Zaxxon

n/a

Zaxxon
System(s): Sega Zaxxon Hardware, Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit family, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, DOS, Intellivision, MSX, SG-1000, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo, Virtual Console, ZX Spectrum
Publisher: Sega Coleco Datasoft Philips U.S. Gold
Developer: Sega Ikegami Tsushinki Coleco Synsoft
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up
Release Date RRP Code US 1982 $? ? EU 1983 £? ? US 1983 $? ? EU 1983 £? ?
ESRB PEGI OFLC

Zaxxon (ザクソン) is an arcade shoot 'em up game released in 1982 by Sega. It was the first video game to use axonometric projection, which is where the "AXXON" in the name comes from. Zaxxon stands as one of Sega's earliest video game successes, and its isometric graphics set itself apart from the competition.

Zaxxon was the first arcade game to be advertised on television, with a commercial being produced for US television by Paramount Pictures for $150,000.

Gameplay

In Zaxxon the player controls a starship which continuously moves towards the top right of the screen - a "diagonal" sidescroller, as opposed to the horizontal or vertical shooters more commonly seen. The basic idea is to shoot at and destroy enemies within a space fortress to rank up points, while avoiding obstacles and enemy fire.

What made Zaxxon unique at the time was the ability for the player to adjust the ship's height as well as move the craft left and right, essentially creating one of the first three-dimensional shooters (though the player can still only move in two dimensions, as he/she cannot stop the ship from moving forward). With this comes the task of navigating scenery - Zaxxon has levels which take part in space stations, and the player must duck and dive to avoid crashing into objects. Furthermore missiles can be launched upwards from the ground (similar to Scramble by Konami), and the player must obtain fuel to stay airbourne.

Sequels and Re-releases

Zaxxon stands as one of Sega's first big successes in the arcade video game market, and was subsequently brought to a plethora of home systems during the early 1980s, being one of the most widely ported Sega games in history. The hardware behind the game also went in to fuel other isometric arcade games, such as Congo Bongo and Future Spy.

The Atari 2600 and Intellivision versions of the game are the most radically different, opting for a third-person "behind the ship" view rather than an isometric one, presumably due to hardware limitations.

For a while, Datasoft had the rights to computer versions of the game in North America (and Europe), producing ports to the Apple II, Atari 8-bit computer line, TRS-80 and TRS-80 CoCo. Zaxxon stands as being one of the first licensed TRS-80 (and CoCo) video games - up until this point it was more common to see unofficial clones made for Tandy's machines, and indeed many unofficial clones of Zaxxon would emerge in the following years, such as Zaksund and Z-89.

Two versions were produced for the Commodore 64, a cassette version published by Datasoft, and a cartridge version published by U.S. Gold. The cartridge version has more accurate visuals but is less playable. U.S. Gold also published a version of Zaxxon for the ZX Spectrum, while Philips published a version for MSX computers. Also released was a "PC Booter" version for early IBM PCs, which did not require an operating system to run.

For a while, the most accurate home port of Zaxxon was the Colecovision version, developed by Coleco themselves. Coleco were also responsible for the Atari 2600 and Intellivision versions, which may have been purposely dumbed down to demonstrate the power of the company's own console (as was sadly often the case at the time). An Atari 5200 version similar to the Atari 8-bit copy was also released.

Sega produced their own home port of the game for Japanese SG-1000s in 1985. The game was not seen again until a surprise appearance in the Sega Mega Drive Collection and Sega Mega Drive Ultimate Collection compilations, and in more recent times, the arcade version has been made available through the Wii's Virtual Console service.

As one of Sega's first success stories, Zaxxon was also turned into a board game by Milton Bradley in 1982. Bandai and Coleco also released VFD and LCD versions of the game, in the form of a tabletop Zaxxon, FL Zaxxon and a handheld Zaxxon.

Zaxxon was followed in the arcades by Super Zaxxon, which despite offering similar gameplay, was far less successful. Also created was Zaxxon 3D for the Sega Master System and Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 for the Sega 32X.

Prodcution Credits

Commodore 64 Version

C64 Version by Peter Adams

Physical Scans

SG-1000 Version

SG-1000, JP
Cover
Cart

Apple II Version

Apple II, US
Cover

Atari 2600 Version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Computer & Video Games (UK) №32

Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Complete Guide to Consoles (UK) 35 Computer & Video Games (UK) 63

	49
Based on 2 reviews

Zaxxon

Atari 2600, US (Coleco)
Cover
Cart

Atari 2600, EU (CBS)
Cart

Atari 2600, UK (CBS)
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Atari 2600, DE (CBS)
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Atari 2600, CA (Coleco)
Cover
Cart Alternative cart

Atari 2600, BR (Tron)
Cart

Atari 2600, BR (Intellivision)
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Atari 2600, BR (Dynacom)
Cart Cart (reverse)

Atari 5200 Version

Atari 5200, US
Cover
Cart

Atari 8-bit Family Version

Atari 8-bit Family, US
Cart

Atari 8-bit Family, US (Datasoft)
Cover
Cassette

Atari 8-bit Family, US (Datasoft) (Alt)
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Cassette

Atari 8-bit Family, UK (Datasoft)
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Colecovision Version

Colecovision, US
50x50px Cart

Colecovision, FR
<div style="margin:auto; max-width:px"> 320x120px320x120px Cover
50x50px Cart

Commodore 64 Version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Computer & Video Games (UK) 87 №33

	87
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Zaxxon

Commodore 64, US (Cartridge)

Commodore 64, US

Commodore 64, EU
Cover

DOS Version

DOS, US

Intellivision Version

Intellivision, US
Cart

Intellivision, UK
Cart

MSX Version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source Computer & Video Games (UK) 97 №44

	97
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score

	N/A
Based on 0 reviews

Zaxxon

MSX, JP
Cover

TRS-80 Version

TRS-80, US
Cover

TRS-80 CoCo Version

TRS-80 CoCo, US
Cover

ZX Spectrum Version

ZX Spectrum, EU
Cover