Zillion II: The Tri Formation

Zillion II: The Tri Formation continues the successful action-adventure hit Zillion, bringing the player back to the planet Norsa, where JJ's team and his fellow fighters once again face hostile forces with a laser weapon able to change its form depending on the situation, from rapid fire to a wider shot hitting several enemies at once. Compared to the first game, this one is more linear and less dependent on wandering a sprawling maze of connected bases, which speeds up the pace of play and makes it easier for newcomers to find their bearings, but it also takes away some of the exploratory charm and sense of freedom for which the original Zillion was known. The characters can once again exchange energy and ammo with each other, which remains a key element of survival in tougher sections, so the player still has to keep track of which character they're currently controlling and how well-stocked that character is.

The graphical presentation follows on from the first game and uses the Master System's color palette to render futuristic corridors, laboratories, and technological facilities full of blinking screens and machinery, while the action sections alternate between firefights with enemy soldiers and platforming jumps over obstacles and chasms. The music rounds out the sci-fi atmosphere matching the original anime source material on which the first game in the series was also based, keeping a consistent tone across both games.

Zillion II never received the same acclaim as its predecessor, and today it tends to be seen more as a more straightforward and shorter coda to the original than as a groundbreaking title of its genre in its own right. For fans of the series and collectors of exclusive Master System titles it still represents an interesting expansion of the story and game world, and a solid, if less ambitious and less open, action-adventure that can be finished in less time than its predecessor without losing its characteristic sci-fi atmosphere.

Why play: For fans of Zillion and collectors of exclusive Master System titles who'll appreciate a shorter but no less atmospheric sci-fi coda to the first game.