Welcome to the Outzone Worship page!





  • Introduction

  • Gameplay

  • Hidden features

  • Bonuses

  • Ennemies

  • Level Maps

  • FAQ

  • Links






  • Back to :
  • Worship pages index
  • My arcade pages
  • My home page



  • Latest update :

    Tuesday, August 31st 2004 : new design, a few new pages, and Level 5 map added
     


    FAQ



  • What is this website for exactly?

  • Just what is Outzone anyway?

  • Has Outzone ever been ported to any home system?

  • Is there a sequel to Outzone?

  • So how can I play Outzone at home?

  • OK but i want to play it on my PC, is this possible?

    Please contact me if you have any other question you'd like me to add to the list.


    Answers :


    What is this website for exactly?
      The OutZone worship page is an unofficial page dedicated to the Outzone arcade video game. I've built this page with the idea of sharing my interest for this game, sharing my knowledges, helping people find information about it, and just hearing about other Outzone enthusiasts.


    Just what is Outzone anyway?
      Outzone is a video game that was released in the arcades in 1990 by Toaplan. This game is a "shoot them up" and more specifically what i call a "character shoot them up". Instead of controlling a spaceship in a constantly scrolling environment, the player will control a character that can shoot in all directions, and only the players moves will make the screen move.
      Although Outzone was not such a huge hit as R-Type and other world-known shoot-them-ups, it gained lots of recognition among the people who played it; and it is still a reference for many.
      What made this game so different was it's brilliant, sharp and detailled graphics and it's finely tuned and challenging gameplay.
      To be honnest to the arcade games history, Outzone did not bring any real breakthrough nor innovation to the shoot-them-up world : the basic gameplay had already been seen in earlier world known games like Capcom's Commado or SNK's Ikari Warriors and others; the weapons, bonuses were basically nothing new; but the balance of everything in this very game by such talented people as the Toaplan crew was just what some people expected at the time. There were also some excellent ideas added that were, if not revolutionnary, very well implemented in the game; like platform parts, several very rich environnment enhancements, hidden features and more little things that made a great game.


    Has Outzone ever been ported to any home system?
      Strangely enough, no.

      Both before and prior Outzone, Toaplan did produce several games that were largely ported on home systems, like Slap Fight, Flying Shark, Hellfire, Tatsujin, Batsugun, V-V and others...
      Although Outzone met it's share of fans at the time, no port was however developped, even for Japan-only platforms.

      There's semi-good news, though! In 2004, a company developped a version of Outzone for mobile phones. The good part is that this is the first known port of Outzone. The bad part is that it will only be available to a few mobile phone users in the world...


    Is there a sequel to Outzone?
      There is no official sequel to this game.
      After Outzone, Toaplan however developped another "character shoot them up" name Fixeight. Although Fixeight also had a sci-fi background and a gameplay similar to Outzone, it is not considered a sequel for many reasons : first, there's no indication or reference to Outzone in Fixeight, the graphic style is very different from Outzone's, the game's background's story indicates nothing similar to Outzone's background story and the gameplay (bonuses, game's structure...) appears to be quite different from a potential Outzone evolution.
      Toaplan did produce official sequels to some of their games (i'm thinking Tatsujin mostly), and they made it obvious that they were sequels.


    So how can I play Outzone at home?
      Outzone was initially developped on professional arcade hardware. This kind of machines are basically composed of a dedicated computer motherboard equiped with a build-in memory that contains all of the game's data. Such a system is called a "PCB" or a "board" for "Printed Circuit Board". A PCB will run either on an arcade cabinet, or on some dedicated system that will provide everything it takes to run the PCB on a TV with regular joysticks.
      To play Outzone at home, the most important part is thus to find an Outzone PCB. Ebay is a good start, or you may also search the numerous online arcade resellers (i provide a few links in my arcade section). Arcade cabinets or adapters are easier to find, and can be found at the same places.


    OK but i want to play it on my PC, is this possible?
      This is indeed possible! The solution is emulation. Basically, this means that you'll have to get, in any order, both the game's memory (that's called the game's ROM), and an "emulator", a PC software that is designed to act as the PCB the game used to run on.
      The Toaplan company went bankrupt in the late 90's; but i think that finding the game's ROM will still be considered piracy, as the game's data still contains copyrighted material.
      Just like finding an arcade cabinet or an arcade adapter, finding an arcade emulator is the easiest part. You can get one of the most interesting ones here here. Finding the game's ROM is the most difficult part, but you might be lucky if you check my Outzone links part (hint!).
      Please notice that, if you run Outzone under emulation, you will not run a PC port or an adapted version of Outzone, but you will actually be playing the *real* game that ran in the arcades in 1990!