Zero Wing

Zero Wing
File:ZeroWing arcadeflyer.png One of the two Japanese arcade flyers of Zero Wing.
Developer(s)	Toaplan
Publisher(s)	JP/EU: Taito
Composer(s)	Tatsuya Uemura, Toshiaki Tomisawa, Masahiro Yuge
Platforms	Arcade, Sega Mega Drive, PC Engine (CD-ROM²)
Release date(s)	Arcade Sega Mega Drive PC Engine CD-ROM²
Genre(s)	Scrolling shooter
Mode(s)	Single player

Zero Wing (ゼロウィング, Zero Wingu) is a 1989 side-scrolling shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Toaplan and published by Taito. The player is a lone hero who will save the universe from an evil force.

It enjoyed a degree of success in arcades and was subsequently ported to the Mega Drive by Toaplan on May 31, 1991, in Japan, and by Sega during the following year in Europe, followed by a Japan-only release by Naxat Soft on September 18, 1992, for the PC Engine's CD-ROM².

The European version of the Mega Drive port was the source for "All your base are belong to us", an Internet meme which plays off of the poorly translated English in the game's introduction.

Gameplay

As with other scrolling shooters, the aim of the game is to shoot all enemies that appear on screen and avoid getting obliterated by enemy fire, crashing into enemies or into foreground scenery. There are mid-level and end-of-level boss enemies that stay with the player until they are defeated. The game features eight levels.

Ports

File:Zerowing.JPG

European cover of the Mega Drive version

After it became fairly successful in the arcades and game centers, Zero Wing was ported to the Mega Drive in 1991 by Toaplan themselves and the CD-ROM², an add-on for the PC Engine, by Naxat Soft in 1992. The Mega Drive version was also released in Europe by Sega in 1992. The home console versions of Zero Wing were never released in North America due to the release of the arcade version distributed by Williams Electronics. The Japanese release will play fine on American consoles. Like most early titles it had no region protection, nor had the European release been PAL-optimized.

In the Mega Drive version, to expand on the game's plot, Toaplan added an introductory cut scene to the game. This introductory scene was translated by Sega of Europe to English from Japanese rather poorly for the European release (a phenomenon dubbed Engrish), resulting in dialogue such as "Somebody set up us the bomb", "All your base are belong to us", and "You have no chance to survive make your time". The introduction does not appear in the arcade nor CD-ROM² versions, rather, a different intro takes place with a blue-windowed ZIG.

In PC Engine version two new levels were added - 5th (Deeva) and 10th (Vacura).

Reception

Reception
Review scores Publication Score CVG 93% Games-X 92% Joystick 86% Mean Machines 91% MegaTech 82% Sega Force 86% Sega Power 10/10 HonestGamers 4/10

The game received positive critical reception upon release. Computer and Video Games scored it 93%, including ratings of 92% for graphics, 93% for sound, 90% for playability, and 89% for lastability. They praised "the great intro sequence", "super-smooth gameplay, beautifully defined graphics, rocking sound track, amazing explosions and incredible end-of-level bosses", concluding that it is "the game which breaths new life into shoot 'em ups on the Megadrive". Mean Machines scored it 91%, including ratings of 92% for presentation and graphics, 88% for sound, 90% for playability, and 89% for lastability, concluding that it is one of "the best Megadrive blasts in ages." Sega Force scored it 86%, including ratings of 84% for presentation, 89% for visuals, 83% for sound, 89% for playability, and 82% for lastability, concluding that it is "almost as good as Hellfire" but "not quite."

The game has received mixed reception from retrospective reviews. GameTrailers listed the Mega Drive version of Zero Wing as the seventh-worst video game in its "10 Best and Worst Video Games", though the focus was on its bad translation. However, a later ScrewAttack review said the game was "not that bad". It praised its soundtrack, stating that it contains "some of the best 16-bit rock music you'll ever hear". Retro review site HonestGamers said that "Much is made of this game, all things considered. And it's funny, because there's not a whole lot to it," before giving it a lackluster score of 4/10.

"All your base are belong to us"

A screen shot from the introduction to Zero Wing on the Mega Drive featuring the infamous phrase
"All your base are belong to us."

Main article: All your base are belong to us

In 1999, Zero Wing's introduction was re-discovered, culminating in the wildly popular "All your base are belong to us" Internet meme.

External links

• Zero Wing at the Killer List of Videogames
• Zero Wing at arcade-history

• Computer and Video Games, issue 117, pages 60-62
• Games-X, issue 9
• Joystick, issue 18, page 182
• Mean Machines, issue 10, pages 74-76
• MegaTech, issue 5, pages 32-35
• Sega Force, issue 7, pages 70-71
• Sega Power, issue 23, page 55