RF Generation Message Board

Until 1982, most shooting games were of the 2D top-down, or side-view variety. Sure, there were things like Star Wars Arcade, which took a more first-person route, a handful of early console games that toyed with perspective a bit, and even the arcade hit Juno First, which had a sort of faux-3rd person, above and behind the ship sort of view. But nothing had taken the mechanics of a 2D shooting game and blended them with a 3D perspective, quite like what Sega accomplished with Zaxxon. Some argue that it's not really a shmup, because you move your ship on the Z-axis. However, given that you can only go up and down on the Z-axis, or left and right on the X-axis, with no movement forward or backward, it still retains movement on a 2D plane. Regardless of the semantics, it's hard to argue that Zaxxon wasn't a hugely influential game, in a number of respects.

Pilot your ship across a landscape dotted with communication satellites, turrets, bunkers, and fuel tanks. Fly over and between walls, avoid electrical grids, and watch out for incoming missiles! Keep an eye on your fuel gauge, as well; you don't want to be caught unawares, when you find yourself running on fumes. Shoot down those fuel tanks to replenish, and keep flying! If you're good enough, you can get through the second fortress, and face the mighty Zaxxon robot! Join the RF Generation Shmup Club in September 2019, as we take on this classic Sega arcade game! The original version is available as an unlockable bonus in Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for PS3 and Xbox 360, as well as in the Sega Genesis Collection for PS2. Many ports of the game were released for home consoles and computers, including Atari 2600, Atari 5200, IntelliVision, ColecoVision and Sega SG-1000 ports, a solid conversion for the Commodore 64, along with many other computer ports, such as IBM PC, ZX Spectrum, Apple II, TRS-80, and Atari's 8-bit line of home computers. Pick your version, and see if you have what it takes to defeat the robot guardian in Zaxxon!

Participants:
MetalFRO
Addicted
Duke.Togo
zoydo
Zagnorch
coin_tengoku
dtungsten

High Scores:

Elemental Master?

Ah, The Karate Kid a Sega classic.

Nope, but not a bad guess :D


You're a goofball :P

Ikaruga?

Sorry, that's not it.

You guys are gonna kick yourselves, when it's revealed :D

Is it time for Otomedius Excellent?? :D

Sorry to disappoint you yet again, Redd, but it's not quite time yet. Not sure how you'd extrapolate that from the image above :D

I didn't, but I'm just going to guess it no matter what image it is now until the time comes.

Chaos Field?

Twin Cobra?

What does Mr. Miyagi tell him to do to the car?

That was the first line I thought of, and racked my brain for days on that saying. Just realized today I was taking it too literally...it's Zaxxon isn't it?

Combo month with Zaxxoff!

LOL, EZ Racer gets the prize! Which is to say, there's no prize, but thanks for playing my little guessing game! Hopefully, some of you will join in and tackle this arcade classic with us :D

Have to bust the Colecovision out for that one!

As will I! I'll also be playing the arcade version on the PS3.

Oh, now i get it. :D

I dont't own a copy of Zaxxon, but from what i know the arcade version is an unlockable in the Mega Drive Collection. I'll check that out.

Update: unlocked the game yesterday, i'm in.

Hey now...



I wonder where you got your hint-picture idea from...


[img width=595 height=373]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/output_auGLcw_zpssrfce0mt.gif[/img]


As the creator of the above GIF, I guess I'm in...

...but only if I can play either the board game version...

[img width=700 height=333]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/zscore201_zpsex3gfe7c.jpg[/img]



...or the early 80's CoLeCo tabletop arcade version.

[img width=642 height=550]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/zaxtt4a_zps0putsjnm.jpg[/img]


I'm not sure I can hold out until September, though, so I'd better dull my cravings with the help of... the patch.


[img width=692 height=550]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/zscore2010_zpskjrlg8bq.jpg[/img]

[img width=500 height=690]http://i1273.photobucket.com/albums/y409/Zagnorch/zscore2011_zpslahznhqa.jpg[/img]


I wonder if there's a vape version of Zaxxon...


...'Late

LOL, if you need a patch to help with Zaxxon cravings, you might need to see a doctor about that, my friend! I would welcome you to play the Coleco LCD mini arcade cabinet version. I've never seen one, myself, and would love to hear some thoughts about it, as compared to the other versions. Also, I'd be curious about the board game, and how that works. I'll have to look that up, and do some reading on it!

I must confess, I'm not particularly any good at ZAXXON. But for some reason, I just love playing it soooo much... to the exclusion of meals, sleep, and social interactions over the course of several days.

Needless to say, I can hardly wait to try out the upcoming Sega crossover game:







EDIT: Or even better: Zaxxon & Knuckles & Knuckles!






...'Late

Hey now! I thought I'd show off a couple more of my highly coveted Zaxxon collectibles: a pair of promotional handbill cards...


[img width=700 height=711]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48579141506_c93ed13d58_b.jpg[/img]



...that double as mini-strategy guides.


[img width=700 height=866]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48579376107_689d2e5ab4_b.jpg[/img]


[img width=700 height=820]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48579376027_84f1b5d5e1_b.jpg[/img]



Although these are playing tips for the original arcade version, I'm pretty confident they also largely apply to the various home console releases.


There's also the StrategyWiki page:


https://strategywiki.org/wiki/Zaxxon



Hope this helps y'all out...



- 'Scuse.

That Zaxxon logo. Fantastic.

Thanks for the awesome photos, Zag! Those will be some nice tips to use, and the link to the strategy wiki page is nice also. I'll have to review that, and see if there are any hints that jump out at me.

Hey now,



IT'S FREAKING EPIC, MY GOOD MAN.



[img width=240 height=171]http://atariage.com/store/images/misc/5200_Zaxxon32K_Shot_1.png[/img]



FREAK.

[img width=380 height=380]http://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDpMNDvXUAAB4cd.jpg[/img]



ING.

[img width=624 height=362]http://vgpavilion.com/mags/1982/12/vi/meet-the-original-zaxxon/052a_tn.jpg[/img]



EPIC.

[img width=300 height=250]http://cdn.drawception.com/images/panels/2012/5-1/zrsWgm7DDc-4.png[/img]




You just can't beat its awesomeness... unless you can somehow make it super awesome. And I can't even begin to imagine this being remotely possible--

[img width=300 height=121]http://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/logopedia/images/a/a3/Super_zaxxon_logo_by_ringostarr39-d7ydnp9.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20140909081118[/img]



Well, then.


There's just no getting away from the awesomeness of ZAXXON...


[img width=480 height=360]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tLC4-VjoRSs/hqdefault.jpg[/img]


...no matter how hard you try.


ANYway, I'd better head back to the Motherbase; catch y'all 'later.



- 'Scuse.

Can actually say that I have never played zaxxon. I’m in. I will be playing on Xbox360 Sega Genesis collection once I unlock it. Look forward to the experience.


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 :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy: :freakboy:

My go today at the C64 version. This game is really difficult due to the perspective and achingly slow ship.

[img width=700 height=525]https://i.imgur.com/i8KY5zt.jpg[/img]

Here's my best high score so far on the CoLeCo tabletop arcade game version.


[img width=700 height=492]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48674709897_a43a1e6936_b.jpg[/img]


Are you not impressed?


I'm aiming for a hundred points, and then I'll get an extra fighter ship thingy. Yay!

Nice! It'd be interesting to see that in action, given the limitations of LCD games, and how some of the obstacles work. I assume there are no fuel tanks to shoot down?

I put some time into this last night, and managed to get to the Zaxxon robot a couple times, and got a decent initial score of 16,000 points:
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/Immd9RVl.jpg[/img]

Count me in. Here's a start. I'm playing on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for PS3.

Welcome aboard! I managed to get 37K last night on stream:
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/FYmagxXl.jpg[/img]

One trick I figured out is to immediately go down and right at the start of the course, once you're over the first wall, because you can take out the satellite dish and cannon in the corner and start out with 1000+ points. That's a good way to get a score boost right off the bat.

Anyone else playing, and making some high scores?

I haven't made it back to the C64 yet with everything going on. I'd like to find an Apple II version and give it a go before the end of the month.

Okay. I’ve tried for two weeks now to play this game and still have yet to even get to the first boss. Have to say it now....I hate this game. I think I’ve had enough of this one. Sorry guys. I think my highest score was like 1600 pts or something.


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While looking up what the enemy plane bonus was, I found this tip that seems to work, "Flying at an altitude of 1 1/2 will allow you to hit ground targets while making their shots go harmlessly under you."

I don't know if anyone is planning on playing the board game this month, but I think it was my first experience with Zaxxon. I played it back in the day at a friend's house. I remember it being fun but not amazing. I'd say it is good for a video game to board game conversion, though it's difficult to capture the feel of a video game as a board game. Though fun, there are plenty of other board games that are better. It has a lot of what would be called "playfield toys" in pinball. There are plastic walls, turrets, missile silos, fuel tanks, and the Zaxxon robot. It's a two player game and the planes can be adjusted in up or down for high or low altitude. Once you get to the middle, you can dogfight the other player, and then you can fight the Zaxxon robot. The opposing player controls the robot for the battle. You can find more details about the game on the internet, but that's what I remember about it. I really like the plastic robot piece. I'd love to hear some other tales of the board game.

My current high score is 15,000 something. I'll post a picture of it probably tomorrow.

It's totally okay, coin_tengoku - not every shooter is for everyone, and certainly, as early as this game was, it has some quirks that make it difficult. One thing I've found is that the isometric perspective can throw you off, and there are times when it seems like I'm over a wall, or object, and then I try to go back down to engage ground targets, and I'll clip the edge of the wall. That perspective makes it harder to judge where you're supposed to be. I would encourage you to watch my last stream, and check dtungsten's advice just above my post, and see if that helps. If not, there's no shame in throwing in the towel, if you're not finding any fun in the game.

I managed to get another high score during one of many runs earlier this evening: 48,000 points!
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/wr4lvvPl.jpg[/img]

I managed to up my game again:
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/pb4WRuRl.jpg[/img]

I wanted to share a tip that dtungsten mentioned on one of my streams - if you hover at around 1.5 height (on the gauge), you can fire at ground targets, but not hit them, or be hit by lasers shot out by ground planes or canons. You can hit a lot of targets that way, and rack up quite a few points. Also, I'm attaching a picture that shows the approximate position you should be at when you reach the Zaxxon robot, so you can blast away at his missile, and take him out, to get the 1,000 point bonus. If you survive the attack, you get a 200 point bonus, so obviously, going for the kill is the better option. It's right around the 2nd hexagonal tile, and about 2.5 high on the gauge on the Z-axis.

I decided to check out the scores for the game on Twin Galaxies, just for fun. Watch this run, by "JasonV91" from December 015. This was done in M.A.M.E., but it should be similar to what I'm doing, in terms of playing the arcade version. He has a pretty consistent route through the stage, and there are some good tricks here. Definitely worth watching to glean some strategies for getting through each stage. I also see where he gets the plane bonus, and how he accomplishes that, so I think it's worth giving that a try.

https://www.twingalaxies.com/showthread.php/207573-m-a-m-e-zaxxon-set-1-points-471-750-jason-vasiloff (https://www.twingalaxies.com/showthread.php/207573-m-a-m-e-zaxxon-set-1-points-471-750-jason-vasiloff)

Well, I'm further along in Zaxxon than I expected I'd be. I'm reaching the 3rd loop, in a good run, and I've already cruised past my last score that I hadn't even posted yet!
[img width=700 height=525]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EFHfoMcUEAA86vw?format=jpg&name=4096x4096[/img]

I think I'm going to set my goal at 80K by the end of the month.

Woohoo! I met my score goal! I'm not setting a new one, since there's less month than time for me to continue to hone in. How's everyone else doing?
[img width=640 height=480]https://i.imgur.com/DN3urzgl.jpg[/img]

Here's the run where I got my high score:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNPTqazquz4&feature=youtu.be&t=414

Score of 17900. Wish I had more time to dedicate to playing these games. I think my first experience playing Zaxxon was the board game. I later saw it in the arcade and never played it much because the isometric perspective and flights tick control threw me off. Playing it now, I was able to get past that trouble and I made it to the Zaxxon robot. I'm going to play some more now because I'd like to get the plane bonus at least once.

25500 much better. I managed to get the plane bonus a few times overall now, still have trouble with the Zaxxon robot, one time I had 4 lives when I got to it and still couldn't get past it, but I got it a few times overall.  I almost made it to the Zaxxon robot in the second round. My shooting thumb sure gets tired.

I forgot to mention that I switched to using the D-pad. It has the advantage of being able to strafe left and right easily.

Point of trivia: if you get two scores exactly the same, the one you get later is ranked higher.

I should mention that I was playing with settings of 5 lives, 10,000 points.

I noticed this during one of my streams. It’s an odd choice, but I guess it makes sense from an arcade operator perspective. Someone gets their name on the board while playing, and they might have incentive to try again.

Hey guys.

Sorry for not being very active this month, but i literally had no fun playing this game. I just played two times until i reached my primary goal (to beat the default high score) and then never returned for more.

I Never played Zaxxon before and most likely will never play it again, just not my cup of tea.

Hope you guys had some more fun.

[img width=375 height=500]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48818303383_69536bac6c.jpg[/img]

No worries, zoydo - thanks for at least giving it a try! As I mentioned before, it's not for everyone, and I get that. It may be partially why Sega changed up the formula 2 years later with Super Spy.

Hey now!

Did my darnedest to get into three figures on the CoLeCo tabletop game, but the closest I came was:


[img width=700 height=515]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48824272648_3c3644b50e_b.jpg[/img]


FYI the vast majority of my points came from shooting ground targets; the planes are almost impossible to pick off.

That makes sense, given the herky jerky nature of LCD games. Timing is harder to gauge when you're talking about static screen positions, versus pixels and frames. Good score, though, considering it's 1 point per target! That means you've picked off quite a few. Does this version have the Zaxxon robot in some form?