Fortified Zone

He has the offense.
She has the defense.
Together they have a chance, in the … FORTIFIED ZONE

– He has the guts. She has the guile.
– But in battle, you’re on your own.
– Blast through the front lines.
– Blow their artillery away.
– It takes teamwork to win in the Fortified Zone.

Fortified Zone was ahead of its time in allowing the player to switch between characters during game play. Each character has their own strengths and weaknesses: Masato (the male mercenary) uses all the special weapons, but cannot jump. Mizuki (the female mercenary) can jump, but cannot use the special weapons. A top-down shoot-’em-up, the game had four multi-room levels, titled ‘Field’, ‘Jungle’, ‘Caves’ and ‘Complex’. At the end of each level the player faces a ‘boss’ character: a cannon installation, a supertank, a dragon, a bulldozer and a large assault vehicle as the final boss. Items that can be picked up in gameplay include medical packs, flamethrowers, hand grenades, rocket launchers, 3-way machine guns and chain guns.