Hey Arcaders!
If Juno First Had it’s foot in Defender, Then today’s game jumped in the Xevious pool- with some innovative results! I’m talking About the fantastic and sadly overlooked shooter- Megazone!
Take the control of an amphibious Rocket Tank, and your mission is to advance through infested enemy territory, you must choose your path carefully and take precise aim on the enemies. You do have an advantage- the power pods in the river. if you collect 12 in a row, grab the MEG icon- your tank transforms into the Mega tank- with a great triple shot! You encounter a multitude of devious enemies varies depending on which path you choose. The screen continues until reach the ominous “Megazone” and annihilate the giant mechanical eyeballs the fortress command tower which is only vulnerable when open. Your next mission awaits…
This was one of the very first conversion kits- ever! Kits were all the rage when they came out. Operators could change the cabinets wiring, power supply, artwork and VOILA! you’d have a new game in your old cabinet- saving a lot of money and maybe making a bigger profit. Megazone, Roc N Rope, and Pandora’s Palace were called the “Interlogic Trilogy” back in the day. Because, Konami bought Interlogic to start creating their own hardware and cabinets in the US- starting with these three games. And moving to Interlogic’s facility in Chicago- gave the room they needed to eliminate having to release a game through another US distributor within a couple of years.
Sadly this game never received a home port (Homebrewers- take notice!) and has never been put on any compilation set! This is such a great shooter that deserves more love! That being said, Megazone’s DNA is defiantly in Twinbee- released in 1985.
If you get a chance- and you haven’t played it before, please give Megazone a shot on your favorite emulator- you wont regret it!
Did you ever play Megazone? did you defeat the fortress command tower?
Let me know in the comments!
Keep Playin’ Like It’s 1981!
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