Zaxxon
From Sega Retro
| Zaxxon | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Zaxxon hardware, Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit family, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, DOS, Dragon 32, Intellivision, MSX, SG-1000, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo, Virtual Console, ZX Spectrum | |||||||||||||||||||||
Publisher: Sega          | |||||||||||||||||||||
Developer: Sega  | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre: Shoot-'em-Up | |||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
Contents
- 1 Gameplay
- 2 Sequels and Re-releases
- 3 Prodcution Credits
- 4 Physical Scans
- 4.1 Arcade Version
- 4.2 SG-1000 Version
- 4.3 Apple II Version
- 4.4 Atari 2600 Version
- 4.5 Atari 5200 Version
- 4.6 Atari 8-bit Family Version
- 4.7 Colecovision Version
- 4.8 Commodore 64 Version
- 4.9 DOS Version
- 4.10 Dragon 32 Version
- 4.11 Intellivision Version
- 4.12 MSX Version
- 4.13 TRS-80 Version
- 4.14 TRS-80 CoCo Version
- 4.15 ZX Spectrum Version
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, Dragon 32, 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, one of the most accurate home ports 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. Many of these home ports omit levels due to cartridge size restrictions.
Coleco would also attempt to produce an upgraded version of the game, for their unreleased Colecovision Super Game Module. This version, Zaxxon SuperGame saw a release on the short-lived Coleco Adam computer instead, and essentially "completes" the Colecovision port.
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
Arcade Version
Template:Scanflyer Template:Scanflyer
SG-1000 Version
| SG-1000, JP |
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   Cover
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 Cart |
Apple II Version
| Apple II, US |
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 Cover
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Atari 2600 Version
| Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||
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49 |
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| Based on 2 reviews | |
| Atari 2600, US (Coleco) |
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  Cover
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 Cart |
| Atari 2600, EU (CBS) |
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 Cart |
| Atari 2600, UK (CBS) |
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 Cart |
| Atari 2600, DE (CBS) |
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 Cart |
| Atari 2600, CA (Coleco) |
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  Cover
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 Cart  Alternative cart |
| Atari 2600, BR (Tron) |
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 Cart |
| Atari 2600, BR (Intellivision) |
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 Cart |
| Atari 2600, BR (Dynacom) |
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 Cart  Cart (reverse) |
Atari 5200 Version
| Atari 5200, US |
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  Cover
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 Cart |
Atari 8-bit Family Version
| Atari 8-bit family, US |
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 Cart |
| Atari 8-bit family, US (Datasoft) |
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  Cover
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 Cassette |
| Atari 8-bit family, US (Datasoft) (Alt) |
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  Cover
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Cassette |
| Atari 8-bit family, UK (Datasoft) |
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  Cover
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Colecovision Version
| Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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81 |
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| Based on 4 reviews | |
| Colecovision, US |
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50x50px Cart |
| Colecovision, UK |
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| Colecovision, FR |
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320x120px320x120px Cover
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50x50px Cart |
| Colecovision, CA |
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Commodore 64 Version
| Sega Retro Average | ||||
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N/A |
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| Based on 0 reviews | |
| Commodore 64, US (cartridge) |
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| Commodore 64, US (disk) |
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  Cover
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| Commodore 64, US (disk) (Thunder Mountain) |
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  Cover
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| Commodore 64, EU (cassette) |
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 Cover
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| Commodore 64, EU (disk) |
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  Cover
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DOS Version
| DOS, US |
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Dragon 32 Version
| Dragon 32, EU |
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Intellivision Version
| Sega Retro Average | ||||
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N/A |
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| Based on 0 reviews | |
| Intellivision, US |
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 Cart |
| Intellivision, EU |
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| Intellivision, UK |
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 Cart |
| Intellivision, DE |
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MSX Version
| Sega Retro Average | ||||
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N/A |
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| Based on 0 reviews | |
| MSX, EU |
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 Cover
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| MSX, JP |
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 Cover
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TRS-80 Version
| TRS-80, US (cassette) |
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| TRS-80, US (disk) |
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  Cover
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TRS-80 CoCo Version
| TRS-80 CoCo, US |
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 Cover
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ZX Spectrum Version
| ZX Spectrum, EU |
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 Cover
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| Games in the Zaxxon Series | |
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| Zaxxon (1981) (home computers) | Super Zaxxon (1982) | Zaxxon Super Game (1984) | Zaxxon 3D (1987) | Zaxxon's Motherbase 2000 (1995) | Zaxxon Escape (2012) | |
| Others | |
| Zaxxon (LCD) (1982) | FL Zaxxon (1982) | Zaxxon (tabletop) (1982) | Zaxxon (board game) (1982) | |
| Zaxxon related media | |
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The Official How to Win at Zaxxon (1982) |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Complete Guide to Consoles, "" (UK; 1989-10-16), page 77
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "June 1984" (UK; 1984-05-16), page 52
- ↑ Arcade Express, "Volume One, Number Eight: November 21, 1982" (US; 1982-11-21), page 6
- ↑ TeleMatch, "August/September 1983" (DE; 1983-07-25), page 27
- ↑ Tilt, "Juillet/Août 1983" (FR; 1983-0x-xx), page 36