Game: Zaxxon
System: Atari 5200
Publisher: Sega
Year: 1984
Ranking: Two Quarters
Sega's arcade classic Zaxxon (1982) is often attributed as the first major video game to use isometric graphics. Rather than view a player's character from directly above or to the side, the player's ship in Zaxxon was viewed at an oblique angle above the ship. This created a unique three-dimensional perspective that pulled players deeper into the action than they had ever been before. Isometric projections are a subset of axonometric projections. Zaxxon claims it's name from AXXON, a bastardized abbreviation of axonometric projection. I'm pretty sure the "Z" was added because Z's make everything sound more exciting. Motivated early arcade scholars can go check out the Wikipedia articles on isometric and axonometric projections before continuing on to the rest of the review below.
Zaxxon's first of its kind perspective, challenging game play, and bright graphics made it popular game. Home consoles at the time clamored to create Zaxxon clones. Unfortunately, the memory and computational requirements were beyond the reach of many home systems, and some truly horrid ports were made. Check out the Let's Compare (Zaxxon) video at Gaming History Source for a look at some of the more appalling versions. The Atari 2600 version is particularly noteworthy since it does not even attempt to reproduce the isometric perspective, opting instead for a computationally simpler 3rd person, behind the person perspective. Zaxxon for the Atari 2600 is Zaxxon in name only.
The Atari 5200 version, like many of its contemporaries, falls short of the arcade version on a few fronts. First, the 5200 version lacks the added danger of vertical and heat seeking missiles. Second, the playing field seems a little empty compared to the arcade version, like there is too much room and not enough enemies. Finally, the fighter plane level is simplified to a 2D level rather than the more complex 3D level seen in the arcade. Despite these shortcomings, I think that the Atari 5200 version is as close to the arcade version as any home console version of the era. The 5200 version captures the essence of the arcade. You control the ship in three dimensions through the Death Star like channel. You blast fuel tanks to refuel. You weave around brick walls and electric force fields to navigate to your ultimate goal, the evil, rocket-slinging, death-robot Zaxxon.
Sadly, I just don't think that Zaxxon for the Atari 5200 is a great game. First, the soundtrack is white noise. When the game starts, you'll be wondering if your speakers have blown out. I'd like to think the white noise was a design decision. Rather than having space be silent, a la Battlestar Galactica, the designers opted for a musical interpretation of the cosmic background radiation. Only when your fighter beings to dip and dive do you realize that the white noise is suppose to be the roar of your rockets. Second, after a few rounds of Zaxxon with the 5200 stock controller, you'll need to book an appointment with your friendly ergonomist to start treatment on your developing carpal tunnel. You constantly need to mash the soft, unresponsive fire button in order to maintain enough firepower to survive each level. Chronic injury is not worth it for any video game. Finally, and most importantly, the 3D graphics subtract from the gameplay. I will admit it; the perspective is a refreshing touch. Unfortunately, I hardly ever have any idea where I am. The height bar is useless and thanks to the constraints of the isometric perspective your ship never changes size. Thankfully, Sega updated the spaceship level in the 5200 version to be 2D; otherwise, I would have never hit any of the enemy fighters.
Zaxxon is a seminal game, and I'm glad to have it in my Atari 5200 collection. However, if I'm looking for an isometric perspective, I'd rather hop on over to Q*bert!
Retro Game Rankings: No Quarters to Four Quarters. It should be noted, that although the going price of an arcade game was a single quarter when many of these games first came out, I feel that true retro game fans would be willing to pay a little bit more to capture the glory of playing some of the truly great ones one more time.
Sega's arcade classic Zaxxon (1982) is often attributed as the first major video game to use isometric graphics. Rather than view a player's character from directly above or to the side, the player's ship in Zaxxon was viewed at an oblique angle above the ship. This created a unique three-dimensional perspective that pulled players deeper into the action than they had ever been before. Isometric projections are a subset of axonometric projections. Zaxxon claims it's name from AXXON, a bastardized abbreviation of axonometric projection. I'm pretty sure the "Z" was added because Z's make everything sound more exciting. Motivated early arcade scholars can go check out the Wikipedia articles on isometric and axonometric projections before continuing on to the rest of the review below.
Zaxxon's first of its kind perspective, challenging game play, and bright graphics made it popular game. Home consoles at the time clamored to create Zaxxon clones. Unfortunately, the memory and computational requirements were beyond the reach of many home systems, and some truly horrid ports were made. Check out the Let's Compare (Zaxxon) video at Gaming History Source for a look at some of the more appalling versions. The Atari 2600 version is particularly noteworthy since it does not even attempt to reproduce the isometric perspective, opting instead for a computationally simpler 3rd person, behind the person perspective. Zaxxon for the Atari 2600 is Zaxxon in name only.
The Atari 5200 version, like many of its contemporaries, falls short of the arcade version on a few fronts. First, the 5200 version lacks the added danger of vertical and heat seeking missiles. Second, the playing field seems a little empty compared to the arcade version, like there is too much room and not enough enemies. Finally, the fighter plane level is simplified to a 2D level rather than the more complex 3D level seen in the arcade. Despite these shortcomings, I think that the Atari 5200 version is as close to the arcade version as any home console version of the era. The 5200 version captures the essence of the arcade. You control the ship in three dimensions through the Death Star like channel. You blast fuel tanks to refuel. You weave around brick walls and electric force fields to navigate to your ultimate goal, the evil, rocket-slinging, death-robot Zaxxon.
Sadly, I just don't think that Zaxxon for the Atari 5200 is a great game. First, the soundtrack is white noise. When the game starts, you'll be wondering if your speakers have blown out. I'd like to think the white noise was a design decision. Rather than having space be silent, a la Battlestar Galactica, the designers opted for a musical interpretation of the cosmic background radiation. Only when your fighter beings to dip and dive do you realize that the white noise is suppose to be the roar of your rockets. Second, after a few rounds of Zaxxon with the 5200 stock controller, you'll need to book an appointment with your friendly ergonomist to start treatment on your developing carpal tunnel. You constantly need to mash the soft, unresponsive fire button in order to maintain enough firepower to survive each level. Chronic injury is not worth it for any video game. Finally, and most importantly, the 3D graphics subtract from the gameplay. I will admit it; the perspective is a refreshing touch. Unfortunately, I hardly ever have any idea where I am. The height bar is useless and thanks to the constraints of the isometric perspective your ship never changes size. Thankfully, Sega updated the spaceship level in the 5200 version to be 2D; otherwise, I would have never hit any of the enemy fighters.
Zaxxon is a seminal game, and I'm glad to have it in my Atari 5200 collection. However, if I'm looking for an isometric perspective, I'd rather hop on over to Q*bert!
+ScreenShot.png "Zaxxon: Arcade Version") |
| Zaxxon: Arcade Version |
+ScreenShot.png "Zaxxon: Atari 5200 Version") |
| Zaxxon: Atari 5200 Version |
Retro Game Rankings: No Quarters to Four Quarters. It should be noted, that although the going price of an arcade game was a single quarter when many of these games first came out, I feel that true retro game fans would be willing to pay a little bit more to capture the glory of playing some of the truly great ones one more time.
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