Zero Team (Japan?, later batteryless) - MAME machine

Arcade Video game published 31 years ago:

Zero Team © 1993 Seibu Kaihatsu.

Zero Team is a horizontally-scrolling beat-em-up for up to four players in which a girl has been kidnapped by an evil gang and it's up to the Zero Team to rescue her.

Players choose to play as one of four different characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. The characters and their traits are:

• Ace - has very powerful flying kicks.
• Speed - is very fast.
• Spin - has a long reach and very fast hand-slap attack.
• Big-O - slow, but very strong and powerful.

Characters are able to throw and break background objects and use them against their enemies. Power-ups, health-restoring food and bonus items can be collected by breaking background objects (either by picking up and throwing them, or by simply hitting them).

Zero Team differs from other games of the genre by introducing gameplay elements usually only found in one-on-one fighting games. The first is the introduction of combos; players can perform a standard rapid punch attack, for example, then perform an uppercut move similar to the 'Dragon Punch' of Ken and Ryu in Capcom's "Street Fighter" series. Additionally, enemy fighters can be stunned, leaving them vulnerable to attack for several seconds.

The game consists of six stages plus two bonus stages. They are:
Stage 1: City Street/Store
Stage 2: Logistics warehouse/Marina
Stage 3: Building site/entrance to the temple
Bonus Stage
Stage 4: Sacred Temple/Marine Pier Road
Stage 5: Entrance to Skull Island/Underground
Bonus Stage
Stage 6: The Underground Temple/Final Battle

TECHNICAL
Main CPU: V30 (@ 16 Mhz)
Sound CPU: Zilog Z80A (@ 3,57 Mhz)
Sound chips: 1xYM3812, 1xOKI6295

Players: 2
Control: 8-way joystick
Buttons: 2
→ [1] Attack, [2] Jump

TRIVIA
Released in May 1993.

There are 4 characters you can choose to play. They are named Ace, Speed, Spin (female) and Big O. Each character has its own speciality. For example, Ace is good at his flying kicks; Speed is the fastest of all; Spin's intercepting is marvellous since she has long arms, which allows her to slap her opponents easily; Big O is slow, but he has the most powerful punches.
Do not expect to defeat the enemies in a single session every time. The AI level of this game is quite impressive even though it was created back in 1993. The enemies will use different approaches and unpredictable movement to defeat the player.

TIPS AND TRICKS
Never underestimate the enemies; go step by step and do not rush. The enemies are programmed to surround the player on both sides, both front and back. If you get surrounded, find a way out by using flying kicks, then try to group the enemies in one whole bunch and then punch them into ashes.
Super power can be used against the boss or other enemies. To use it, for Ace, press Punch three times continuously, followed by a short pause (half second), then press Punch again. For Speed, press Punch four times then pause and press Punch again. Normally, you can figure how many punches have been made by listening to the punching sound that bursts from the machine.

To get the highest score, one must finish the objects in bonus stage fast. A single player will be given 20 seconds to finish the objects. More time left over means more points.

Spin will score more when destroying enemies. The total points in a single session can be up to 13 million.

Use the stinger or bazooka wisely. Do not waste the bullet if you can use your flying kicks to trash the enemies. Wait until the boss appears and then open fire.

The total time needed to finish the game in one session is around 45 minutes.

SERIES

• Zero Team (1993)
• Zero Team U.S.A. (1993)
• New Zero Team (1997)
• Zero Team 2000 (2000)

STAFF
PRODUCER: HITOSHI HAMADA
DIRECTOR: TADASHI SEGAWA
PROGRAMMER IN CHARGE: Tetsuya Kawaguchi (T.KAWAGUCHI)
MAIN PROGRAMMER: KAZUKI SEKIMORI
SUB PROGRAMMER: YORITAKA KASAI
ART DIRECTOR: TOSHINOBU KOMAZAWA
CHARACTER DESIGN: MASAO MATSUZAWA, MASARU IIJIMA
CG ARTISTS: TAKAHIDE WADA, HIRONORI MATSUO, SHOICHI YANO, MASAAKI KAMIJOE, KENJI HAYAKAWA
HARDWARE DESIGN: TADASHI SEGAWA
HARDWARE ASSISTANT: SYUICHI MORI, EIICHI YAMADA
MUSIC COMPOSER: REIICHI YAMANAKA
SOUND EFFECTS: GOH SATOU

THANKS: HIROAKI OHTAKE, JIN ISHIGAKI, KAZUTOSHI SHOJI, HIROSHI YOSHIDA

CONTRIBUTE
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