If you've spent any time in Game Boy® collecting circles, you've heard of ZAS. You've probably never played it.
Chikyū Kaihō Gun ZAS, which roughly translates as "Earth Liberation Army ZAS," launched in Japan in December 1992 and never left. No North American release. No European release. Just a small run of cartridges that have become one of the most sought-after titles in the entire Game Boy library. Collecting games is cool, but playing them is better. You should play ZAS on your Chromatic.
This is a legendary game
T&E Soft built a vertical shooter that pushed the original Game Boy hardware further than it had any right to go. The backgrounds have depth – planets drifting past, shooting stars crossing your flight path. The foregrounds pop with enough clarity that you always know where you can fly and what's about to kill you. For a system with a tiny monochrome screen, the visual fidelity was and is incredible.
The thing that makes ZAS gameplay sticky is the satellite mechanic. Your ship can expand outward, splitting its fire to cover more area at the cost of concentrated damage. Contract it back for focused, punishing shots. The game teaches you along the way. Through mid-bosses that deflect bullets with their hands, or enemies hiding at angles you can't reach directly, you learn exactly when to expand and when to tighten up. It's a simple toggle that creates genuine tactical decisions.
Also, the soundtrack alone justifies the cartridge. Light and adventurous in the opening level, darker and faster as the difficulty ramps. This is the kind of game that helped make chiptune an actual musical genre.
Making history again
ZAS found its audience slowly, through importers and emulation communities and word of mouth across decades. By the time collectors realized what they were looking for, the supply had long since dried up. Until now.
The game has infinite replayability, and this re-release will help ensure a new generation of players can compete with each other – on the proper hardware. Good luck Earth Liberator.
