HIGHWAY TO THE SECTOR ZONE
Before the Cresta series, Nichibutsu was constantly experimenting in shooting and overall game genres.
Seicross, known in Japan as Sector Zone is a curious example of it.
You and your friends are on the ride of their lives.
The gameplay of Seicross/Sector Zone is simple: Drive your Gilgit bike until you reach the goal while avoiding the obstacles which cannot be destroyed. But it is more than just a joyride. While you're able to shoot and destroy specific obstacles, the major threat will be the enemy bikes that comes (most of the times) from behind trying to slam you into the wall or in an obstacle right in-front of you. But in the bright side, you CAN slam your opponents into the wall as well, but you have to pay attention to where and when you want to slam them, because you might slam an enemy biker on a diagonal obstacle, you it might not give you enough time to escape from it. Also, if an enemy is still on its explosion animation and you touch it, you'll die as if you crashed with him, requiring time until the explosion is gone and them pass over it. Another enemy is time. Your time is measured by the energy bar of your Gilgit and you have to replenish it frequently by picking Refueling items. If your energy runs out, you'll no longer be able to control the Gilgit and it will go horizontally until it crashes, effectively costing you a life. A minor enemy will be the stage hazards like the muddy areas which will cause you to slip either up or down, making you prone to crash with something (or missing a refueling item if you're out of gas).
Four thankful Petrimen made their way to their jobs thanks to your help.
After completing a level, you'll be getting a bonus based on how many Petrimen you've picked across the stage. Each Petriman worth 500 points and getting all the 8 Petrimen across the level will duplicate the 4,000 point bonus for a total of 8,000 but this is only for those who can master the controls of this game. Right after that the game repeats with a different obstacle layout. There's no boss battles in this game, so the major obstacles will be the enemy bikes and being pressed by the energy bar. Speaking of the energy bar, it won't be replenished on the next stage, so you have to find an Energy refill as soon as you start the next stage.
While Nichibutsu was a moderate moneymaker in the arcade scene, Seicross didn't had a lot of ports on computers or consoles, being the Nintendo Entertainment System the only console to have a port. While the three dimensionality of the background was simplified, it added new elements like a new soundtrack, power ups for your firepower, more Petrimen to rescue and even large enemies like the "Dinosaur Tanks", making this an improvement. After that port, the game was completely forgotten by time and Hamster until 2021 when Hamster ported this to Arcade Archives.
This is gonna be a hell of an obstacle zone.
The major innovation of the game's graphics is the 3D perspective as the scenery moves giving a simple, but well made sense of depth, which was an experimental feature for Non-Vector traced games. While lacking of a background, it is the grid effect what makes the illusion. Combined with the themes of futurism which were so common in the 80's, it worked very well. While the vehicles don't make an animation when they move, your driver moves his head to the left or right as you move the Gilgit up or down. The music on the other side is quite relaxed, breaking with the routine of relying on fast tunes that do the job of bringing speed to the game and aside from the game start, level clear and Name Entry/Game Over themes, the game only has two tunes that alternate per level.
FACTCROSS - SECTOR CURIOSITY
- First PlayStation port of the game.
- First Arcade-perfect release overall.
- Second port of the game on a Nintendo console.
No big deal, just a "bump, crash and shoot" ride.
Seicross/Sector Zone is a curious experiment on the concept of perspectives that focus on dodging obstacles more than shooting enemies, which was an unusual move for a shmup game. A curiosity for those who want something new-yet-classic in terms of vintage arcade, but if shoot-out action is what you're looking for, you've better try something else.
This result on the "Eda Scale" means
"Only recommended for those who are looking a different kind of shmup".