Arena: Maze of Death
From Sega Retro
| Arena: Maze of Death | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Game Gear | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher: Sega | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developer: Eden Entertainment Software | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre: Action[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- For other games with the same name, see Arena: Maze of Death (disambiguation).
Arena: Maze of Death, also known as simply Arena, is a Sega Game Gear top-down action game developed by Eden Entertainment Software and published by Sega in November 1995.[4]
Contents
Story
In a futuristic city in the year 2026, the corrupt government is using a television broadcasting company called Astralnet Broadcasting Company (ABC) to brainwash the population. A pro-democratic sympathizer, Guy Freelander, is charged with the task of navigating through a warehouse district, an industrial park, and an old abandoned train station in order to enter a high-rise building through a weakly defended "back door" and broadcast proof of an evil corporation's wrongdoings over the television stations.
Gameplay
The game is an action game with an isometric perspective. Players assume the role of Guy Freelander, a one-man mercenary squad who is trapped in heavily guarded and deadly areas with the primary goal of surviving. He faces enemy troopers, robots, and mutants. Rounds are maze-like environments consisting of multiple rooms in which Guy must find keycards and activate switches to unlock doors and find his way to the exit. Activating switches can also cause enemies and items to appear.
Guy moves in any direction with the D-Pad. He fires his gun with 
. Because guns have limited ammunition and enemies respawn quickly after they are defeated, the player is encouraged to avoid engagements with enemies when possible. Guy finds new weapons and additional ammunition while exploring the rounds. He uses his secondary weapon with 
. Initially, he starts with a knife and stabs enemies in close range, but if he finds grenades, he throws those instead.
The player can view the current amount of ammunition or switch the current weapon by pausing the game with START and using 
or 
. This screen also shows Guy's energy and armor and which keycards have been collected. He loses energy when he takes damage from enemies. He can find armor items that reduce the damage taken, but armor wears out as it absorbs damage. Losing all of his energy or falling into a pit costs Guy a life. If he has lives remaining, he revives in the same room with his weapons and keycards intact. The game ends if Guy loses all of his lives, but there is a password system for continuing.
There are three selectable difficulty levels (Easy, Normal, and Hard).
Weapons
| Machine Gun | |
|---|---|
| The standard weapon. Fast-firing, but some mutants are immune to it. | |
| Laser Rifle | |
| Rapid-firing and powerful weapon. | |
| Flame Thrower | |
| Sprays flames at close range. | |
| Photon Launcher | |
| Fires in a three-way spread to cover a larger area. | |
| Ion Cannon | |
| Explodes in an area after hitting but can only be fired one round at a time. | |
| Grenades | |
| Come in packs of 6. Explode in an area. Especially effective against shielded enemies that can block conventional fire. |
Items
| Keycard | |
|---|---|
| Keycards open doors of the corresponding color. | |
| Mini Energy Bonus | |
| Restores a small amount of energy. | |
| Super Energy Bonus | |
| Restores a large amount of energy. | |
| Mini Armour Bonus | |
| Increases Guy's armor by a small amount. | |
| Super Armour Bonus | |
| Increases Guy's armor by a large amount. | |
| Extra Life Bonus | |
| Gives the player an extra life, up to a maximum of 9. |
Rounds
| Round 1 | |
|---|---|
| Round 2 | |
| Round 3 | |
| Round 4 | |
| Round 5 | |
| Round 6 | |
| Round 7 | |
| Round 8 | |
| Round 9 | |
| Round 10 | |
| Round 11 | |
| Round 12 | |
| Round 13 | |
| Round 14 | |
| Round 15 | |
| Round 16 | |
| Round 17 | |
| Round 18 | |
| Round 19 | |
| Round 20 | |
History
Development
A Master System version and Mega Drive version of Arena: Maze of Death were planned, but were ultimately cancelled for unknown reasons.
According to Eden Entertainment's Stuart Middleton, "We had the game working on Game Gear and Master System, but they only wanted the Game Gear version."[5]
Versions
Localised names
| Language | Localised Name | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| English | Arena | Arena |
| English (US) | Arena: Maze of Death | Arena: Maze of Death |
Production credits
- Lead Programmer: Stuart Middleton
- Assistant and Utility Programmers: Tim Road, Julian Scott
- Lead Artist: Jason Evans
- Additional Artists: Robert Dorney, Gordon Theobold
- Music: Paul Lathem
- Music Driver: Martin Walker
- Producer: Sean Kelly
- Project Manager: David Powell
- Game Design: Mike Brown, Eden Software, Sean Kelly
- Game Testers: Nick Ryan, Alex Bush, Darren Murphy, Thomas Wolter
- Producer: Sean Kelly
- Head Programmer: Stuart Middleton
- Producer: Eric Quakenbush
- Product Manager: Eric Dunstan
- Product Specialist: Clint Dyer
- Test Team:
- Lead Tester: Lloyd Kinoshita
- Assistant Lead Testers: Todd Slepian, Charles Delay, Lous Dribin
- Testers: Jeremy Caine, Arnold Galano, Fernando Valderrama, David Asgharzaden, Trish Gray, Eugen Valenzuela, Jack Amato, Daniel Dunn, Pat Walsh, Conner Morlang, Joe Cecchin
- Manual: Groovy Dog
- Thanks: Steve Goodale, John Leonhardt
Magazine articles
- Main article: Arena: Maze of Death/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
also published in:
- Hobby Consolas (ES) #52: "Enero 1996" (199x-xx-xx)[8]
Physical scans
| Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
 |
85 |
|---|---|
| Based on 10 reviews | |
| Game Gear, US |
|---|
   Cover
|
 Cart  Manual |
| Game Gear, EU |
|---|
   Cover
|
 Cart  Manual |
| Game Gear, PT |
|---|
|
Technical information
ROM dump status
| System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
512kB | Cartridge (US/EU) |
External links
- Sega of America webpage: Game Gear
References
- ↑ File:AMoD GG EU Box Back.jpg
- ↑ Sega FY 1997 Brand Review, page 10
- ↑ Sega FY 1997 Brand Review, page 6
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Mean Machines Sega, "December 1995" (UK; 1995-10-30), page 83
- ↑ Interview: Stuart Middleton (2016-05-12) by Sega-16
- ↑ File:Arena Maze of Death GG credits.pdf
- ↑ File:Arena Maze of Death GG US Manual.pdf, page 9
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1996" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 83
- ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1996" (US; 1996-xx-xx), page 34
- ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1996" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 92
- ↑ Mega Force, "Janvier 1996" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 40
- ↑ Player One, "Janvier 1996" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 100
- ↑ Sega Magazin, "Februar 1996" (DE; 1996-01-10), page 82
- ↑ Sega Power, "December 1995" (UK; 1995-10-19), page 46
- ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1995" (UK; 1995-11-02), page 60
- ↑ Super Juegos, "Agosto 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 121
- ↑ Todo Sega, "Enero 1996" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 48
| Arena: Maze of Death | |
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Main page | Maps | Hidden content | Magazine articles | Reception | |
