HyperZone
Developer(s)HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s)HAL Laboratory
Programmer(s)Hiroaki Suga
Miya Aoki
Composer(s)Jun Ishikawa
Platform(s)Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
Genre(s)Rail shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

HyperZone[lower-alpha 1] is a rail shooter video game developed and published by HAL Laboratory for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It used the SNES' Mode 7 capability.

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot.

HyperZone is a rail shooter game.[2][3] The object of the game is to navigate each level while shooting enemies and earning points until encountering a boss enemy, at the end of each level. After enough points are acquired, the player earns an extent and their ship is upgraded at the beginning of the next stage. The player's ship can receive up to six upgrades.

As a racing game, the resemblance is visual. The mode 7 tracks are similar to the well-known progenitor of mode 7 racing, F-Zero. As a scrolling shooter, it is also similar to Star Fox in that the player's ship is constantly pushed forward through each level. While it is possible to slow down, doing so gradually causes damage to the player's ship.

HyperZone contains eight levels. After the initial game is finished, it restarts from the beginning with the player continuing in their final ship and keeping score; the game loops infinitely.

Synopsis

The game is set in the year 2089, where Earth has become unable to support life due to humankind's ignorance. The Earth Council has turned their attention to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter - a place virtually untouched by civilization. But a hostile race of cybernetic beings has taken up residence there, and if humankind is to survive, the infestation must be eradicated...

Development and release

HyperZone has a resemblance to Eliminator, a game released for the Amiga and various 8-bit computers. The game's perspective and its unusual landscapes were inspired by the "Star Gate" sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The offtrack landscape in the Material Factory (Area 1 in the US/European version, Area 3 in the Japanese version) is a tessellation of flashing tetrominos that resemble those in Tetris; the boss in Area 3 resembles the right part of the SNES controller, and buttons—of the same four colors as the Japanese and PAL region SNES logo—circle around it. Another HAL game, Kirby's Dream Land 3, references this game: The final area in the game is called Hyperzone, and several other areas share names.

Stereoscopic 3D support was partially added, but is not enabled unless the user enters a cheat code on the gamepad. It is supposed it requires LCD shutter glasses, or perhaps future programming to enable anaglyph.[4]

Regional differences

The Japanese version is called Hyper Zone, and its logotypes in and out of the game differ from those in the western version. Levels 1 and 3 underwent a graphics swap between the two versions: the level layout and enemy positioning (aside from each boss encounter) is still the same, but the graphics set and background music are different. It is unknown why this was done because levels 1 and 3 have bosses that do not fit into their respective color schemes in the western versions.

Reception

According to Nintendo Power, HyperZone proved to be a top selling game in Japan.[19] Entertainment Weekly gave the game an "A" rating, summarizing, "With lots of practice, you can learn to forestall annihilation, but when you finally blow up (and believe me, you will finally blow up), it's like reliving every grisly driver's-ed film you saw in high school."[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Japanese: ハイパーゾーン, Hepburn: HaipāZōn

References

  1. ↑ "Super NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2008-09-20. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  2. ↑ HyperZone instruction booklet (Super Nintendo Entertainment System, US)
  3. ↑ Plasket, Michael (July 28, 2017). "HyperZone". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on November 1, 2019. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  4. ↑ "Random: SNES Title HyperZone's Hidden 3D Mode Can be Played with 3D Glasses". 25 August 2021.
  5. ↑ "HyperZone for Super Nintendo". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  6. ↑ Weiss, Brett Alan (1998). "HyperZone - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on 16 November 2014. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  7. ↑ Quartermann; Alessi, Martin; Semrad, Ed; Harris, Steve (November 1991). "Super NES Review Crew - HyperZone". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 28. Sendai Publishing. p. 168.
  8. ↑ "NEW GAMES CROSS REVIEW: ハイパーゾーン". Famitsu (in Japanese). No. 142. ASCII Corporation. September 6, 1991. p. 40.
  9. ↑ Andromeda (October 1991). "Super NES ProReview: HyperZone". GamePro. No. 27. IDG. p. 34.
  10. ↑ "Now Playing - Hyperzone". Nintendo Power. No. 30. Nintendo of America. November 1991. p. 87.
  11. ↑ El Nio Nio; Rocket (October 1991). "Super Famicom Review - HyperZone". Consoles + (in French). No. 2. M.E.R.7. pp. 46–47. Archived from the original on 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  12. 1 2 Strauss, Bob (November 1, 1991). "Hyper Zone". Entertainment Weekly. No. 90. Meredith Corporation. Archived from the original on April 1, 2016. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
  13. ↑ "90年11月から'93年6月21日発売までの323本を収録!! Super Famicom All Catalog '93 8月情報号特別付録 - ハイパーゾーン". Famimaga (in Japanese). No. 16. Tokuma Shoten. August 1, 1993. p. 54.
  14. ↑ Huyghues-Lacour, Alain (November 1991). "HyperZone: Ça tire de tous les côtés et la piste est étroite! On n'est pas prêt de voir le bout de la route!". Joypad (in French). No. 2. Yellow Media. p. 137.
  15. ↑ Demoly, Jean-Marc (November 1991). "Console News: HyperZone". Joystick (in French). No. 21. Sipress. p. 138.
  16. ↑ Forster, Winfried (February 1992). "Videospiele / Tests: Träge Turbos - Hyper Zone". Power Play (in German). No. 47. Future-Verlag. p. 163.
  17. ↑ Bielby, Matt (November 1992). "What Cart? Super Play's Game Library - HyperZone (Jap/US)". Super Play. No. 1. Future Publishing. p. 86. Archived from the original on 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  18. ↑ "A-Z of Import Games - HyperZone". Super Pro. No. 1. Paragon Publishing. December 1992. p. 95.
  19. ↑ "Pak Watch - Japan Watch". Nintendo Power. No. 37. Nintendo of America. June 1991. p. 113.
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