Dropzone

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1984 video game

title: "Dropzone" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1984-video-games", "acclaim-entertainment-games", "action-games", "action-adventure-games", "atari-8-bit-computer-games", "cancelled-master-system-games", "cancelled-sega-genesis-games", "commodore-64-games", "fiction-set-on-io-(moon)", "game-boy-color-games", "game-boy-games", "game-gear-games", "horizontally-scrolling-shooters", "mindscape-games", "nintendo-entertainment-system-games", "single-player-video-games", "u.s.-gold-games", "video-game-clones", "video-games-developed-in-the-united-kingdom"] description: "1984 video game" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dropzone" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1984 video game ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox video game"]

Field	Value
title	Dropzone
image	Dropzone_Original_Cover_Art.jpg
developer	Arena Graphics
publisher	U.S. Gold
Mindscape
Acclaim Entertainment (GBC)
designer	Archer Maclean
released	1984
genre	Scrolling shooter
modes	Single-player
platforms	Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Gear, NES
::

::callout[type=note] the video game ::

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.

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

Plot

On the surface of Jupiter's moon, Io, a human scientific research base is under attack by aliens. The player dons a jetpack armed with a laser, a cloaking device and three smart bombs, to rescue the scientists and return them to the base.

Gameplay

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Dropzone_Atari_8-bit_PAL_screenshot.png" caption="Gameplay screenshot (Atari 8-bit)"] ::

The gameplay is in the style of Williams Electronics' Defender, with some influences from Scramble and Robotron: 2084. Players control the hero trying to rescue the scientists on a horizontally-scrolling game field. Players must elude or engage various aliens—some slow, others faster—and return the scientists to the base's eponymous dropzone. The aliens capture scientists walking along the ground. The player must shoot the enemy aliens and catch the falling scientists. Sometimes the aliens will carry lethal androids instead, which must be avoided.

There are 99 levels of gameplay, each increasingly difficult. After level 99, the levels repeat starting with level 95.

Development

Maclean purchased an Atari 800 as soon as they were officially launched in the UK in 1981 and started writing what would eventually evolve into Dropzone. Maclean converted the game to the Commodore 64 himself:

The name Dropzone was not settled on until shortly before the game went gold.

Maclean entered into a publishing deal with U.S. Gold for the European distribution of the game. After 18 months, however, they stopped paying him royalties claiming that the game was no longer selling. In addition, Maclean saw it for sale in areas outside of Europe and even in the United States. Four years of legal wrangling with the publisher followed, until they finally settled out of court for copyright infringement. With the proceeds from the settlement, Maclean bought his first Ferrari.

Reception

The Atari 8-bit version received overwhelmingly good reviews. A reviewer for Computer and Video Games in a May 1985 review said that Dropzone was one of the best Atari games and Atari owners could not afford to miss this game. Personal Computer World reviewer agreed with this notion, who also praised the game's graphics and sound.

The Commodore 64 version of the game was awarded a gold medal in issue 3 of Zzap!64 magazine, with an overall rating of 95%.

Legacy

The sequel, Super Dropzone, adds new weapon types and end-level bosses. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (titled Super Dropzone on all packaging, but only Dropzone on the title screen), Game Boy Advance, and PlayStation. Only the Game Boy Advance version saw a North American release; the others were European exclusives.

A fully playable port of the C64 version can be found in Windows, PlayStation, and Dreamcast versions of Jimmy White's 2: Cueball, also by Archer Maclean.

References

(July 1994). "The Games Diary". [[Future Publishing]].
(August 1994). "Coming Soon: Master System". [[EMAP]].
(December 2006). "The making of... ''Dropzone''".
Hague, James. (March 1997). "Halcyon Days: Interviews with Classic Computer and Video Game Programmers". Dadgum Games.
{{moby game
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(September 1985). "Zzap!64 Tips Dropzone: An Explanation and Survival Tactics". [[Zzap!64]].
(July 1985). "Dropzone Review". [[Zzap!64]].
(May 1985). "Software Reviews". Computer and Video Games.
(July 1985). "I got the blues...". Personal Computer World.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::