Alongside Donkey Kong, Sega‘s Zaxxon was another ColecoVision arcade conversion that wowed gamers back in 1982 when they first saw it. And it was so close to the original that it drove sales of the console itself, because gamers wanted the arcade experience in their own homes.

Zaxxon was a much-cloned game on home computers and many software companies tried to recreate the game’s stunning isometric scrolling visuals – most failing miserably.

The ColecoVision conversion was developed by Sega themselves, which is why it is so authentic. It doesn’t quite have the graphical fidelity of the arcade original, but it’s pretty close. Until you reach Zaxxon himself (the end boss), who looks more like a grain silo than the menacing robot from the arcade game… Which is a pity.

ColecoVision Zaxxon plays well enough, though. It features most of the elements from the arcade game, just with slightly fewer colours and less detail (the electric fences seem to be missing, for example). Still: gamers back in 1982 were gobsmacked by this conversion. Zaxxon sold well too, with the game being the best-selling non-bundled cartridge for the ColecoVision up until the end of 1983.

More: Zaxxon on Wikipedia