Zero Wing is a 1989 Japanese shoot 'em up arcade game developed by Toaplan. Like other shoot 'em ups of the time, it featured no real plot, except to distinguish that the player is a lone hero who will save the universe from bad guys. However, it enjoyed a degree of success in the arcade, and was thus ported to the PC Engine and Sega Megadrive in 1991.

All your base are belong to us

The reason for Zero Wing's popularity beyond its release as an arcade game and video game is due to the additions made to the European Megadrive version. To expand on the game's plot, an introductory cut-scene was added to the game. This introductory scene was poorly translated to English for the European release - one section read "All your base are belong to us. You have no chance to survive make your time!". Correctly translated, it should have read something like "All your bases are now in our possession. Do what you will, you have no chance of surviving!"

In 1999, Zero Wing's Engrish intro was re-discovered by members of overclocked.org, culminating in the wildly successful "All your base are belong to us" memetic phenomenon. This also popularised the introductory and level 1 background music by Tatsuya Uemura.

The console version of Zero Wing was never released in North America, however the arcade version was distributed by Williams Electronics there.

Gameplay

As per other shooters, the aim of the game is to shoot all other enemies that appear on screen and avoid crashing into bullets, enemies or foreground scenery. There are mid-level and end-of-level "boss" enemies that stay with the player until they are defeated.

The player, a "ZIG" fighter ship, has several ways to attack:

• The main cannon: scatter-shot (red weapon), lasers (blue weapon) or homing missiles (green weapon).
• Ramming smaller enemies with the little extra ships that appear above and below the ZIG.
• Grabbing a smaller enemy and throwing it at another enemy, similar to the Kirby games.
• Releasing the spherical front shield once it is collected, like in R-Type.

Soon after starting, the player encounters power-up ships. If shot, they leave behind power-ups. These run in the sequence of the red weapon, blue weapon, green weapon and speed-up. There is also an occasional shield power-up, which attaches to the front of the ship. Once the first weapon power-up is collected, two small ships appear above and below the ZIG, and follow its exacting movements. These extra ships are impervious and can be used as shields. As they occasionally move nearer the ZIG when blocked by large enemies or foreground scenery, they can serve as a warning to the player that they should move carefully to avoid a collision.

Each of the three main weapons has three power levels. Each time the same weapon is collected, the power level increases. If a different weapon is collected, it starts back on level 1 power, unless level 3 power was already attained previously. There are also two special powerups, one in level 1-1 and one in level 4-3, which increase all weapons to a special, otherwise unattainable level 4. In the intro scenes, the ZIG's windows are green. In the game, the windows change color depending on what weapon the player has.

External links

• Zero Wing Genesis FAQ
• Zero Wing at Toaplan.com (unofficial information source)
• Arcade version of Zero Wing at Killer List of Videogames
• Category at ODP