Out Zone | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Toaplan |
Publisher(s) | |
Designer(s) | Naoki Ogiwara |
Composer(s) | Tatsuya Uemura |
Platform(s) | Arcade, Windows, macOS, steamOS, Linux |
Release |
|
Genre(s) | Run and gun |
Mode(s) | Single-player, co-op |
Out Zone [a] is a run and gun arcade video game developed by Toaplan and published in Japan by Tecmo, North America by Romstar and Europe in August 1990. Set in a future where an alien race from the fictional planet Owagira are threatening to wipe out humanity after multiple failed attempts to defend Earth against their attacks, players assume the role of cyborg mercenaries recruited by the United Nations in a last-ditch effort to overthrow the invaders.
Out Zone received positive reception from critics since its release and has been praised for its visuals, sound design, gameplay, multiplayer, challenge and overall intensity but some lamented the lack of a console release. A spiritual successor, FixEight , was released for arcades in July 1992. As of 2019, the rights to the title is owned by Tatsujin, a company founded in 2017 by former Toaplan member Masahiro Yuge and now-affiliate of Japanese arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia alongside many other Toaplan IPs.
Out Zone is a science fiction-themed vertically scrolling run and gun game reminiscent of Commando and Ikari Warriors , where players assume the role of two cyborg mercenaries hired by the United Nations through seven increasingly difficult levels, each with a boss at the end that must be fought before progressing any further, in a last-ditch effort to overthrow an alien race from the planet Owagira from invading Earth as the main objective. [1] [2] [3] [4] Players fight enemies on foot, moving upward through the level, and are equipped with a number of bombs at the start, which obliterates any enemy caught in its blast radius, but player characters are not rendered invincible for any time period after using a bomb. [3]
A unique gameplay feature is the weapon system; [1] [2] [3] [4] players are equipped with two main weapons at the beginning that can be upgraded by picking up to two "P" icons in a row and switch between them by picking up a "C" icon. The semi-automatic forward gun shoots forward no matter which way players move, but shoots three bullets in a slight spread each time the fire button is pressed, while the all-direction laser fires in the direction of movement, creating a sweep of bullets as the player character changes direction. The laser also shoots rapidly when tapping the fire button and each weapon is useful in certain situations, as players will often have to switch based on the enemy configuration. Other weapons appear on certain occasions as different colored "SP" icons to acquire, like a flamethrower and a rotating energy ball capable of piercing walls. [1] [3] [4] Another gameplay feature is the energy bar; similar to Wonder Boy , players must remain aware of the energy bar, which constantly runs down at a steady pace and can only be refilled by collecting "E" icons scattered throughout the stage. [1] [3] The energy bar itself does not act as health, as players can still be killed with a single enemy shot. [1] Various other "SP" items can also be picked up along the way such as 1UPs, a speed increaser, shield and an energy extender that increases the length of the energy meter. [3]
The game hosts a number of hidden bonus secrets to be found, which is also crucial for reaching high-scores to obtain extra lives, as well as cameos of characters from other Toaplan games such as Flying Shark , Truxton and Zero Wing . [1] The title uses a checkpoint system in which a downed single player will start off at the beginning of the checkpoint they managed to reach before dying. Getting hit by enemy fire, colliding against solid stage obstacles, falling off the stage or running out of energy will result in losing a life, as well as a penalty of decreasing the characters' firepower and speed to his original state and once all lives are lost, the game is over unless the players insert more credits into the arcade machine to continue playing. Although there is an ending, the game loops back to the first stage after completing the last stage as with previous titles from Toaplan, with each one increasing the difficulty and enemies fire denser bullet patterns.
In an advanced space era, humanity encountered, traded and formed alliances with many alien races to ensure security. Humanity had been subject to past invasions from hostile outside forces but the alliances Earth forged granted victories in the past. However in the year 2095, Earth had been subjected a to new invasion launched by the alien military force of planet Owagira, with overwhelmingly powerful and sophisticated weaponry than anything Earth's alliance could counter. With the threat of annihilation looming over, Earth's United Nations receive a message from an alien elder within their alliances about the existence of an ultra-elite mercenary unit named "Out Zone" at a remote region of the Milky Way galaxy. Known as "Space Entrepreneurs" and renowned for their fighting skills by other alien alliances, Out Zone takes sides with no one and are willing to fight any wars for the proper price. Under desperation and as a last-ditch effort to counterattack Owagira's military force, the UN requests Out Zone's service, guaranteeing the UN member nations' entire annual budget as payment. With negotiations complete, two very powerful cyborg mercenaries belonging to Out Zone volunteer for the mission. Having ties to Earth and realizing that their homeworld is in great peril, the two warriors rise up to save it from doom and destroy the Owagira Forces. [5] [6]
Out Zone's soundtrack was composed by Tatsuya Uemura, who also created the sound effects while Naoki Ogiwara served as designer. [7] [8] [9] [10] Uemura recounted its development process and history in interviews, stating that it was difficult for him as he could not apply his experience from vertical-scrolling shooters with flying ships, as players controlled the game on-foot and could not design its progress. [10] The project was fundamentally different due to the lack of forced scrolling, which did not require skills from vertical shoot 'em ups and players could move or stop freely. [9] [10] Uemura said that the intro was written during creation of the demonstration sequence, as the game's world was already established. [8] The team integrated puzzle elements not found in ship-based shooters, which took time to plan out and Uemura said that the schedule for sound production was constantly being reduced, barely implementing the music during development. [10] For the first stage's music, Uemura revealed in response to a user on Twitter that the main melody was originally composed based on Taiyō ni Hoero! . [11] When composing music for the last stage, Uemura wanted to convey the sense of a "decisive battle". [10] Uemura has since regarded the project as "the most difficult product he worked on". [10]
Out Zone was released in arcades worldwide in August 1990 by Tecmo, Romstar and Toaplan. [12] [13] [14] [15] On October 21 of the same year, an album containing music from the title and Snow Bros. was co-published exclusively in Japan by Scitron and Pony Canyon, featuring an arranged song composed by Uemura. [10] [16] Unlike several other releases by Toaplan, the title remained exclusive to arcades and did not receive any official port to home consoles. [17] [18] By 2020, a new version of Out Zone by M2 was announced as part of their M2 ShotTriggers publishing label. [19] [20] [21] [22] It was first announced to be released on the Nintendo Switch. [23] In December 2020, the game was made available on the iiRcade arcade console, marking its first appearance outside the arcades. [24] The game was included in 2022 as part of the Sega Astro City Mini V, a vertically-oriented variant of the Sega Astro City mini console. [25]
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Computer and Video Games | 80% [26] |
Sinclair User | 85% [27] |
Your Sinclair | 84° / 100° [28] |
Zero | [29] |
Out Zone received positive reception since its release, becoming a well regarded title from Toaplan in recent years. [30] In Japan, Game Machine listed it on their August 15, 1990 issue as being the fifth most-popular arcade game at the time. [31] In Australia, Leisure Line magazine reported the game to be the fifth most-popular Japanese coin-op game in their September 1990 issue. [32] In the November 1990 issue of Japanese publication Micom BASIC Magazine, the game was ranked on the number fifteenth spot in popularity. [33] Likewise, RePlay reported Out Zone to be the fourteenth most-popular arcade game at the time in North America. [34] In May 1991, UK magazine Zero ranked it on their number nine spot in popularity. [35]
Sinclair User praised the fast-paced gameplay and frenetic action, stating that "Outzone is one hell of a challenge, particularly past the initial stages, but is sure to set the pulse racing if you've got the reactions to match it!". [27] Likewise, David Wilson of Your Sinclair praised the frenetic gameplay, although he drew comparison with Mercs . [28] Retro Gamer's Mike Bevan gave positive remarks to the presentation but lamented the lack of a console release. [4] [36] Computer and Video Games 's Julian Rignall scored the game with an overall 80% rating. [26] Nick Zverloff of Hardcore Gaming 101 gave it an overall mixed retrospective. [1] Similarly, Malcolm Laurie from SHMUPS! lamented the lack of a console port but praised the visuals, sound design, gameplay and multiplayer. [37]
Out Zone was included as one of the titles in the 2010 book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die . [38] A spiritual sequel, FixEight, was released in July 1992 for arcades. [1] In more recent years, the rights to the game, its spiritual follow-up and many other IPs from Toaplan are now owned by Tatsujin, a company named after Truxton's Japanese title that was founded in 2017 by former Toaplan employee Masahiro Yuge, who are now affiliated with arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia. [39] [40] [41] [42] [43]
Zero Wing is a 1989 side-scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by Toaplan and originally published in Japan by Namco and in North America by Williams Electronics. Controlling the ZIG space fighter craft, players assume the role of protagonist Trent in a last-ditch effort to overthrow the alien space pirate organization CATS. It was the eighth shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their fourteenth video game overall.
Toaplan Co., Ltd. was a Japanese video game developer based in Tokyo responsible for the creation of a wide array of scrolling shooters and other arcade video games. The company was founded in 1979 but its gaming division was established in 1984 by former Orca and Crux employees, who wanted to make games, after both companies declared bankruptcy. Their first shoot 'em up game, Tiger-Heli (1985) on arcades, was a success and helped establish Toaplan as a leading producer of shooting games throughout the 1980s and 1990s that would continue to characterize their output.
Tiger-Heli is a vertically scrolling shooter game developed by Toaplan and released for arcades in 1985. It was published in Japan by Taito and in North America by Romstar. Controlling the titular attack helicopter, the player must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. The Tiger-Heli has a powerful bomb at its disposal that can clear the screen of enemies when fired. It was the first shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their third video game overall.
Twin Cobra, known as Kyukyoku Tiger in Japan, is a vertically scrolling shooter developed by Toaplan and released for arcades in 1987 by Taito in Japan and Europe, then in North America by Romstar. It is a sequel to the 1985 arcade game Tiger-Heli. Controlling the titular attack helicopter, the players must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. It was the fourth shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their tenth video game overall. It was ported to multiple platforms, with each done by different third-party developers that made several changes or additions.
Flying Shark, known as Sky Shark in North America, is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published in 1987 by Taito in Japan, Romstar in North America and Electrocoin in Europe. Controlling the titular biplane, the players must fight endless waves of military vehicles while avoiding collision with their projectiles and other obstacles. The plane has a powerful bomb at its disposal that can clear a portion of the screen of bullets and damage enemies when fired. It was the third shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their eighth video game overall.
Truxton is a 1988 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published in Japan and Europe by Taito, as well as in North America by Midway. Set in a future where the Gidans alien race led by Dogurava invaded the fictional planet Borogo, players assume the role of fighter pilot Tatsuo taking control of the Super Fighter ship on a last-ditch effort to overthrow the alien invaders.
Teki Paki is a 1991 puzzle arcade video game developed by Toaplan and published in Japan by Tecmo, Hong Kong by Honest Trading Co. and Taiwan by Spacy Co. Ltd.
Rally Bike is a racing arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published by Taito in May 1988. In Rally Bike, players compete against computer-controlled opponents in races across locations in the United States. Initially released in arcades, the game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System and X68000 by different developers.
Hellfire is a 1989 horizontally scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed by Toaplan and published in Japan by Taito and North America by U.S.A. Games. The first horizontal shoot 'em up title to be created by Toaplan, the game takes place in the year 2998 where a space matter known as Black Nebula created by robot dictator Super Mech spreads and threatens to engulf human-controlled galaxies, as players assume the role of Space Federation member Captain Lancer taking control of the CNCS1 space fighter craft in a surprise attack to overthrow the enemies with the fighter craft's titular weapon.
Wardner is a side-scrolling platform game developed by Toaplan and published in arcades worldwide by Taito in 1987.
Slap Fight is a 1986 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by Toaplan and published by Taito. Set on the colonized fictional planet of Theron in the future, where an alien race led by Gaudy have invaded the human-controlled location, players assume the role of an Allied League of Cosmic Nations (ALCON) fighter pilot taking control of the SW475 space fighter craft in an effort to counterattack the invaders. Initially launched for the arcades, the game was later ported to other microcomputer and console platforms by various third-party developers, with each one featuring several changes or additions compared to the original release.
Fire Shark is a 1989 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Toaplan in Japan and Europe, and by Romstar in North America. It is the sequel to Flying Shark, a game released in 1987 on multiple platforms. Set in the year 1991, the game focuses on a mysterious armada launching a worldwide attack from a small island in the Mediterranean Sea. Players take control of the titular biplane to counterattack the enemy forces.
Grind Stormer is a 1993 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed and published by Toaplan in Japan and North America. It is considered to be the spiritual successor to Slap Fight. Based around a video game within a video game concept, players assume the role of a young secret agent assigned by the government taking control of the NA-00 space fighter craft in an attempt to defeat the titular virtual reality simulator, rescue the abducted players who lost against it and unveil its true purpose.
Truxton II is a 1992 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game originally developed and published by Toaplan in Japan and Europe. It is the sequel to Truxton, which was released earlier on arcades in 1988 and later ported to various platforms.
Vimana is a vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed by Toaplan and published in Japan by Tecmo and Europe in June 1991. It is notable for being one of the few titles by Toaplan that has not received any official port to home consoles as of date and for its unique combination of science fiction with brief Hindu references. In the game, players assume the role of the titular warriors taking control of powerful ancient space fighter crafts in order to reclaim their home planet by fighting against military machines gone wild. The title received positive reception from critics and reviewers alike after release in regards to the gameplay, but was considered a flop in arcades. As of 2019, its rights are owned by Tatsujin, a company founded in 2017 by former Toaplan member Masahiro Yuge and now-affiliate of Japanese arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia alongside many other Toaplan IPs.
Knuckle Bash is a 1993 side-scrolling beat 'em up arcade video game developed and published by Toaplan in Japan, as well as North America and Europe by Atari Games. It is notable for being one of the few titles by Toaplan that has not received any official port to home consoles as of date.
Dogyuun is a 1992 vertically scrolling shooter arcade video game developed and published by Toaplan. Set on the colonized fictional planet of Dino in the future, where an alien race of metallic robots have invaded a police communication center and held its inhabitants as hostages, players assume the role of two fighter pilots taking control of the Sylfers bomber space fighter crafts in a revenge attempt to overthrow the invaders and free the surviving colonists after their comrade is killed by one of them during a reconnaissance assignment.
Guardian is a 1986 side-scrolling beat 'em up arcade video game developed by Toaplan and published in Japan by Taito and North America by Kitkorp. In the game, players assume the role of a robot fighting against a multitude of enemies and bosses across six locations on a futuristic science fiction setting. It is notable for marking the debut of Twin Cobra and Hellfire artist Kōetsu Iwabuchi in the video game industry, serving as its graphic designer.
Enma Daiō is a 1993 hybrid quiz/lie detector arcade video game developed by Toaplan and published exclusively in Japan by Taito. In the game, players answer a number of question. As of 2019, the rights to the title is owned by Tatsujin, a company founded in 2017 by former Toaplan member Masahiro Yuge and now-affiliate of Japanese arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia alongside many other Toaplan IPs.
Mahjong Sisters is a 1986 eroge mahjong arcade video game developed and published exclusively in Japan by Toaplan. In the game, the players face off against a group of three sisters in a series of mahjong matches. As of 2019, the rights to the title is owned by Tatsujin, a company founded in 2017 by former Toaplan member Masahiro Yuge and now-affiliate of Japanese arcade manufacturer exA-Arcadia alongside many other Toaplan IPs.
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