GAME CLEAR No. 29 -- Zero Wing

Zero Wing (1989, Multiplatform)

Developer: Toaplan
Original European Publisher: SEGA
North American Re-release Publisher: Retro-Bit
Clear Date: 5/30/2021
Clear Platform: Genesis

I did have a chance to survive (read: easy mode), and now all my base once again belong to me.

When I spied this deluxe reissue (the first for Genesis in North America, albeit not licensed by SEGA), it seemed like a no-brainer to grab this piece of cultural history. I didn’t really know much about it other than that it was a shmup and of course the classic meme. For the $45 asking price it’s a very nice package with some bonus materials and a dang functioning Genesis cartridge. That’s enough for me.

Having now beaten this game on easy (which allows infinite continues), I would not describe it as essential. Although it starts out as a fairly manageable shmup (at least on easy), it later becomes quite fiendish by my standards, and I’m not sure I’d have the endurance to beat it on the credit-limited modes. Nevertheless, I persevered on easy with continue after continue and managed to beat the final boss.

The game is a pretty boilerplate horizontal shmup. You can choose between three different weapon types (spreading bullets, piercing lasers, or weak seeker shots), and you can upgrade your ship to have two drones above and below you that absorb enemy fire and also act as secondary guns. I understand this was 1989 and maybe these things weren’t quite as uninspired as they strike me now, but it seems downright plagiarized to play from the perspective of someone who has basically only played shmups that came out after Zero Wing. Quick googling seems to suggest none of these upgrades were particularly new at the time either. I can think of at least Gradius that had done these things before.

But one does not have to reinvent the wheel to make a great game. Unfortunately, Toaplan didn’t really make up for it anywhere else either. It’s just an okay game. There are some neat bosses and the soundtrack has a couple bangers, but I found the experience mostly forgettable. Nevertheless, its cultural impact cannot be denied, and it is by no means bad. I was entertained for a couple hours, and now I have a very pretty shelf ornament. Could be a lot worse than that.