Dropzone

Dropzone
Developer(s)Arena Graphics
Publisher(s)U.S. Gold
Mindscape
Acclaim Entertainment (GBC)
Designer(s)Archer Maclean[1]
Platform(s)Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Gear, NES
Release1984
Genre(s)Scrolling shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Dropzone is a horizontally scrolling shooter developed by Archer Maclean (under the name Arena Graphics) for Atari 8-bit computers and published in 1984 by U.S. Gold. It was ported to the Commodore 64, and later released for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Game Gear, and Game Boy Color. Ports for Master System and Sega Genesis were also announced, but never released.[2][3]

Maclean's first commercial game, Dropzone is similar in gameplay and style to the arcade game Defender and borrows many elements,[4][1] including the same style of font, aliens, and title screen.[5][6]

  1. ^ a b "Archer MacLean interview". Halcyon Days.
  2. ^ "The Games Diary". Sega Power. No. 56. Future Publishing. July 1994. p. 12.
  3. ^ "Coming Soon: Master System". Sega Magazine. No. 8. EMAP. August 1994. p. 21.
  4. ^ "The making of... Dropzone", Edge, December 2006, archived from the original on 2007-02-21
  5. ^ Dropzone at MobyGames
  6. ^ Defender at the Killer List of Videogames