Zero Wing

Zero Wing is a science fiction-themed side-scrolling shooter similar to Hellfire, where players assume the role of Trent taking control of the ZIG space fighter craft through eight 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 the alien cyborg CATS as the main objective. As far as side-scrolling shooters go, the title initially appears to be very standard, as players control their craft over a constantly scrolling background and the scenery never stops moving until the stage boss is reached.

A unique gameplay feature is the "Seizer Beam" system; during gameplay, players can grab certain enemies and hold them as shield against enemy fire or launch them against enemies. There are three types of weapons in the game that can be switched between after destroying incoming carriers by picking up a color-changing item ranging from the "Red Cannon" shot, the "Blue Laser" and the "Green Homing" missiles. Each weapon can be upgraded by picking up an item of the same color. Other items can also be grabbed along the way such as speed increasers, 1UPs and a bomb module capable of obliterating any enemy caught within its blast radius that can also be triggered after taking enemy hits.

The backstory of Zero Wing varies between each version, but the plot within the game itself remains consistent. Set in 2101, the game follows the signing of a peace treaty between the United Nations (also translated as the Milky Way Federation) and CATS, a space pirate organization, who later breaks the covenant and takes control of the Japanese/Federation space colonies. The protagonist, Trent, pilots a ZIG spacecraft that managed to escape from a mothership destroyed by a representative of CATS. His aim is to defeat enemy forces, avenge the mothership and its crew, and liberate Earth.

However, in the PC Engine version, the story is different. CATS is replaced by an organization called Abigor, led by a man named Ludwig and his right-hand woman, Seiren. Abigor attacks the Galactic Federation, and the ZIG, piloted by Masato Tachibana, is sent to repel them. It is eventually revealed that the Federation dispatcher's sister, Airen, who had been working as an undercover spy to alert the Federation about Abigor's attack, is arrested by Seiren and turned over to Ludwig.

Zero Wing was created by most of the same team that previously worked on several projects at Toaplan, with members of the development staff recounting its history through various Japanese publications. Toshiaki Ōta was at the helm as development chief and also served as programmer alongside Hiroaki Furukawa and Tatsuya Uemura. Uemura also acted as composer along with Masahiro Yuge and Toshiaki Tomizawa. Artists Miho Hayashi, Naoki Ogiwara and Shintarō Nakaoka created the artwork while Sanae Nitō and Yuko Tataka served as character designers.

Uemura stated that Zero Wing originally started as a project not intended for commercial launch to train new recruits at Toaplan, handling training for new hires while using his work and engine from Hellfire before ultimately deciding with releasing the game to the market, which made it a more practical learning experience for the new developers. Uemura, however, felt that both stage design and characters were "cobbled together", leading the game's world being "kind of a mess" and he also stated the project turned into a "battle royale", as staff from both Hellfire and Truxton were mixed with the new recruits. Sound also proved to be very divisive as Uemura, Yuge and Tomizawa wrote several songs for the game with their own individual styles, though Uemura claimed this was due to dividing the work, while Yuge stated he would go to rest and drink after being stuck when composing for the title during work hours. Due to being a training project, Uemura stated that the team had freedom to "just fool around" and several features were integrated into the title such as warps, which was taken from Slap Fight.

In Japan, Game Machine listed Zero Wing as the fourth most successful table arcade unit of November 1989, outperforming titles such as Jitsuryoku!! Pro Yakyū and U.N. Squadron.

The game received a positive critical reception upon release. Computer and Video Games scored it 93%, including ratings of 92% for graphics, 93% for sound, 90% for playability, and 89% for lastability. They praised "the great intro sequence", "super-smooth gameplay, beautifully defined graphics, rocking sound track, amazing explosions and incredible end-of-level bosses", concluding that it is "the game which breaths (sic) new life into shoot 'em ups on the Megadrive". Mean Machines scored it 91%, including ratings of 92% for presentation and graphics, 88% for sound, 90% for playability, and 89% for lastability.

Zero Wing was the last side-scrolling shoot 'em up title to be developed by Toaplan, as the developers believed they did not know how to make a side-scrolling shooter interesting, despite positive reception from players.

Zero Wing is one of the most widely-known examples of poor linguistic translation in video games. Translations were handled internally by the design team, not a professional translator. In 1999, the introduction cutscene for the Sega Mega Drive version of Zero Wing was re-discovered, culminating in the wildly popular "All your base are belong to us" Internet meme.