Zaxxon (Sega)

The title of this article is ambiguous. Zaxxon (Disambiguation).

Zaxxon (Sega)

Game No.	133
Voting	6.33 points, 15 votes
Company	Sega, HesWare
Publisher	US Gold
Release	1984
Platform	C64
Genre	Shoot'em Up, 3D-Scrolling
Gamemode	Single player 2 players (in turns)
Operation
Media
Language
Information	Followers: Super Zaxxon, Zaxxon 3-D, Zaxxon Motherbase 2000

Description[edit | edit source]

Zaxxon is a classical space-arcade shooter with an isometric perspective, in which you control a space fighter. You need to fly through a strongly secured hostile Space Fortress and destroy fuel tanks, gun emplacements, rockets and defence fighters there. With the help of an altitude indicator you need to find your way through narrow wall openings, deadly energy barriers and missile fire. After successfully flying through the Space Fortress you get into free space where you need to destroy hostil space fighters. If you survive this, you fly into another Space Fortress where the last fight against the treacherous robot, ZAXXON, will take place.

If you take this hurdle, too, the game will be continued in the first Space Fortress with a higher difficulty grade.

Design[edit | edit source]

Design in isometric perspective with many shades and details. The game area is scrolled from upper right to liower left. By this a virtual 3D-effect is created. The flying height can be recognized by the size of the spaceship and the distance to its shadow.

Hints[edit | edit source]

Energy barriers[edit | edit source]

In the first levels of the game you need to fly over walls and over and below enery barriers. In the further course of the game the walls get more compact and there are only small openings to fly through. These openings are then also protected by energy barriers, so that your task gets very hard. Fire your laser at the energy barriers to determine your position in relation to the openings.

The Space Fortressess[edit | edit source]

At the beginning of your mission you get into the first Space Fortress. Here you should destroy as many hostile space fighters as possible. The more you shoot the less space fighters you will encounter in free space. Here you should also destroy the fuel tanks to raise your fuel supply. And finally you should also shoot as many radar towers, gun emplacements and missiles as possible to raise your score.

Free space[edit | edit source]

After crossing the Space Fortress you get into free space. Here you will encounter hostile space fighters and satellites. The size of the space fighters indicates their flying height. The smaller they are the lower they fly. The number of sace fighters to be destroyed is shown in the lower right corner of the screen (Enemy Planes). If you destroy all hostile soace fighters, you will get a bonus of 1.000 points.

The end fight[edit | edit source]

If you survive the fight in open space you get into another Space Fortress. This is the fortress of the deadly robot ZAXXON. To destroy Zaxxon it needs three hits on his missile launcher.

Controls[edit | edit source]

In the start screen
J for joystick
K for keyboard
1 for one player
2 for two players. Both players take turns and use the same joystick plugged into port#2
press fire button to start the game

In the game
RESTORE to abort the game and go back to the starting screen
Run/Stop to pause the game. Press this button again to continue
joystick backwards or A to ascend
joystick forwards or Z to decline
/ joystick left/right or J / K to fly left / right
press fire button or Space to shoot
An altitude indicator on the left of the screen helps you to determine your flying height. This is especially helpful when you fly through wall openings and electric barriers.
The fuel display shows how much fuel is left in the tank. By destroying fuel tanks in the Space Fortresses it is filled up.

Points[edit | edit source]

Radar tower	1000 points
Fuel tank	300 points
Gun emplacement	200 or 500 points (random)
Missile	150 points
Hostile fighter	100 points (increases by 50 after every round)
Satellite	100 points
Robot missile	200 points
ZAXXON	1000 points

Solution[edit | edit source]

Cheats[edit | edit source]

The Version by "TRIAD" ha a trainer with the following options: unlimited lives, unlimited fuel, invulnerability. Additionally, the manual was integrated.

Voting[edit | edit source]

Voting of the C64-Wiki users (10=the best vote):
6.33 points at 15 votes (rank 703). You need to be logged in to cast a vote.
C64Games	7	26th November 2008 - "very good" - 7387 downs

Reviews[edit | edit source]

H.T.W: "In contrast to the version by Synapse the graphics look a bit better subjectively. In return, the scrolling judders a bit and the sideways movement of the spaceship looks irregular. It is a pity, that neither of the two versions has a saveable highscore list.".

Miscellaneous[edit | edit source]

Next to the version by U.S. Gold / Sega, a version by Synapse Software (which was sold in Europe by the U.S. Gold label Synsoft), was released in the same year. (see Zaxxon (Synapse))

Cover[edit | edit source]

Version Differences[edit | edit source]

User Input:

This version has the game updated every frame, and reads input every frame. The Synapse version splits updates across two frames, but reads input each frame.
While this version does read input each frame, it sometimes doesn't apply movement on a frame, which makes movement look "choppy" (as determined by viewing memory region $2000). The Synapse version has smooth movement, but is slower (per memory $0009-$000A)