Zaxxon is a 1982 arcade game by Sega. The game gives the player the experience of flying a space shuttle-like 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 nor running out of fuel, which can be replenished by shooting fuel drums. At the time of its release, Zaxxon was unique as it was the first game to employ isometric projection, something of a three-quarter viewing perspective. This effect simulated three dimensions (albeit from a third-person viewpoint).
The world record on Zaxxon is 4,680,740 points scored by Vernon Kalanikaus of Laie, Hawaii, 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.
A popular game, Zaxxon was ported to almost all home computer and video game console systems between 1982 and 1985. Among them were DOS (as a booter), Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Dragon 32, ColecoVision and Intellivision.
The Atari 2600 and Intellivision ports were noticeably different because they used a three-dimensional perspective instead of the isometric graphics of the other versions. This is probably due to technical limitations of these consoles.
The game was also released for Sega's own console, the SG-1000, in 1985.
A clone of the game was released on the TRS-80 Color Computer as Zaksund.
In 2006, Zaxxon games were included as bonus game on the Sega Genesis Collection for Sony's PlayStation 2 and PSP consoles. The original Zaxxon is the game included on the PS2, and Super Zaxxon is the one available on the PSP.
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