Museum of the Game ®

International Arcade Museum® — Killer List of Videogames®

Mega Zone

Description

Fight your way through the Megazone in this overhead shooter. Features multiple paths and giant mechanical eyeballs.

Mega Zone was produced by Konami in 1983.

Konami released 434 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1978. Konami was based in Japan.

Other machines made by Konami during the time period Mega Zone was produced include: Jackler, Video Hustler, Tactician, Super Cobra, Scramble, Gyruss, Hyper Olympic, Juno First, Roc'n Rope, and Track & Field

Specs

Name	Mega Zone
Developer	Konami (Japan)
Year	1983
Type	Videogame
KLOV/MOG #	8661
Class	Wide Release
Genre	Shooter
Monitor	Orientation: Vertical Type: Raster: Standard Resolution Color: Color
Conversion Class	Konami Classic
Game Specific	Mega Zone Pinout
Dipswitch Settings	Mega Zone Dipswitch Settings (user contributed)
# Simultaneous Players	1
# Maximum Players	2
Game Play	Alternating
Control Panel Layout	Single Player
Controls	Joystick: 8-way Buttons: 1 - Fire
Sound	Amplified Mono (one channel)
Cabinet Styles	Upright/Standard
Side Art	Mega Zone Side Art Image
PCB	Mega Zone PCB Image

Game Introduction

This game has flavors of several different video games rolled into one. It is mostly like Xevious, being an overhead shooter against a plethora of enemies, each with a unique characteristic. Unlike Xevious, however, that only allowed you to travel in one straight path, Mega Zone periodically allows you to choose different paths. For most of the game, the player's ship flies along a river. When the river forks, the player has the option of following either fork.

The game also has elements of Scramble, in that the player fights through numerous zones in the struggle to reach the end. Where Scramble has a progress bar at the top, Mega Zone gives the player a map, and shows the player the progress along the map between lives. The main enemies of Mega Zone are giant robot eyeballs. Easily enough destroyed, they still pose a menace. Smaller eyeballs leave teardrops when destroyed, which when picked up, give bonus points and wipe out all enemies on the screen.

Mega Zone KLOV/IAM 5 Point User Score: 3.65 (1 vote)

Fun Factor: 3.80

Overall Like	4.00
Fun (Social)	4.00
Fun (Solo)	4.00
Collector Desire	3.00

Technical Rating: 3.50

Gameplay	4.00
Graphics	4.00
Originality	3.00
Sound/Music	3.00

Personal Impressions and Technical Impressions each account for half of the total score. Within the Personal Impressions category, Like carries a little more weight than the other factors.

Images

Miscellaneous

Although the PCB does not specifically say so, I believe this game was manufactured by Konami, which licensed the game from Kosuka Co., Ltd.

VAPS Arcade/Coin-Op Mega Zone Census

There are 15,264 members of the Video Arcade Preservation Society / Vintage Arcade Preservation Society, 9,669 whom participate in our arcade census project of games owned, wanted, or for sale. Census data currently includes 166,973 machines (7,000 unique titles).

Very Common - There are 57 known instances of this machine owned by Mega Zone collectors who are active members. Of these, 6 of them are original dedicated machines. 6 of them are conversions in which game circuit boards (and possibly cabinet graphics) have been placed in (and on) another game cabinet. 45 of them are only circuit boards which a collector could put into a generic case if desired.

For Sale - There are 5 active VAPS members with a Mega Zone circuit boards for sale.

Wanted - No active members have added this machine to their wish list.

This game ranks a 16 on a scale out of 100 (100 = most often seen, 1=least common) in popularity based on census ownership records.

Rarity and Popularity independently are not necessarily indications of value. [More Information]

Flyers

Technical

The game uses a 6809 microprocessor, a Z80 microprocessor, and a 8039 microprocessor. For sound it uses one AY-3-8910 PSG and a DAC.

Manuals

Pinout and DIP Switch Settings - Mega Zone Manual — **Pinout and DIP Switch Settings**
(1 page, 203 kB File)

Conversion Kit - Mega Zone Manual — **Conversion Kit**
(13 pages, 3 MB File)

Service Bulletin - Mega Zone Manual — **Service Bulletin**
(1 page, 0.05 MB File)

eBay Listings

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