really want to get into the games, but I want to start from the first game and go on from there. Any suggestions?

[HUnewearl_Meira]

It really depends on what you need out of the games. You can play Phantasy Star Collection on the go, or you can use the GameCube GBA player. It has only two save slots per game, however, as well as reduced screen resolution.

If the arrangements you experienced playing PSIV on the Wii Virtual Console was good for you, then, go that route.

[Drac_Mazoku]

Emulation on the Phantasy Star Collection for the GBA is not really good (there's even a save bug with Phantasy Star). I would say buy the other on the Virtual Console too

[Dragwind]

If you have about $20 or so, I believe "Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection" has PS I, II, III and IV.

[Drac_Mazoku]

Having played almost every compilation with Phantasy Star on them (see my collection page), I can safely say that if you want to play Phantasy Star only, the Virtual Console IS the best experience when it comes to emulation. Though the Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection has many titles and make your money more worth it, the sound emulation is not 100% right...of course, someone who never played the original will not notice, so the Collection might be the best choice. BUT if you want the best experience possible, to me, the Virtual Console extra money it costs is well worth it. Plus, along with the Japanese Phantasy Star Complete Collection, the VC version of PSIV is the only place where they corrected the Level 99 bug for PSIV. It may seems pointless to most people, but I'm glad they put a little more effort in the VC release to correct every bug possible, while having, like I said, the best emulation possible

Just one thing though, if you buy thee Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection, be sure to have a second controller. To unlock Phantasy Star on the Master System, you need to beat the first boss of Sonic 2 with 2 players (??? Talk about a stupid way to unlock a single player game).

[Sarthraa]

Having played almost every compilation with Phantasy Star on them (see my collection page), I can safely say that if you want to play Phantasy Star only, the Virtual Console IS the best experience when it comes to emulation. Though the Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection has many titles and make your money more worth it, the sound emulation is not 100% right...of course, someone who never played the original will not notice, so the Collection might be the best choice. BUT if you want the best experience possible, to me, the Virtual Console extra money it costs is well worth it. Plus, along with the Japanese Phantasy Star Complete Collection, the VC version of PSIV is the only place where they corrected the Level 99 bug for PSIV. It may seems pointless to most people, but I'm glad they put a little more effort in the VC release to correct every bug possible, while having, like I said, the best emulation possible

Just one thing though, if you buy thee Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection, be sure to have a second controller. To unlock Phantasy Star on the Master System, you need to beat the first boss of Sonic 2 with 2 players (??? Talk about a stupid way to unlock a single player game).

I actually am thinking about getting the VC versions...I would definitely like the best experience. Thanks for the info, all of ya. I'm definitely going to get them...but it'll be one at a time, since I want to go through them in order. On a side note...isn't the Lv 99 bug the one where, if you level up again at Lv 99, it resets your level?

Well, at least it's only the first boss...doesn't sound too hard. Stupid, yes, but...eh.

[Drac_Mazoku]

The level 99 bug was one bug where as soon as one of your character reached this level, the battle after that, he will start copying someone elses stats, and then at each battle everyone will start swaping stats and skills. At one point, your character could become totally useless, having skills he can't use and for exemple Chaz who is a warrior, may end up with Raja stats, which make him a total weakling

Overall it was a big oversight. The reason was that they didnt plan a level cap initially, so upon reaching LV99, the game didnt know what to do next. So that's what happens. Hopefully, in the Virtual Console the bug was fixed.

[Sarthraa]

The level 99 bug was one bug where as soon as one of your character reached this level, the battle after that, he will start copying someone elses stats, and then at each battle everyone will start swaping stats and skills. At one point, your character could become totally useless, having skills he can't use and for exemple Chaz who is a warrior, may end up with Raja stats, which make him a total weakling

Overall it was a big oversight. The reason was that they didnt plan a level cap initially, so upon reaching LV99, the game didnt know what to do next. So that's what happens. Hopefully, in the Virtual Console the bug was fixed.

Oh, dang...that's pretty bad. Thanks for the info on that.

[FoCaster]

Is the Phantasy Star Collection on GBA a straight port?

[Drac_Mazoku]

Well, from what I've read, they're not exactly straight port, as I think they were build from the ground-up, not emulated. Problem is, even by so, they added nothing positive to the mix. It may not be emulation, but we could call them port because this is exactly the same thing as the original. With worse sound, a correction of Noah in the original, where he was called a "she", he's now a "he"...and the infamous "save bug", also in the first game. So overall, they even managed to make the game experience worse than it originally was.

Well, even with all that, it's the only way to legitely experience the first Phantasy Star on a portable system. It's kinda cool just for that.