Zaxxon is a 1982 isometric shooter arcade game developed and released by Sega. Some sources claim that Japanese electronics company Ikegami Tsushinki also worked on the development of Zaxxon. The game gives the player the experience of flying a fighter craft through a fortress while shooting at enemy entities (missiles, enemy gunfire, etc.) The object of the game is to hit as many targets as possible without being shot down or running out of fuel—which can be replenished, paradoxically, by blowing up fuel drums.
At the time of its release, Zaxxon was unique as it was the first game to employ axonometric projection, which lent its name to the game (AXXON from AXONometric projection). The type of axonometric projection is isometric projection: this effect simulated three dimensions from a third-person viewpoint. It was also one of the first video games to display shadows, to indicate the ship's altitude above the surface; the game also employed an altitude meter, allowing the player to control how high or low the ship is above the surface. It was also the first arcade game to be advertised on television, with a commercial produced by Paramount Pictures for $150,000.
The world record on Zaxxon is 4,680,740 points scored by Vernon Kalanikaus of Lā'ie, Hawai'i, on March 15, 1982, according to the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard. A bootleg of the game was released in the arcades in 1982 called Jackson.
More details about this game can be found on
Wikipedia.org.
Find digital download of this game on
GOG
or
Steam.
Videogame Console:
This version of Zaxxon was designed for the Sega SG-1000, which was first 8-bit Sega video game console manufactured
in the years 1983 - 1985. It was launched on the same day as much more successful NES console and with exceptions, it was sold only in Japan.
The unit price of SG-1000 was 15,000 yen, the same price as for NES. Console was not very successful and after 2 years was withdrawn from the market.
More information about Sega SG-1000 can be found
here.
Recommended Game Controllers:
You can control this game easily by using the keyboard of your PC (see the table next to the game). However, for maximum gaming enjoyment, we strongly recommend using a USB gamepad that you simply plug into the USB port of your computer. If you do not have a gamepad, buy a suitable USB controller on Amazon or AliExpress or in some in some of your favorite online stores.
Available online emulators:
2 different online emulators are available for Zaxxon. These emulators differ not only in the technology they use to emulate old games, but also in support of various game controllers, multiplayer mode, mobile phone touchscreen, emulation speed, absence or presence of embedded ads and in many other parameters. For
maximum gaming enjoyment, it's important to choose the right emulator, because on each PC and in different Internet browsers, the individual emulators behave differently. The basic
features of each emulator available for this game Zaxxon are summarized in the following table:
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This version of Zaxxon was designed for the Sega SG-1000, which was first 8-bit Sega video game console manufactured
in the years 1983 - 1985. It was launched on the same day as much more successful NES console and with exceptions, it was sold only in Japan.
The unit price of SG-1000 was 15,000 yen, the same price as for NES. Console was not very successful and after 2 years was withdrawn from the market.
More information about Sega SG-1000 can be found
