Sci-fi was a popular genre in the 80’s. Video games particularly had a flood of games based in outer space and high-tech settings. Most sci-fi games followed a pretty standard formula, especially ship-based shooters like Gradius and Xevious. Capcom released its own shooter, Section Z, to arcades in 1985 and ported it to the NES in 1987. How does does it compare to similar games of the era?

Gameplay

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In Section Z, you command a single soldier tasked with bringing down an alien invasion singlehandedly, much like countless other games of this genre. Your soldier is equipped with battle armor that allows you to fly in the void of space, and the game plays much like other sidescrolling ship-based shooters.

A unique gameplay element of this game is the ability to shoot to the right using the A button, or to the left using the B button, which lets you concentrate on movement. You can move to the right and fire to the left and vise versa, rather than forcing you to move in the direction you want to fire. Its different and make the game stand out against its peers.

You progress through the game by fighting through sections, which are horizontal scrolling stages which play like tunnels in a large alien base. Each section is numbered and you’ll fight a wave of enemies within each one.

At the end of each section, you’re given the choice of proceeding by going up or down. This may lead you to a higher-numbered section, or it may send you back to an earlier one. So the game essentially serves as a giant maze that you must either map or memorize in order to progress.

You begin the game with a basic laser weapon and 20 hit points. Taking shots from enemies lowers your hit points by various amounts and colliding with an enemy will kill you instantly. Capsules can be picked up that add to your hit points or give you various boosts, from increasing your movement speed to gaining more powerful weapons.

Presentation

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Graphically, the game isn’t impressive but it gets the job done well enough, especially for an early release on the NES. Sprites are well-rendered and adequately animated. Colors are well chosen to represent the technological alien environment.

Sounds are basic, but well done for games from the early NES era. There’s little variety in the soundtrack, but what’s here is fun and fits the theme nicely.

Verdict

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For an early release on the NES, Section Z holds up pretty well compared to similar, more well-known games that came out around the same time, like Gradius. The need to map the levels pads the length of the game and will be well-received by some people and hated by others who just want to blast through from stage to stage. I’m somewhere in the middle; its a bit of an annoyance in 2017, but in 1987 when the game was released it was probably a selling point. Playing on my Retron 5 with the ability to save before each fork made this much less annoying, since I could reload if I went the wrong way, but without that feature I think it would be far more annoying.

While it’s far from perfect, isn’t technically impressive and has some gameplay quirks, I did have a good amount of fun with Section Z. Its a cheap game to pick up for retro game collectors, coming in around $5 for a physical cartridge, so its a safe bet for anyone who enjoys these types of games.

Score 6.5/10

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