Devil Zone

Devil Zone is a space ‘shoot ‘em up’ arcade game by Universal, published in 1980. It is of the cosmic series released by the company within the years 1979 to 1981. Titles in this series include Cosmic Monsters, Cosmic Monsters 2, Cosmic Guerilla, Cosmic Alien, Space Panic, Cosmic Avenger, and Zero Hour. All the games in this series are sci-fi arcade games with very similar characters and field of play. Universal Entertainment Corporations is a video game company formally known as Universal Limited. It was established in 1969 and it majorly sold video games and slot machines to operators. In 2005, a company named Aruze, which is owned by a Japanese pachinko manufacturer acquired Universal and it became Universal Entertainment Corporations. The company owns licenses to produce and distribute arcade video games and casino slots in Mississippi, Nevada, and New Jersey. Famous game releases from this company include Space Panic, Lady Bug, Do Run Run, and Mr Do’s Castle.

Devil Zone is a shooter game, a very common type of action arcade game. As a matter of fact, most action arcade games are predominantly shooter games. Titles in this category have a play field that simulates the space, land or sea. In Devil Zone, the play field simulates a gridded battleground in space and you are required to take control of a ship. The ship is charged with the task of defeating several deadly creatures with weapons capable of blasting the invader if controlled by a skilled hand. The objective is simple here, attack and annihilate the strange flying creatures while guarding your spaceship.

The enemy’s fleet arrives in four lines. Subsequently, they divide themselves and form two lines from the first four-line formation, and then move to the left and right on the screen, while sending one out of each line flying at you. Your weapon is strong enough to blast them into two and you must move your ship, as the flying objects are charging towards you. The creatures fly to your side of the screen and they can go around you, but they cannot attack you from behind. Although, if they get too close, you will lose your ship. As you fire at them, you are fired at in return and the best way to engage them is to stay at a distance.

When you successfully clear all the creatures in the fleet, you are rewarded with high-points and when your points total 3,000, you get to own a new ship. Creatures in the fleet come in 3 forms. The smallest ones will earn you 30 points when they are shot and the big creatures are worth 60 points each. At the end of the game, if your score is among the highest six, you can register your initials on the list of high scorers. As you progress in this game, the levels become tougher and creatures on the screen are more than the previous level. They also become faster and appear randomly on the screen.

The game has a vertical orientation in a fixed screen, a side view player’s perspective and it can be played by two players alternatively. Devil Zone offers good graphic display, the partly gridded design is a nice change from the norm of space shooter games, which are always pitch-black or with tiny coloured particles. The number colour palettes used in this game is 16, which makes it easy on the eyes yet animating. Just like the other titles in the cosmic series, Devil Zone is a very thrilling yet fun to play.