Out Zone (アウトゾーン) is a top-down run and gun game developed by Toaplan and published by Tecmo in 1990 for arcades. In 2023 it was released digitally for PC on the Steam and GOG storefronts by Bitwave games.
Story[]
As space exploration progressed, humankind on Earth formed alliances with many other planetary life forms and expanded the Galactic Alliance. At the same time, human beings themselves have been invaded from the outside many times, but each time they have joined forces to win the battle. However, in 2095 AD, the Owagira aliens who started the invasion of the Earth had much stronger fighting power than human beings. Mankind is now on the verge of extinction. At that time, a message was sent from the Elder of the Galactic Alliance to the United Nations... Their story is, "As a space worker, it has been told in the galactic legend for a long time". The United Nations sought the last hope and spent most of the Earth's budget to ask them for help. There were two powerful cyborg warriors in the universe. The two who knew the crisis in their hometown have now dared to stand up.
Gameplay[]
Players control a cyborg character on foot, being able to move in all directions with the camera following the player movement vertically. Players are equipped with two main weapons at the beginning that can be upgraded by picking up to two "P" icons in a row and switch between them by picking up a "C" icon. The semi-automatic forward gun shoots forward no matter which way players move, but shoots three bullets in a slight spread each time the fire button is pressed, while the all-direction laser fires in the direction of movement, creating a sweep of bullets as the player character changes direction. The laser also shoots rapidly when tapping the fire button and each weapon is useful in certain situations, as players will often have to switch based on the enemy configuration. Other weapons appear on certain occasions as different colored "SP" icons to acquire, like a flamethrower and a rotating energy ball capable of piercing walls.
Another gameplay feature is the energy bar; players must remain aware of the energy bar, which constantly runs down at a steady pace and can only be refilled by collecting "E" icons scattered throughout the stage. However, the energy bar itself does not act as health, as players can still be killed with a single enemy shot. Various other "SP" items can also be picked up along the way such as 1UPs, a speed increaser, shield and an energy extender that increases the length of the energy meter.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- In Batsugun it is revealed that Jeeno Limrustedt is one of the player characters in this game, thus connecting the two works.