Arena: Maze of Death

From Sega Retro

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ArenaMazeofDeath title.png

Arena: Maze of Death
System(s): Sega Game Gear
Publisher: Sega
Developer:
Genre: Action[1]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Game Gear
US 		$29.9929.99[3] 2565
ESRB: Kids to Adults
Sega Game Gear
EU 		2565-50
ELSPA: 3+ OK
Sega Game Gear
PT
Sega Game Gear
UK 		£29.9929.99[4] 2565-50
ELSPA: 3+ OK
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]

Story

Arena Maze of Death, Cutscene.png

Guy Freelander

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

Arena Maze of Death, Pause Menu.png

Pause menu

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 1. 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 2. 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 Left or Right. 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

Arena Maze of Death, Weapons.png
 Machine Gun
The standard weapon. Fast-firing, but some mutants are immune to it.
Arena Maze of Death, Weapons.png
 Laser Rifle
Rapid-firing and powerful weapon.
Arena Maze of Death, Weapons.png
 Flame Thrower
Sprays flames at close range.
Arena Maze of Death, Weapons.png
 Photon Launcher
Fires in a three-way spread to cover a larger area.
Arena Maze of Death, Weapons.png
 Ion Cannon
Explodes in an area after hitting but can only be fired one round at a time.
Arena Maze of Death, Weapons.png
 Grenades
Come in packs of 6. Explode in an area. Especially effective against shielded enemies that can block conventional fire.

Items

Arena Maze of Death, Items.png
 Keycard
Keycards open doors of the corresponding color.
Arena Maze of Death, Items.png
 Mini Energy Bonus
Restores a small amount of energy.
Arena Maze of Death, Items.png
 Super Energy Bonus
Restores a large amount of energy.
Arena Maze of Death, Items.png
 Mini Armour Bonus
Increases Guy's armor by a small amount.
Arena Maze of Death, Items.png
 Super Armour Bonus
Increases Guy's armor by a large amount.
Arena Maze of Death, Items.png
 Extra Life Bonus
Gives the player an extra life, up to a maximum of 9.

Rounds

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 1.png

Round 1

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 2.png

Round 2

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 3.png

Round 3

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 4.png

Round 4

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 5.png

Round 5

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 6.png

Round 6

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 7.png

Round 7

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 8.png

Round 8

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 9.png

Round 9

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 10.png

Round 10

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 11.png

Round 11

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 12.png

Round 12

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 13.png

Round 13

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Round 14

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 15.png

Round 15

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 16.png

Round 16

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 17.png

Round 17

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Round 18

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 19.png

Round 19

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 20.png

Arena Maze of Death, Stage 20 Boss.png

  • Arena Maze of Death, Stage 20.png

  • Arena Maze of Death, Stage 20 Boss.png

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

Also known as
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
Source:
In-game credits
Arena Maze of Death GG credits.pdf
[6]
Source:
US manual
Arena Maze of Death GG US Manual.pdf
[7]

Magazine articles

Main article: Arena: Maze of Death/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Logo-pdf.svg
Print advert in (ES) #51: "Diciembre 1995" (1995-xx-xx)
also published in:
  • (ES) #52: "Enero 1996" (199x-xx-xx)[8]
Logo-pdf.svg

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
{{{{{icon}}}|L}} Division by zero.
Based on
0 review
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
(US) NTSC-U
80
[9]
(US) NTSC-U
72
[10]
(ES) PAL
85
[11]
(FR) PAL
87
[12]
(UK) PAL
92
[4]
(FR) PAL
82
[13]
(DE)
84
[14]
(UK) PAL
82
[15]
(UK) PAL
83
[16]
(ES)
90
[17]
(ES)
84
[18]
Sega Game Gear
 84
Based on
11 reviews

Arena: Maze of Death

Game Gear, US
AMoD GG US Box Back.jpgNospine.pngAMoD GG US Box Front.jpg
Cover
AMoD GG US Cart.jpg
Cart
Arena Maze of Death GG US Manual.pdf
Manual
Game Gear, EU
AMoD GG EU Box Back.jpgArena GG EU BoxSpine.jpgAMoD GG EU Box Front.jpg
Cover
AMoD GG EU Cart.jpg
Cart
Arena GG EU Manual.jpg
Manual
Game Gear, PT

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Game Gear
 ?
CRC32 7cb3facf
MD5 ce3e5094025b10c3885ff1da53a46d2f
SHA-1 91e411d979789f2e31dcfe94fb7f757815f60680
512kB Cartridge (US/EU)


External links

References

  1. ↑ File:AMoD GG EU Box Back.jpg
  2. ↑ Sega FY 1997 Brand Review, page 10
  3. ↑ Sega FY 1997 Brand Review, page 6
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Mean Machines Sega, "December 1995" (UK; 1995-10-30), page 83
  5. ↑ Interview: Stuart Middleton (2016-05-12) by Sega-16
  6. ↑ File:Arena Maze of Death GG credits.pdf
  7. ↑ File:Arena Maze of Death GG US Manual.pdf, page 9
  8. ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1996" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 83
  9. ↑ Electronic Gaming Monthly, "May 1996" (US; 1996-xx-xx), page 34
  10. ↑ Game Informer, "May 1996" (US; 1996-0x-xx), page 58
  11. ↑ Hobby Consolas, "Enero 1996" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 92
  12. ↑ Mega Force, "Janvier 1996" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 40
  13. ↑ Player One, "Janvier 1996" (FR; 199x-xx-xx), page 100
  14. ↑ Sega Magazin, "Februar 1996" (DE; 1996-01-10), page 82
  15. ↑ Sega Power, "December 1995" (UK; 1995-10-19), page 46
  16. ↑ Sega Pro, "December 1995" (UK; 1995-11-02), page 60
  17. ↑ Super Juegos, "Agosto 1995" (ES; 1995-0x-xx), page 121
  18. ↑ Todo Sega, "Enero 1996" (ES; 199x-xx-xx), page 48


Arena: Maze of Death

ArenaMazeofDeath title.png

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