Zaxxon

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Zaxxon
Screenshot of Zaxxon
Developer(s)	Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Release date(s)	1982
Genre(s)	Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)	Up to 2 players, alternating turns
Platform(s)	Arcade Computers: TRS-80 Color Computer, Apple II, Atari 800, PC DOS (Booter), Commodore C64, MSX, ZX Spectrum, PC DOS, Amstrad CPC Consoles: ColecoVision, Atari 2600, Intellivision, Atari 5200, Atari XEGS, SG-1000
Input	8-way joystick, 1 button
Arcade cabinet	Upright and cocktail
Arcade system(s)	Sega Zaxxon hardware
Arcade CPU(s)	Z80 (@ 3.04125 Mhz)
Arcade sound system(s)	Samples
Arcade display	Raster, 224 x 256 pixels (Vertical), 256 colors

Zaxxon is a 1982 arcade game by Sega. The game gives the player the experience of flying a space shuttle-like craft through a fortress while shooting at enemy entities (missiles, enemy gunfire, etc.). The object of the game is to hit as many targets as possible without being shot down.

At the time of its release, Zaxxon was unique as it was the first game to employ isometric projection, something of a three-quarter viewing perspective. This effect simulated three dimensions (albeit from the viewpoint of a second person).

1 Ports
2 Legacy
3 Board Game
4 Table Top and handheld Games
5 Similar Games
6 Remakes
7 External links

[edit] Ports

A popular game, Zaxxon was ported to almost all home computer and video game console systems between 1982 and 1985. Among them were DOS (as a Booter), Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, ColecoVision and Intellivision. The Atari 2600 and Intellivision ports were noticeably different because they used a three-dimensional perspective instead of the isometric graphics of the other versions. This is probably due to technical limitations of these consoles.

There was also a version for the Sega Master System, Called Zaxxon 3D, that made use of its 3D glasses add-on, for extra depth perception.

A clone of the game was released on the TRS-80 Color Computer as Zaksund.

[edit] Legacy

Due to its success, Zaxxon spawned two sequel games and one console variation. None did as well as the original:

Zaxxon (1982)
Super Zaxxon (1982)
Future Spy (1984)
Zaxxon 3-D
Zaxxon Motherbase 2000

There was also a game called Zaxxon Motherbase 2000 released for the Sega 32X in 1995. It is the first (and last) Zaxxon game to use full 3D graphics.

A Bootleg of this game was released in the arcades in 1982 called Jackson [1]
The world record on Zaxxon is 4,680,740 points scored by Vernon Kalanikaus of Laie, HI, on March 15, 1982, according to the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard. [2]

[edit] Board Game

In 1982, Milton Bradley made a Zaxxon board game [3]

[edit] Table Top and handheld Games

In 1982 Sega released Zaxxon as a Table Top game and there was also a handheld version released as well [4]. Bandai [5] and Coleco [6] also released Zaxxon handheld games

[edit] Similar Games

Future Spy was created by Sega in 1984. This game uses the same hardware as Zaxxon and has very similar game play but with a more realistic military theme.[7]