Zaxxon was arguably Sega‘s flagship game during the early 1980s so it was ported to most home computers and consoles. The Japan-only SG-1000 version first came out in 1985 and is a reasonable conversion of the classic isometric shooter.

Graphically, this port is pretty good, but the gameplay is a little subdued, compared to the arcade original. There are fewer enemies, missiles and hazards, which makes the game much easier than the arcade game. At least until you reach Zaxxon himself – the final boss – who seems almost impossible to defeat.

I’m guessing that – after beating Zaxxon – the number of hazards increases, but I couldn’t get that far to find out for myself.

The SG-1000 version of Zaxxon is an interesting historical curiosity, but if you’re going to play just one version of the game it’s got to be the original arcade version.

More: Zaxxon on Wikipedia