Final Zone II (TurboGrafx CD) Playthrough - NintendoComplete

A playthrough of NEC's 1990 run-and-gun shooter for the TurboGrafx CD, Final Zone II.

Final Zone II was an early release for the Turbo's CD hardware add-on, and in 1990 few developers went to the lengths that Telenet/Renovation did to deliver the razzle-dazzle in their games. Gamers reasonably expected that new CD games would somehow justify the obscene cost of the hardware - a TG16 system and its CD add-on would've set you back about $600 in 1990. So how did Telenet set out to take advantage of this new format? If you're not familiar with the legendary Final Zone II, brace yourself. That introduction sequence is pretty indicative of what to expect throughout.

You take control of a squad of military commandos, led by "Haward" Bowie, who is about to launch an attack on an island from a spacestation. However, as they are preparing for the mission, the station is wracked by explosions that tear up the hull, and most of the crew are sucked out into space and killed. Bowie and friends manage to survive thanks to their mechsuits, and are promptly tossed into one of the more ludicrous plots to grace a game from the 16-bit era.

The presentation is clearly meant to be the main draw, and the spectacle it creates winds up making Final Zone II a far more memorable experience than it would've otherwise been. The cinema scenes all look pretty nice for a CD-ROM2 game, and the English dubbing is nothing short of magical. The script is super-stilted and awkward, and the actors' performances are something that must be heard to be believed.

I'm not exaggerating here when I say that Resident Evil is far ahead of this in terms of voice acting. And as if that wasn't already enough, the game features two songs with full vocals. I remember my mouth hanging agape the first time I heard the title screen music. The line about bazookas had me laughing so hard that my stomach actually hurt. I was convinced that this was somehow a joke.It's awful, and amazing. Or how about this intro from Momoco's theme, played in stage four?

Everything like a dream
You always make me scream
Just like a shooting star run through my heart

I don't even know where to begin dissecting that fetid gem, but can anyone say that it, too, is not also simultaneously awful and amazing?

The game play is fairly good - it feels a lot like Ikari Warriors, Heavy Barrel, Caliber .50, and the like. It's a typical top-down, arcade-style shooter that, while neither terribly difficult nor long-lasting, is a good deal of fun. The lack of a strafe button can be a bit awkward at first, but everything is mechanically sound and works like it should.

But let's be honest: it seems highly unlikely that most people that would be interested in Final Zone II for its gameplay. The feature attraction is the multitude of cutscenes that play over the course of the game, but without too much effort you'll probably find yourself having fun as you play, even if it's only for the sake of seeing the next story segment.

And am I the only one that thinks of Mega Man when I look at that box art?
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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