''Zone Raiders'' is a futuristic

vehicular combat Vehicular combat games (also known as just vehicular combat or car combat) are a sub-genre of vehicle simulation video games where the primary objectives of gameplay include vehicles armed with weapons attempting to destroy vehicles controlled b ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

for

DOS DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems. DOS may also refer to: Computing * Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel * Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...

and

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

focused around

hovercar A hover car is a personal vehicle that flies at a constant altitude of up to few meters (some feet) above the ground and used for personal transportation in the same way a modern automobile is employed. The concept usually appears in science fic ...

s. Developed by

Image Space Incorporated Image Space Incorporated (ISI) is an American Independent business, independent video game developer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, specializing in the fields of video game development, Human-in-the-Loop, man-in-the-loop simulator architectures, ...

and published by

Virgin Interactive Virgin Interactive Entertainment (later renamed Avalon Interactive) was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It developed and published games for major platforms and employed developers, including Westwo ...

, it was released in North America in 1995. The music in the game was created by the band CONTAGIAN, of which some of the Virgin Studios Audio Department were members.

Production

''Zone Raiders'' was developed by

and published by

. It was released in late 1995 on a

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

format.

Digital re-release

The game was re-released digitally as a DRM-Free exclusive on ZOOM-Platform.com through a partnership between

and the Jordan Freeman Group.

Reception

A reviewer for '' Next Generation'' applauded the game as "that rarest of animals – a first-person racer that truly conveys a sense of speed." He also praised the variety of weapons, innovative power-ups, secret passageways to discover, and four-player networked play. He scored it four out of five stars. The game received a positive review from ''

Computer Game Review ''Computer Game Review'' was a print monthly magazine covering both computer gaming and video gaming. The magazine was started in 1991. Also known as ''Computer Game Review and 16-Bit Entertainment'', and then later as ''Computer Game Review and C ...

'', netting a "Golden Triad" score. The magazine called it "one of the best arcade style shoot 'em ups in years." A reviewer for ''Joystick'' described the game as having "borrowed its 'straight to the point' aspect" from ''Terminal Velocity'' and noted that the quality of the graphics worsened in later levels when extra details appear on the screen. The game was listed as a "ZOOM DRM-Free Exclusive" among the Bestsellers. ''

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American computer game magazine published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 1993. It expanded greatly through ...

'''s Martin E. Circulis gave ''Zone Raiders'' three stars out of five, describing the graphics as "a competent, if somewhat uninspired design" and that "the missions are fairly interesting, but most will find too few for their game-dollar." Scott Wolf of ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...

'' called it "a high-tech post-apocalyptic road trip that goes right for the jugular with its mix of driving challenge and shoot-'em-up fun."

References

External links

* * * {{Image Space Incorporated games , state=collapsed 1995 video games Science fiction racing games Games commercially released with DOSBox DOS games Classic Mac OS games Image Space Incorporated games Video games developed in the United States Virgin Interactive games