Final Zone II
System: Turbo CD
Release Date: November 1990
Developer: Telenet Japan
Publisher: NEC
Genre: Shoot ‘em Up
Take a team of commandos and light up the bad guys in Final Zone II! You have a team of TOP fighting units led by Captain Haward Bowie. After having your space station destroyed while on board, equipped with some New Age Power Suits, you want to get some revenge on Dr. Alif Ruman. You’ve got seven stages to get the team back together and put an end to Ruman’s evil plans. The Turbo CD never disappoints when it comes to silly anime cut scenes and you’re in for a treat here if you enjoy them.
The first few missions put you in control of specific fighters in a run and gun environment where you move to the top of the screen. Enemies constantly appear and you blast them straight to hell with your primary weapon using Button II. You can aim in 8 directions, but you can’t move while shooting. Different characters have different ranges with their attack. Momoco’s sniper rifle has the longest range, while Velder’s light saber has the shortest. Bowie’s Vulcan Cannon shoots at an amazing rate.
Each character also has a secondary weapon activated with Button I. These are stronger attacks with a limited amount of ammo. Bowie’s bazooka does a great deal of damage. Hanna differs from Bowie because her secondary is a laser beam, which Velder also has. Momoco has a grenade. Hansen’s got a nice spread shot for his primary weapon, and a heat seeking missile as a secondary.
As you get hit, your health bar will turn from green to red. Killing certain enemies will drop power ups. B to give an extra secondary shot, H to replenish some health. More rarely, you can get a P to increase your maximum health or S to fill your health bar to its current maximum. Go with the P if you see it, never waste your time with the S. If you do happen to die, you’re brought back to the beginning of the level and must redo some work.
The later stages give you the choice of who you want to take into battle. I think you can win with anyone, so it’s up to your personal preference. Just blast everyone that comes on screen and you shouldn’t have any problems. Bosses have set patterns and are relatively easy to exploit if you have your positioning just right. Only the final boss gave me trouble with its multiple forms. I tried with three different characters, finally offing him with Bowie. The final cut scene was enjoyable, despite its flaws.
Graphics: 3.0
Level graphics are pretty standard, but the cut scenes are well done despite the mostly still frames.
Sound: 3.5
The music is out of sight, but the voice overs leave much to be desired.
Gameplay: 3.5
Movement and shooting are pretty tight. There are enough differences to make playing as different characters an enjoyable experience.
Difficulty: 3.0
The difficulty curve is appropriate, though the game skews easy overall.
Fun Factor: 3.5
This is a pretty fun, simple run ‘n gun shoot ‘em up that I enjoyed immensely.
Overall Rating: 3.3
Final Zone II earns a B+. This is a solid game that I can recommend, as it doesn’t veer into the “too long” territory.