Astron Belt

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Astron Belt
System(s): Sega LaserDisc Hardware, MSX
Publisher: Sega, Bally Midway (US)
Developer: Sega
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up
Release Date RRP Code

Astron Belt is an arcade game released by Sega in 1983. It is notable for being the first laserdisc arcade game ever to be released, a format that would later be used to power Dragon's Lair and Space Ace. It is a shoot-'em-up, where the player controls a spaceship which must destroy on-screen enemies and avoid obstacles.

The laserdisc technology could mean that very detailed background scenes could be created with high quality sound, though the player's sprite and HUD are rendered separately. Though laserdisc games look and sound better than non-laserdisc games of the era, gameplay is very limited, with the player only being able to move around the screen and fire. Unlike most laserdisc games however, Aston Belt is not quite as linear as the scenes are generated at random depending on the player's actions.

Though most of the background scenes were created specifically with Astron Belt in mind, some are borrowed from movies such as Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Battle Beyond the Stars and Message from Space.

The game only saw one release outside of arcades - a port to the MSX computer range through the laserdisc add-on. It is virtually identical to the arcade version, as the laserdisc itself is identical.

Astron Belt was followed by Galaxy Ranger which was also a laserdisc shooter. The two arcade games could be interchanged by swapping the disc, game ROMs and sound board.

Physical Scans

MSX Version

MSX, JP
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