Satan of Saturn

Satan of Saturn is one of the lesser-known but historically interesting titles from SNK's early years. The game was released in 1981 as one of this Japanese manufacturer's first arcade machines, and it followed the then most popular genre — the fixed-position vertical shooter in the style of Phoenix and Galaxian. It reached the West under a Taito license under the name Zarzon, which just goes to show how quickly arcade distributors of the time repackaged successful Japanese titles for the American market, adapting even the cabinet artwork to match.

The player controls a ground cannon facing waves of alien ships arriving from the depths of space around the planet Saturn. Enemy formations grow faster and more complex with each successive wave, typical of an era when developers were still searching for a recipe for balanced difficulty scaling and relied mainly on increasing volumes of fire. An imposing mothership presides over the whole assault; destroying it requires precise hits on exposed weak points — a mechanic that more elaborate boss fights of the 1980s would make famous a few years later. The controls remain spare, with a single fire button, which at the time was a standard, not a shortcoming.

Today, Satan of Saturn is more of a curiosity for collectors and fans of early arcade history than a title crowds of players return to. Still, it holds a firm place in its field as evidence of where SNK — later famous for series like Metal Slug and King of Fighters — actually got its start on the arcade scene. For genre fans, it's a pleasant archaeological glimpse into a time when the rules of space shooters were still being written.

Why play it: It's a glimpse into the early history of SNK and the fixed-position space shooter genre, which a few years later grew into elaborate boss fights.