Zero Wing

From Sega Retro

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Zero Wing Title.png

Zero Wing
System(s): Sega Mega Drive
Publisher: Toaplan
Developer:
Original system(s): Arcade boards
Genre: Shooting[1][2]

















Number of players: 1
Release Date RRP Code
Sega Mega Drive
JP
¥8,000 (8,240)8,000e[3] T-40023
Sega Mega Drive
EU
1138-50
Sega Mega Drive
UK
£39.9939.99[4] 1138-50
Sega Mega Drive
SE
(Rental)
Sega Mega Drive
AU
Non-Sega versions

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Zero Wing (ゼロウイング) is a 1989 arcade shoot-'em-up video game developed by Toaplan, and ported to the Sega Mega Drive in 1991 for Japan and Europe release. It is one of the few Mega Drive ports developed by Toaplan themselves.

It has a very different-sounding arrange of the original arcade soundtrack, focused around the popular Cube sound driver.

Gameplay

A and C shoot. B fires a suction beam that will trap enemies, allowing the ship to grab certain enemies. Letting go of B launches the enemy at high speeds, allowing you to destroy other enemies with it. Some heavy ships will pull the player ship down.

Enemies drop powerups when destroyed; the first powerup per life will always be subships that shoot with you but do not have the suction beam. The collectable items are:

  • red: spreadshot
  • blue: laser
  • green: homing shot
  • orb: strong bomb that can be releases by pushing B
  • speedup

The game has an autofire option, but a much higher firing rate can be achieved by rapidly tapping the buttons or using an autofire controller. Like a lot of other Toaplan games, this game also strangely defaults to the easy difficulty instead of normal

Levels

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Natols

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Legrous

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Pleades

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Aquese

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Submarine Tunnel

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Barracade Zone

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Bellon

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Gerbarra

Versions

While there are no gameplay differences between the arcade version and its ports, the Mega Drive port added an in-game storyline with cutscenes. This is all well and good, but the English translator chosen was the kind of guy who "thought" he knew English. Long story short, the English introduction is ridiculous to the point where "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US." has become a meme that is far more popular than the game itself ever will be.

Production credits

Zero Wing Original Staff
  • 68k Side: T.Ota, H.Furukawa
  • Z80 Side: T.Uemura
  • Graphics: S.Nakaoka, N.Ogiwara, M.Hayashi, S.Nito
  • Music: T.Uemura, M.Yuge, T.Tomizawa
© Toaplan 1991.
Source:
In-game credits


Magazine articles

Main article: Zero Wing/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

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Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-03: "March 1991" (1991-02-08)
also published in:
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Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-05: "May 1991" (1991-04-08)
also published in:
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Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-06: "June 1991" (1991-05-08)
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Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1991-07: "July 1991" (1991-06-08)
also published in:
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Physical scans

Sega Retro Average 
Publication Score Source
93 [8]
80 [9]
75 [10]
70 №133, [1]
92 №9
60 №1991-05, p42
86 [11]
90 [12]
86 [13]
72 №5, p95
70 №9, p23
82 №5, p32-35
91 [14]
79 [15]
100 [16]
88 №33, p34
78 [17]
77 №18, p68
86 [18]
85 [19]
80 [20]
67 [21]
Sega Mega Drive
81
Based on
22 reviews
Sega Retro Average 
Publication Version Score
1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)
80
[22]
Aktueller Software Markt (DE)
72
[23]
Beep! MegaDrive (JP) NTSC-J
80
[24]
Console XS (UK) NTSC-J
77
[25]
Computer & Video Games (UK)
93
[26]
Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 7 (RU)
40
[27]
Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)
87
[28]
Famitsu (JP) NTSC-J
70
[29]
Games-X (UK)
92
[30]
Hippon Super (JP) NTSC-J
60
[31]
Hobby Consolas (ES)
86
[32]
Joypad (FR) PAL
90
[12]
Joystick (FR)
86
[13]
Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming (UK) PAL
72
[33]
Mega Drive Fan (JP) NTSC-J
66
[34]
Mega (UK) PAL
70
[35]
Mega Force (FR)
80
[36]
MegaTech (UK)
82
[37]
MegaTech (UK) PAL
82
[38]
Mean Machines (UK)
91
[39]
Mean Machines Sega (UK)
91
[40]
Player One (FR)
79
[41]
Play Time (DE)
68
[42]
Sega Power (UK) NTSC-J
100
[16]
Sega Power (UK) PAL
88
[43]
Sega Pro (UK)
78
[17]
Sega Pro (UK) PAL
77
[44]
Sega Force (UK) PAL
86
[4]
Sega Opisaniy i sekretov (RU)
66
[45]
Sega Saturn Magazine (JP) NTSC-J
75
[46]
Super Gaming (US)
67
[47]
Supersonic (FR)
85
[19]
Tilt (FR)
80
[48]
Video Games (DE)
67
[49]
Sega Mega Drive
78
Based on
34 reviews

Zero Wing

Mega Drive, JP
Zerowing md jp cover.jpg
Cover
ZeroWing MD JP CartTop.jpg
Zerowing md jp cart.jpg
Cart
Zerowing md jp manual.pdf
Manual
Mega Drive, EU
Zero Wing MD EU Box.jpg
Cover
ZeroWing MD EU Cart.jpg
Cart
ZeroWing MD EU pcb.jpg
PCB
Mega Drive, SE (rental)

Mega Drive, AU

Technical information

ROM dump status

System Hash Size Build Date Source Comments
Sega Mega Drive
CRC32 89b744a3
MD5 5f4f2fb8c7b8c50efbc6eed57ce3dae3
SHA-1 98335b97c5e21f7f8c5436427621836660b91075
1MB 1990-08 Cartridge (EU)
Sega Mega Drive
CRC32 7e203d2b
MD5 9647d8ec9183f3ec9f944d5ea49a99a9
SHA-1 fad499e21ac55a3b8513110dc1f6e3f6cdeca8dd
1MB 1990-08 Cartridge (JP)

References

  1. File:Zerowing md jp cover.jpg
  2. 2.0 2.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)
  3. Beep! MegaDrive, "May 1991" (JP; 1991-04-08), page 16
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Sega Force, "July 1992" (UK; 1992-06-xx), page 72
  5. Mega Drive Fan, "March 1991" (JP; 1991-02-08), page 99
  6. Mega Drive Fan, "May 1991" (JP; 1991-04-08), page 42
  7. Beep! MegaDrive, "August 1991" (JP; 1991-07-08), page 16
  8. Computer & Video Games, "August 1991" (UK; 1991-07-15), page 60-62 (60)
  9. Beep! MegaDrive, "May 1991" (JP; 1991-04-08), page 27 (29)
  10. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 83 (85)
  11. Hobby Consolas, "Agosto 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 48-51 (48)
  12. 12.0 12.1 Joypad, "Juin 1992" (FR; 1992-05-1x), page 158
  13. 13.0 13.1 Joystick, "Juillet/Août 1991" (FR; 1991-0x-xx), page 182
  14. Mean Machines, "July 1991" (UK; 1991-06-29), page 74-76 (74)
  15. Player One, "Mai 1992" (FR; 1992-05-10), page 70/71 (70)
  16. 16.0 16.1 Sega Power, "October 1991" (UK; 1991-09-05), page 55
  17. 17.0 17.1 Sega Pro, "April 1992" (UK; 1992-03-19), page 41
  18. Sega Force, "July 1992" (UK; 1992-06-xx), page 70/71 (72)
  19. 19.0 19.1 Supersonic, "Mai/Juin 1992" (FR; 1992-xx-xx), page 6
  20. Tilt, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-xx), page 53/54 (51)
  21. Video Games, "7/92" (DE; 1992-06-24), page 46 (44)
  22. 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 349
  23. Aktueller Software Markt, "November 1991" (DE; 1991-10-11), page 139
  24. Beep! MegaDrive, "May 1991" (JP; 1991-04-08), page 27
  25. Console XS, "June/July 1992" (UK; 1992-04-23), page 137
  26. Computer & Video Games, "August 1991" (UK; 1991-07-15), page 60
  27. Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 7, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 291
  28. Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 118
  29. Famitsu, "1991-xx-xx" (JP; 1991-06-14), page 19
  30. Games-X, "21st-26th June 1991" (UK; 1991-06-21), page 36
  31. Hippon Super, "May 1991" (JP; 1991-04-04), page 42
  32. Hobby Consolas, "Agosto 1992" (ES; 1992-0x-xx), page 48
  33. Sega Mega Drive Advanced Gaming, "January 1993" (UK; 199x-xx-xx), page 95
  34. Mega Drive Fan, "August 1991" (JP; 1991-07-08), page 123
  35. Mega, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 21
  36. Mega Force, "Mai 1992" (FR; 1992-05-05), page 76
  37. MegaTech, "May 1992" (UK; 1992-04-20), page 32
  38. MegaTech, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-20), page 93
  39. Mean Machines, "July 1991" (UK; 1991-06-29), page 74
  40. Mean Machines Sega, "October 1992" (UK; 1992-09-xx), page 143
  41. Player One, "Mai 1992" (FR; 1992-05-10), page 70
  42. Play Time, "(8/9)/92" (DE; 1992-07-08), page 94
  43. Sega Power, "August 1992" (UK; 1992-07-02), page 34
  44. Sega Pro, "April 1993" (UK; 1993-03-11), page 68
  45. Sega Opisaniy i sekretov, "14000 Opisaniy i sekretov" (RU; 2003-03-11), page 236
  46. Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85
  47. Super Gaming, "Fall 1991" (US; 1991-xx-xx), page 8
  48. Tilt, "Septembre 1991" (FR; 1991-09-xx), page 53
  49. Video Games, "7/92" (DE; 1992-06-24), page 46
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