Zaxxon
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is an isometric shooter
arcade game An arcade game or coin-op game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are presented as primarily games of skill and include arcade v ...
, developed and released by
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
in
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
, in which the player pilots a ship through heavily defended space fortresses. Japanese electronics company
Ikegami Tsushinki () is a Japanese manufacturer of professional and broadcast television equipment, especially professional video cameras, both for electronic news gathering and studio use. The company was founded in 1946. History Ikegami introduced the first ...
is also credited for having worked on the development of the game., , , 2005, . ''Zaxxon'' was the first game to employ axonometric projection, which lent its name to the game (''AXXON'' from ''AXON''ometric projection). The type of
axonometric projection Axonometric projection is a type of orthographic projection used for creating a pictorial drawing of an object, where the object is rotated around one or more of its axes to reveal multiple sides.Gary R. Bertoline et al. (2002) ''Technical Graphi ...
is isometric projection: this effect simulates
three dimensions Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informa ...
from a third-person viewpoint. It was also the first arcade game to be advertised on television, with a commercial produced by
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
for $150,000. The game was a critical and commercial success upon release, becoming one of the top five highest-grossing arcade games of 1982 in the United States. Sega followed it with the arcade sequel ''Super Zaxxon'' (1982) and the isometric platformer ''
Congo Bongo , also known as , is an isometric platform game released by Sega for arcade video game, arcades in 1983. The game includes a Read-only memory, ROM that contains a message indicating it was likely coded at least in part by the company Ikegami Tsus ...
'' (1983).


Gameplay

The objective of the game is to hit as many targets as possible without being shot down or running out of fuel—which can be replenished, paradoxically, by blowing up fuel drums (300 points). There are two fortresses to fly through, with an outer space segment between them. At the end of the second fortress is a
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
in the form of the Zaxxon robot. The player's ship casts a shadow to indicate its height.Bernard Perron & Mark J. P. Wolf (2008), ''Video game theory reader two''
p. 158
,
Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in England that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research or Dovepress. It is a division of Informa ...
,
An
altimeter An altimeter or an altitude meter is an instrument used to measure the altitude of an object above a fixed level. The measurement of altitude is called altimetry, which is related to the term bathymetry, the measurement of depth under water. The m ...
is also displayed; in space there is nothing for the ship to cast a shadow on. The walls at the entrance and exit of each fortress have openings that the ship must be at the right altitude to pass through. Within each fortress are additional walls that the ship's shadow and altimeter aid in flying over successfully. The game is controlled by a four-directional joystick. On arcade cabinets this is an aircraft-type stick with a molded hand grip. Pushing forward makes the player's aircraft lower in altitude and pulling back makes it rise. The aircraft cannot move forward or backward; it flies at constant speed. As this sort of control and movement was not common in video games, the arcade cabinets have illustrations around the joystick to indicate the effect of each position on the aircraft.


Ports

Between 1982 and 1985, ''Zaxxon'' was ported to the
Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...
,
Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...
,
Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocessor- ...
,
Atari 5200 The Atari 5200 SuperSystem or simply Atari 5200 is a home video game console introduced in 1982 by Atari, Inc. as a higher-end complement for the popular Atari Video Computer System. The VCS was renamed to the Atari 2600 at the time of the 520 ...
, MSX,
ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...
,
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
,
Dragon 32 The Dragon 32 and Dragon 64 are home computers that were built in the 1980s. The Dragons are very similar to the TRS-80 Color Computer, and were produced for the European market by Dragon Data, Ltd., initially in Swansea, Wales before mo ...
,
ColecoVision ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released a year later in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision. The console offered a closer expe ...
,
Intellivision The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel, Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. I ...
,
IBM PC compatible IBM PC compatible computers are similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT, all from computer giant IBM, that are able to use the same software and expansion cards. Such computers were referred to as PC clones, IBM clones or IBM PC clones. ...
s,
Sega SG-1000 The is a home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was Sega's first entry into the home video game hardware business. Developed in response to a downturn in arcades starting in 1982, the SG-1000 was created on the advice of Hayao Nakay ...
,
TRS-80 Color Computer The RadioShack TRS-80 Color Computer, later marketed as the Tandy Color Computer and sometimes nicknamed the CoCo, is a line of home computers developed and sold by Tandy Corporation. Despite sharing a name with the earlier TRS-80, the Color Co ...
, and
TRS-80 The TRS-80 Micro Computer System (TRS-80, later renamed the Model I to distinguish it from successors) is a desktop microcomputer launched in 1977 and sold by Tandy Corporation through their Radio Shack stores. The name is an abbreviation of '' ...
. The Atari 2600 and Intellivision ports use a third-person, behind-the-ship perspective instead of the isometric graphics of the other versions.


Reception


Commercial

The arcade game was a major commercial success in North America. ''Zaxxon'' reached the top of the monthly US ''RePlay'' arcade charts in June 1982. The Amusement & Music Operators Association (AMOA) later listed it among the top six highest-grossing arcade games of 1982 in the United States. The game did not appear on the annual ' lists of top twenty highest-grossing arcade games 1982. ''Game Machine'' later listed ''Zaxxon'' in their June 1, 1983 issue as the eighth top-grossing
table arcade cabinet An arcade cabinet, also known as an arcade machine or a coin-op cabinet or coin-op machine, is the housing within which an arcade game's electronic hardware resides. Most cabinets designed since the mid-1980s conform to the Japanese Amusement ...
of the month. The ColecoVision version was also commercially successful. ''Zaxxon'' was Coleco's best-selling non-bundled cartridge for the ColecoVision up until 1983. The home computer ports were commercially successful in North America and Europe. ''II Computing'' listed ''Zaxxon'' fourth on its list of top Apple II games as of late 1985, based on sales and market-share data.
U.S. Gold U.S. Gold Limited was a British video game publisher based in Witton, Birmingham, England. The company was founded in 1984 by Anne and Geoff Brown in parallel to their distributor firm, CentreSoft, both of which became part of Woodward Brown Ho ...
's home computer version of ''Zaxxon'' was ranked number-two on the UK software sales chart in early 1985.


Reviews

The arcade game was well received upon release. David Cohen in his book ''Video Games'' praised the "incredible three-dimensional realism" in the graphics, which he considered the best in a video game to date, while describing the gameplay as "a mixture of driving and zap game." ''
Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...
'' praised the game for being "at the frontier of a third dimension in arcade games" and for its "realistic" altitude-based gameplay for the time. ''Video Games'' in 1983 called the
ColecoVision ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released a year later in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision. The console offered a closer expe ...
version of ''Zaxxon'' a "coup for this new system". ''Video'' magazine also praised the ColecoVision version in its "Arcade Alley" column, describing it as "one of the most thrilling games available", and noting in passing that the only "serious criticism" of the arcade original was that "many players felt they needed flying lessons to have even a ghost of a chance of performing well". ''K-Power'' rated the Color Computer version with 8 points out of 10. The magazine praised its "excellent three-dimensional graphics", and concluded that "''Zaxxon'' is a game that can't be praised enough". '' Softline'' in 1983 called the Atari 8-bit version "a superb three-dimensional computer game ... Not since ''
Choplifter ''Choplifter'' (stylized as ''Choplifter!'') is military themed scrolling shooter developed by Dan Gorlin for the Apple II and published by Broderbund in 1982. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit family the same year and also to the VIC-20, Com ...
'' has a game looked so impressive". The magazine also liked the graphics of the Apple II and TRS-80 versions despite those computers' hardware limitations, and predicted that ''Zaxxon'' would be a "long-lived bestseller". In 1984 the magazine's readers named the game the fifth most-popular Apple program, the worst Apple program, and third-worst Atari program of 1983.


Accolades

At the 1982
Arkie Awards An electronic game is a game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as pro ...
, the arcade game received a Certificate of Merit as runner-up for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Coin-Op Game. At the 1983 Arcade Awards, the console cartridge conversion received a Certificate of Merit as runner-up for Videogame of the Year. At the 1984 Arkie Awards, the
dedicated console A dedicated console is a video game console that is limited to one or more built-in video game or games, and is not equipped for additional games that are distributed via ROM cartridges, discs, downloads or other digital media. Dedicated consol ...
version was awarded Stand-Alone Game of the Year, while the home computer conversion received a Certificate of Merit as runner-up for Computer Game of the Year. In January 1985, ''
Electronic Games An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...
'' magazine included ''Zaxxon'' in its Hall of Fame. In 1995,
Flux Flux describes any effect that appears to pass or travel (whether it actually moves or not) through a surface or substance. Flux is a concept in applied mathematics and vector calculus which has many applications to physics. For transport ph ...
magazine ranked the arcade version 51st on their "Top 100 Video Games."


Legacy


Re-releases

''Zaxxon'' is a bonus game in the ''
Sega Genesis Collection ''Sega Genesis Collection '' (''Sega Mega Drive Collection'' in PAL regions) is a compilation of video games developed by Digital Eclipse and published by Sega for PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable. The collection includes twenty-eight Sega ...
'' for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
. It is also an unlockable arcade game in ''
Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection ''Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection'' (''Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection'' in PAL regions) is a compilation of video games developed by Backbone Entertainment and published by Sega for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The compilation features ...
'' for the
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
and
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
. The arcade version was released on the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
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in Japan on December 15, 2009, the PAL region on March 5, 2010, and North America on April 12, 2010. In 2022, the original arcade version will be included as part of the Sega Astro City Mini V, a vertically oriented variant of the Sega Astro City mini console.


Sequels

''Zaxxon'' was followed by an arcade sequel in November 1982: ''Super Zaxxon''. It has a different color scheme, the player's ship flies faster (making the game more difficult), the space segment is replaced with a tunnel, and the enemy at the end of the second fortress is a dragon. It did not do as well as the original. ''Super Zaxxon'' topped the US ''RePlay'' arcade chart for software conversion kits in July 1983. In 1984, Sega released ''Future Spy'' with a similar style. In 1987 ''
Zaxxon 3-D ''Zaxxon 3D'' is a 1987 video game published by Sega for the Master System console. It is based on Sega's 1982 arcade game, '' Zaxxon''. Gameplay ''Zaxxon 3D'' is a game in which the player pilots a Zaxxon craft through nine levels of the Vargan ...
'' was released for the Master System. This console variation makes use of the
3-D glasses Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...
add-on. As with the Atari 2600 and Intellivision ports, it is forward-scrolling rather than isometric. ''
Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 ''Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000'', known in Europe as ''Motherbase'' and in Japan as ''Parasquad'', is a 1995 isometric-scrolling shooter video game developed by CSK Research Institute and published by Sega for the 32X. The North American version was ...
'' was released for the
Sega 32X The 32X is an add-on for the Sega Genesis video game console. Codenamed "Project Mars", it was designed to expand the power of the Genesis and serve as a transitional console into the 32-bit era until the release of the Sega Saturn. The 32X us ...
in 1995. It is the first ''Zaxxon'' game to incorporate
polygon graphics In 3D computer graphics, polygonal modeling is an approach for modeling objects by representing or approximating their surfaces using polygon meshes. Polygonal modeling is well suited to scanline rendering and is therefore the method of choice for ...
. The game bore the ''Zaxxon'' brand only in the United States, as the Japanese version was named ''Parasquad'' and the European version was named ''Motherbase''. U.S. gaming critics generally remarked that the game was not similar enough to ''Zaxxon'' to justify the use of the brand. ''Zaxxon Escape'' was released on October 4, 2012, for iOS and Android devices. The game was criticized for having little resemblance to the original.


Popular culture

In 1982
Milton Bradley Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911) was an American business magnate, game pioneer and publisher, credited by many with launching the board game industry, with his eponymous enterprise, which was purchased by Hasbro in 1984, and ...
released a ''Zaxxon'' board game. In Paramount's 1984 film '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'', the character
Tommy Jarvis Tommy Jarvis is a fictional character in the ''Friday the 13th'' franchise. He first appears in '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (1984) as a child interested in special effects who encounters a seemingly unstoppable slasher—Jason Voorhee ...
, played by
Corey Feldman Corey Scott Feldman (born July 16, 1971) is an American actor and musician. As a youth, he became well known for roles in the 1980s in films such as '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (1984), ''Gremlins'' (1984), ''The Goonies'' (1985), a ...
, plays ''Zaxxon'' during his introduction. In 2012, ''Zaxxon'' was shown at "The Art of Video Games" exhibition at the Smithsonian.


Notes


References


External links

* * {{Authority control 1981 video games 1982 video games Apple II games Arcade video games Intellivision games Atari 2600 games ZX Spectrum games Atari 5200 games Atari 8-bit family games Cancelled Atari Jaguar games ColecoVision games Commodore 64 games MSX games Scrolling shooters Sega arcade games Sega Games franchises Master System games SG-1000 games U.S. Gold games Video games developed in Japan Video games with isometric graphics Video games with stereoscopic 3D graphics Virtual Console games Multiplayer and single-player video games