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セクション ゼット
©1987 Capcom
Release: 1987-05-25 (¥2890)
DiskCard CAP-SCZ
Shooter / Multi
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Released in America as
SECTION Z
( NES-SZ-USA )
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Released in
Europe as
SECTION Z
( NES-SZ-XXX )
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Section Z is the conversion of Capcom's arcade shooter
released back in 1985. Anybody familiar with some
of the greatest Capcom's shooters of the time (like Side Arms
- Hyper Dyne or Forgotten Worlds) will definitively
see a family resemblance. The hero of the game, unlike other traditional shooters,
is a flying human in a heavy space armor (called Captain Commando
in the American version). A gigantic space fortress is approaching the Earth
and the player's duty is to infiltrate it up to the last section (hence
Section Z) and destroy the commander. The fortress is divided
into small sections and, at the end of each one of them, our hero's path
usually splits up. The decision on which way to take may not
be critical at first but it soon gets the player to run around in circles.
Our hero can use a main laser gun and each
button gets him to fire in one direction (left or right).
Some enemies, as expected, drop power-ups - some of them take effect
instantly (like speed-ups or extra-energy), but others get
stored and activated later by pressing select (they include special
weapons such as wave-laser, 3-ways or force-field). Some zones also
hide warp fields, each one of them can beam the player up to a bonus
room. Finally, the life system can be confusing at first -the
shield absorbs shots but doesn't protect our hero when he gets hit by an
enemy ship. Finally, thanks to the diskCard system, three slots are
available to save the game's progress.
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Section Z was released by Capcom in the arcades in 1985. The original
game is however very different, graphics are much darker and the overall color
palette much less saturated than the Famicom/Nes version.
The character is also very different and looks more like a flying red
man with a jet-pack (pictured on the left).
He can also
drop bombs and the stage's layout is completely different.
Section Z is interesting because it can be seen as the ancestor of
more popular Capcom's shootes such as Side Arms - Hyper Dyne (1986) and
Forgotten Worlds (1988).
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Text teaser from the European version:
Will you penetrate Section Z (TM) and defeat the Balangool
Empire ? You control the future of Planet Earth !
Planet Earth in the year
2XXX. You are relaxing at
the console of your computerized
superconductor-generated interplanetary
satellite communications system. Suddenly,
high frequency radio and television
transmissions blast warnings
to all inhabitants to prepare
for the brutal invading forces
of Balangool Empire.
Battle and defeat the space
soldiers of Balangool,
Penetrate teir base divided
in section A through SECTION Z (TM),
then destroy Balangool master control
"L-Brain".
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G
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Japanese guide Book
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Click on picture to enlarge |
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LK
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Add your Pov here !
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P
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Section Z is a fun shooter and was, at one point, my favorite
shooter for the Famicom Disk system. However,
the game can be very repetitive and disorienting - levels
are extremely vast and some sections can be very difficult.
The multiple level exit paths for instance is a great feature
and becomes very challenging later in the game - as an example, some exits
flash red instead of green and can only be passed when
the corresponding generator is destroyed. However, I feel
that this can sometimes become a tedious chore and it breaks
the action overall. It is a shame because the game
is really innovative and features an incredible variety of enemy ships and
tons of different weapons, which really motivates the player to always travel
further and deeper into the fortress. All in all,
Section Z is not for people looking for a
straight-forward shooter and you will most certainly fly
around in circles the first time you play. Finally, and in true Capcom style, the game is also
extremely difficult and quickly becomes very challenging, but
I personally recommended it!
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