Phantasy Star Online

Reviewed by:
Alex Porter

Finally the ability to lose weeks of your life on an online role-playing game is no longer a privilege reserved for PC owners. In the latest installment of this classic franchise (the first designed specifically for network play), you customize your character’s race, gender, and (most importantly) hairstyle, and meet other players online. Teams of up to four can then venture to visually stunning alien worlds, solving puzzles and wasting anything that moves. Sega’s been generous enough to include 50 free hours on their dial-up network to whet your appetite for this electronic smack, but if the Internet scares you, you can play solo missions to build your character’s strength. Still, it’s in your best interest to make virtual friends, ’cause they’re the only ones you’re going to have for a while.