Phantasy Star Online: Episode I & II

It looks like there?s a new challenger for Street Fighter II?s long uncontested title as Most Rehashed Game Ever. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you.

You?d think that after two years, an expansion, and three ports, Phantasy Star Online would get stale. You?d think that everybody?s been there, done that, bought the T-shirt and the Double Saber. But guess what? Everything you think is wrong.

Phantasy Star Online was a delightful dungeon crawl when it first came out on the Dreamcast. Choosing from nine character classes, players banded together and fought endless hordes of monsters. The dungeons and combat were repetitive, but it was undeniably fun to play with your friends.

Since then, Phantasy Star Online has been around the block almost as much as Street Fighter II. Three character classes and two dungeons have been added, the level cap is 200 instead of 100, and androids have new toys?but nothing has really changed. However, Xbox Live makes the familiar seem new again. Gone are the days of long pauses as players type messages to each other, as well as the intrusive word bubbles that cluttered the screen. Xbox Live?s headset replaces all these old methods of communication. This allows for a much faster pace of gameplay, making this once-sluggish action/RPG a much smoother experience overall.

On every other count, this version is the same as the previous ports. Beyond a few minor tweaks to the backgrounds and color schemes, the graphics remain basically unchanged from those of the Dreamcast version. While it doesn?t look bad, what was good-looking on the Dreamcast is mediocre by Xbox standards. The controls are also unchanged, which means you?ll spend more time than you?d like wading through menus and cursing the touchy targeting system.

But even with those minor issues, fans of the series will enjoy every hacking, slashing minute of PSO, talking and laughing the entire time.

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