Zaxxon’s Motherbase 2000 was an attempt by Sega to update one of its most famous IPs onto the Sega 32X (a hardware add-on for the Megadrive/Genesis). In the process I think Sega forgot one of the main reasons Zaxxon was rated so highly…

This new update uses (very low poly count) polygons to make the ships and bosses, and as a result the game looks a bit indistinct. I think this was a mistake on Sega‘s part because the superb 2D graphics of the original arcade version were what made it so good.

What Sega should have done is: kept the 2D visuals and just enhance them with the occasional polygonal entity. Here, though, they’ve gone for wholesale change, and replaced pretty much everything but the floor with polygons.

As a result, I find Zaxxon’s Motherbase 2000 to be a fairly uninspiring shooter. It does have its moments, like the towers falling when destroyed, but overall it lacks the magic of the original. And there are other games like this, that I think are better. Like Viewpoint.

This game does have its fans, though, and I’ve clashed with a few of them online. 🙂

Zaxxon’s Motherbase 2000 was first released in 1995. In Japan it is know as “Parasquad“.

More: Zaxxon’s Motherbase 2000 on Wikipedia