In terms of software, the biggest news by far was with the Phantasy Star RPG series - the closest thing Sega had to Square's Final Fantasy franchise - with two Mega CD titles announced as being in development. The more notable of the two was the all-new title The Return of Alis, which was to take place immediately after the events depicted in Phantasy Star 3 and tell the story of the fight against a revival of the intergalactic slave trade. This new installment in the saga would be 20 times the size of the earlier game and would incorporate both audio and anime clips.
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Sega cancelled the planned Sega CD release of Phantasy Star 4, opting instead for a cartridge-based Genesis game that bore little resemblance to its original Sega CD concept.
* the early cinema scenes in EGM's first PSIV preview (Number 37 - August 1992) as well as the first-person dungeons that were cut out, were both from PSIV: End of The Millenium, not the unreleased PSIV The Return of Alis. this is often the point of some confusion.....
.....Usually one mentions "an unreleased Phantasy Star" or
"Phantasy Star IV: The Return of Alis" people will think of & mention the early unused cinemas & first-person dungeon picture of PSIV: End of the Millenium, not realizing these are two totally different PSIV games -- one that was never released at all, the other was released but with things cut out.
As far as I know, there have been no pictures seen of the earlier 'Return of Alis', a concept for a PSIV game that was completely scrapped. The only possible (however unlikely) picture of PSIV: The Return of Alis is that unidentified screen in Mega Play.
that screen in Mega Play is not absolutely for certain PSIV The Return of Alis, it's only a possibility. It could very well be from a non-PS game, but it looks so VERY PS-ish, does it not?
What a game that incarnation of PSIV would've been on MegaCD / SegaCD, even a cut-down cartridge version on Genesis.
No doubt later, the full CD version would've appeared in collections for Saturn, Dreamcast, Playstation2, Xbox, IBM PC, etc.
Dispite the vague decription of the story, I think it would've been a much better Phantasy Star than End of the Millenium. It's a shame this game won't ever be made.
Even though Phantasy Star III was terrible in most people's opinions including my own, that does not, in any way, mean PSIV: The Return of Alis would have been a bad game.
Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millenium while very good, had a lot of faults, and as a result IMO, wasn't as good as II.
Last edited by AirRaid on Mon Jun 11, 2007 5:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 4:29 am Post subject: Re: Phantasy Star IV: The Return of Alis (unreleased)
So would this have been the early PSIV with 3-D dungeons and an intro that showed the previous three games?
I doubt that the game would've turned out that much better on the Sega CD, but it's still an interesting point. Someone should ask Rieko Kodama about it.
AirRaid wrote:
Phantasy Star IV: End of the Millenium while very good, had a lot of faults, and as a result IMO, wasn't as good as II.
I disagree completely. PS I and II were impressive for their times, but IV is the only older Phantasy Star that I can stand to play past the first ten minutes.
Joined: 02 Nov 2005 Posts: 154 Location: Minnesota
Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 6:47 pm Post subject:
Reading about this makes me wish I was a Phantasy Star fan. I really wanted to be when I was younger, but never owned a Genesis. Now I got emulation but I can't bother playing thru any games for very long, with my work schedule and personal life and all.
Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 5:45 pm Post subject: Re: Phantasy Star IV: The Return of Alis (unreleased)
Kid Fenris wrote:
So would this have been the early PSIV with 3-D dungeons and an intro that showed the previous three games?
It is easily understandable why people would think that, but no.
That was early stuff done for PSIV: End of the Millenium. It's not from either version of PSIV: Return Of Alis.
No early concept stuff / prototype has ever been seen of that completely different take on PSIV which was totally scrapped.
There is one possible exception, but it's a total long shot.
that's from the editorial page of the U.S. magazine Mega Play, May-June 1991.
That was *probably* was a Phantasy Star game. not PS III since III had already been completed & released in Japan by then (III came out in 1990).
Is that a picture of PSIV The Return of Alis ? I don't know. Like I said, it's a long shot. however this is the only unidentified picture of what is likely *a* Phantasy Star game, post-PSIII, yet over a year before the first work on End of The Millenium surfaced (see post below).
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I disagree completely. PS I and II were impressive for their times, but IV is the only older Phantasy Star that I can stand to play past the first ten minutes.
PSIV was good, and in some ways was the best PS game, but in other ways, it wasn't as fun or challenging as II. definitally better than III though.
Last edited by AirRaid on Wed May 30, 2007 6:16 pm; edited 5 times in total
to clear up the confusion here's a list from the best of my memory & knowledge of development activity between the release of PS III (1990, 1991) and PSIV End of The Millenium (1993, 1995)
(1991)
an enhanced CD version of PSIII announced.
(1991)
mysterious picture of a new Phantasy Star appears in Mega Play magazine.
(1992)
GamePro magazine (maybe others? states PSIV The Return of Alis is slated for both cartridge and MegaCD,SegaCD.
(August 1992)
first concept graphics for PSIV End of The Millenium (not Return of Alis) show up in EGM and no doubt other magazines.
(late 1992)
EGM has a 2 part interview on the making of PSIV, shows the first person dungeon, which was scrapped.
(1992-1993)
dispite what was cut out, PSIV End of the Millenium grows from a 12-16 meg cartridge to 24 megs.
so:
PSIV: The Return of Alis (cartridge) - unreleased
PSIV: The Return of Alis (CD-ROM) - unreleased
PSIV: End of The Millenium with extra introductory cinemas, first-person dungeons - cut down
PSIV: End of the Millenium as it is:
released Dec 1993 in Japan - Feb 1995 in U.S.
to clear up the confusion here's a list from the best of my memory & knowledge of development activity between the release of PS III (1990, 1991) and PSIV End of The Millenium (1993, 1995)
(1991)
an enhanced CD version of PSIII announced.
(1991)
mysterious picture of a new Phantasy Star appears in Mega Play magazine.
(1992)
GamePro magazine (maybe others? states PSIV The Return of Alis is slated for both cartridge and MegaCD,SegaCD.
(August 1992)
first concept graphics for PSIV End of The Millenium (not Return of Alis) show up in EGM and no doubt other magazines.
(late 1992)
EGM has a 2 part interview on the making of PSIV, shows the first person dungeon, which was scrapped.
(1992-1993)
dispite what was cut out, PSIV End of the Millenium grows from a 12-16 meg cartridge to 24 megs.
so:
PSIV: The Return of Alis (cartridge) - unreleased
PSIV: The Return of Alis (CD-ROM) - unreleased
PSIV: End of The Millenium with extra introductory cinemas, first-person dungeons - cut down
PSIV: End of the Millenium as it is:
released Dec 1993 in Japan - Feb 1995 in U.S.
I liked the Phantasy Star series...wasnt to shabby!
Joined: 17 May 2006 Posts: 130 Location: Woodstock GA!
Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 10:05 pm Post subject:
Imagine if this actually came out for Sega CD. I need to get around to beating Phantasy Star II so I can move on to IV, I'm probably going to skip III and play it later on.
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