Zaxxon
| Zaxxon | |
|---|---|
North American arcade flyer
|
|
| Developer(s) | Sega |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Composer(s) |
SG-1000 Katsuhiro Hayashi |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, various |
| Release date(s) |
January 1, 1982
|
| Genre(s) | Isometric shooter |
| Mode(s) | Up to 2 players, alternating turns |
| Cabinet | Upright and cocktail |
| Arcade system | Sega Zaxxon hardware |
| CPU | Z80 (@ 3.04125 MHz) |
| Sound | Samples |
| Display |
Raster, 224 × 256 pixels (Vertical), 256 out of 512 colors |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Publication | Score |
| AllGame |
  (Arcade) (Coleco) (5200) (INTV) (2600) (Apple) (400/800) (C64) |
| CVG | 39 / 40 (MSX) |
| Arcade Express | 9 / 10 (ColecoVision) |
| Home Computing Weekly |
(Spectrum) |
| K-Power | 8 / 10 (TRS-80) |
| Tilt |
(ColecoVision) |
| Awards | |
|---|---|
| Publication | Award |
| Arcade Awards (1982) | Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Coin-Op Game (Certificate of Merit) |
| Arcade Awards (1983) | Videogame of the Year (Certificate of Merit) |
| Arkie Awards (1984) | Stand-Alone Game of the Year, Computer Game of the Year (Certificate of Merit) |
| Electronic Games | Hall of Fame |
Zaxxon (ザクソン?) is a 1982 isometric shooter arcade game developed and released by Sega. Some sources claim that Japanese electronics company Ikegami Tsushinki also worked on the development of Zaxxon. The game gives the player the experience of flying a fighter 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 or running out of fuel—which can be replenished, paradoxically, by blowing up fuel drums.
At the time of its release, Zaxxon was unique as it was the first game to employ axonometric projection, which lent its name to the game (AXXON from AXONometric projection). The type of axonometric projection is isometric projection: this effect simulated three dimensions from a third-person viewpoint. It was also one of the first video games to display shadows, to indicate the ship's altitude above the surface; the game also employed an altitude meter, allowing the player to control how high or low the ship is above the surface. It was also the first arcade game to be advertised on television, with a commercial produced by Paramount Pictures for $150,000.
The world record on Zaxxon is 4,680,740 points scored by Vernon Kalanikaus of Lā'ie, Hawai'i, on March 15, 1982, according to the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard.
A bootleg of the game was released in the arcades in 1982 called Jackson.
Between 1982 and 1985, Zaxxon was ported to IBM PC compatibles (as a booter), Amiga 1000, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Dragon 32, ColecoVision, Intellivision, Sega SG-1000 and TRS-80 Color Computer.
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