Known to a few Phantasy Star fans and (probably) a larger base of pirate ROM fans, Wai Xing Zhan Shi is another hacker original, along the lines of the Power Rangers games and the infamous Somari. Of course, a known prerequisite of being a pirate title is that someone, somewhere, has to be ripped off. And what did they pick for a quick 8-bit conversion this time in their efforts to make a few dollars?
Phantasy Star IV.
Even if you aren't an avid fan of Phantasy Star, you can see the similarities in the above screenshots.
Moving on, we see our heroes, Chaz and Alys, a couple of bounty hunters, out on another venture to pay the bills. This time, they're given the task of ridding Motavia Academy's basement of nasty monsters. Unlike the original Phantasy Star game, however, the Academy has a weapon shop out front. Let's stop in and pay the owner a visit.
Hey, it's Scorpion!
Hmm, a picture of the item you're about to purchase... Phantasy Star IV didn't have those.
As I had no American currency to spend on a shiny new sword, I opted instead to bust into the basement and start whipping some monsters. As usual, the floor was dotted with treasures for the collecting, but not being fluent in Taiwanese, I had no idea what items they contained. In any case, after a fight or two against some beasties, I went downstairs and came face-to-face with the lead monster, Igglanova.
Unfortunately, despite Iggy losing the ability to spawn smaller, more annoying critters at will like his Genesis counterpart, the battle quickly took a turn for the worse. I had neglected leveling up and the language barrier prevented me from using some spells or items to save myself, so I went down shortly afterward.
Alys' Last Stand
This game is rather difficult for me to review, mostly because of the language barrier, so I'll hold off on giving it a rating for now. As far as pirate titles go, though, this one is pretty decent compared to most. The graphics are mostly accurate to the Genesis version, aside from the usual downgrading from 24 to 8-bit, and the music, while not especially memorable (and in fact barely resembling PS4's score at all), is at least worth keeping the volume on for.