HyperZone

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HyperZone is a shooter game developed by HAL Laboratory, Inc. for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was one of the first to be released for the console, and is notably one of the few "rail shooter" type games available. Like many of the system's earlier releases, HyperZone made liberal use of the Super Nintendo's outwardly impressive (at the time) mode 7 capability.

Gameplay

HyperZone plays like a cross between a racing game and shooter. The object of the game is to navigate each level while shooting enemies and earning points, until finally an encounter with a boss ends each level. If enough points have been accumulated at the start of each new level, the player's ship may be upgraded.

As a racing game, the resemblance is visual. The mode 7 "tracks" bear a resemblance to the well-known progenitor of mode 7 racing, F-Zero. As a rail shooter, in the same vein as Star Fox, the player's ship is constantly pushed forward through each level. While it is possible to slow down, doing so eventually causes damage to the player's ship. The game manual attributes this to a sort of radiation poisoning; the same damage incurred if the player flies into "wild" regions of a level.

HyperZone contains 8 levels altogether. While simple, the game contains moderate replay value, allowing the player to start again from the first level (with all lives and ship upgrades) each time the game is completed. There is little reason to do this once all ship upgrades have been earned (aside from an ever-increasing score) however.

Regional differences

"Ripple Field" level 5

• Between the Japanese and American releases, levels 1 and 3 underwent a graphics swap. The level layout and enemy positioning (aside from each boss encounter) is still the same; only the graphics set and background music are different. It is unknown why this was done, as level 1 and 3 end up having bosses that do not fit into their respective color schemes.

• The Japenese and American versions have different title screen graphics.

References

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