One large difference between
Phantasy Star and its contemporary rivals was that this game used much brighter setting for most of the game. In this spaceport background from the game, we see a typical scene of ships and cargo transports that one might find in such an environment. This background would fill the entire game screen, with menus and characters being overlaid on it. Today we might take such things for granted, but this was a groundbreaking thing back in 1987.
You may view the gallery page for
Spaceport.