Dropzone
From Sega Retro
| Dropzone | |||||||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Game Gear | |||||||||||||||
| Publisher: Codemasters | |||||||||||||||
| Developer: Big Red Software | |||||||||||||||
| Genre: Arcade[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1-2 (alternating) | |||||||||||||||
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Dropzone is a shooting game. It was originally released for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers, but it was ported to other computers and consoles, including the Sega Game Gear in 1994.
The Game Gear version was released exclusively in Europe.
Contents
Story
On the surface of Jupiter's moon, Io, a human scientific research base is under attack by aliens. A heroic astronaut must rescue the scientists and return them to the base.
Gameplay
The game is similar to Defender. Players control the hero, an astronaut wearing a spacesuit with a jetpack, on a horizontally scrolling game field. A level is completed when all of the scientists are rescued (or dead) and all of the enemies are destroyed. Some levels contain no scientists and only involve eliminating alien invaders. The astronaut is equipped with a raygun, a cloaking device, and smart bombs. A map appears on the bottom of the screen that shows the terrain and the location of any scientists and aliens.
The hero must elude or engage various aliens (which have a variety of speeds, movement patterns, and attacks) and return the scientists to the base's dropzone. Scientists appear as blue squares with yellow corners, and the dropzone is a white cross on the ground. Scientists can be killed by enemies or by friendly fire. The astronaut can pick up scientists one at a time by touching them, then they are carried until placed onto the dropzone. Counters on the bottom of the screen show how many scientists have been successfully rescued ("IN") and how many remain ("OUT").
The astronaut can fly in any direction with the D-Pad. The moon has low gravity, so the astronaut floats briefly in the air before falling back to the surface. The astronaut is armed with a laser gun that can be fired with 
. This weapon shoots quickly and can penetrate multiple targets. Additionally, the astronaut starts the game with three smart bombs, which destroy all on-screen enemies when used. Smart bombs are detonated with 
. Finally, the astronaut's spacesuit contains a cloaking system that allows the astronaut to pass through enemies and enemy fire unharmed. Cloaking is toggled with +. Cloaking drains a meter when it is engaged; the meter is partially replenished when a level is completed. Scientists cannot be picked up while cloaked, but the astronaut can cloak after picking up a scientist.
The astronaut is killed if harmed by an enemy or a hazard (including volcanoes and lightning) but respawns without restarting the level if the player has extra lives remaining. The player starts the game with three lives, and the game ends if the player runs out of lives. The player gains an extra life and another smart bomb for every 10,000 points earned.
There is a two-player mode where players take turns playing (using the same Game Gear).
Music and sound
The game uses an arrangement of "Toccata and Fugue in D minor" by German composer Johann Sebastian Bach for its title screen music.
History
Development
A Sega Master System version was planned for release in July 1994[6][7], but was ultimately cancelled.
Legacy
A sequel, Super Dropzone, was released for the Super NES, Game Boy Advance, and PlayStation.
Magazine articles
- Main article: Dropzone/Magazine articles.
Physical scans
| Sega Retro Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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71 |
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| Based on 16 reviews | |
| Game Gear, EU |
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   Cover
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 Cart  Manual |
Technical information
ROM dump status
| System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
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128kB | 1994-05-24 | Cartridge (EU) |
References
- ↑ File:Dropzone GG EU Box Back.jpg
- ↑ Computer Trade Weekly, "" (UK; 1994-08-29), page 43
- ↑ Sega Pro, "September 1994" (UK; 1994-08-11), page 8
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sega Power, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-05), page 53
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Sega Pro, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-06-16), page 64
- ↑ Sega Magazine, "August 1994" (UK; 1994-07-15), page 21
- ↑ Sega Power, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-05), page 12
- ↑ Computer & Video Games, "August 1994" (UK; 1994-07-15), page 56
- ↑ Gamers, "Juli/August 1994" (DE; 1994-07-01), page 51
- ↑ Games World: The Magazine, "August 1994" (UK; 1994-06-30), page 25
- ↑ Mega Fun, "07/94" (DE; 1994-06-22), page 69
- ↑ Mean Machines Sega, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-05-28), page 62
- ↑ Player One, "Octobre 1994" (FR; 1994-xx-xx), page 128
- ↑ Play Time, "8/94" (DE; 1994-07-16), page 145
- ↑ Power Up!, "Saturday, October 22, 1994" (UK; 1994-10-22), page 1
- ↑ Sega Magazine, "July 1994" (UK; 1994-06-16), page 90
- ↑ Sega Magazine, "August 1994" (UK; 1994-07-15), page 97
- ↑ Sega Megazone, "September 1994" (AU; 1994-0x-xx), page 28
- ↑ Sonic the Comic, "November 11th 1994" (UK; 1994-10-29), page 10
- ↑ Todo Sega, "Octubre 1994" (ES; 1994-xx-xx), page 50
- ↑ Video Games, "7/94" (DE; 1994-06-29), page 106
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