The problem with mode 7 graphics is that many of the early releases which took advantage of this technique is that most felt more like tech demos than actual retail releases. The first Pilotwings is the best popular example I have. There was little substance but it was very, very pretty. I thought that was as shallow as it gets, but then I stumbled upon HyperZone. It was an early release by HAL (hitting shelves just a month after the SNES launch) and as I’ve discovered there just isn’t a whole lot to it. HyperZone is very shallow by shooter standards which is unfortunate because the console was lacking in this type of game early on.
It certainly doesn’t help make this one feel any less cheap when it doesn’t even have an in-game story. I’m not a stickler for riveting plots in my shooters, but the absence of any effort in this regard makes HyperZone feel cheap. Either way, let’s dive in head first. HyperZone is a shooter with the big gimmick being that it emulates 3D space. You view the action from behind your ship, and the mode 7 scrolls the environment to make it look like you’re flying forward. What’s interesting is that not only the just the ground, but also the top of the screen scrolls too. It’s a little weird, but as I said, HyperZone for all intents and purposes was meant to be a tech demo.
At least HAL got the basic mechanics right. You can move your ship in all directions and the scaling is pretty darn good. You have a basic shot as well as a charge blast indicated by a meter on the upper right hand section of the screen. It can be tough to tell if you’re actually damaging enemies because the reactions (usually just a quick color change). I frequently had trouble telling if I was hitting them or not. This made some of the boss encounters (particularly the second one) last much longer than it otherwise should have. The game has a tendency to throw a bunch of enemies at you at once which can make it chaotic. You’re best weaving around them rather than trying to simply shoot your way through.
HyperZone does have a few tricks up its sleeve to make it unique. First of all the actual play field confines you to sections of the screen. This is indicated by barriers on the bottom and top of the screen. You can fly into the out play area but your ship takes constant damage until you get back into the safe zone. The developers put this mechanic to use in a few interesting ways. In some stages you’ll have the play zone split down the middle which offers multiple paths. Other places have skinnier play zones which restricts your movement quite a bit. Along with a variety of different environmental hazards this works to differentiate each stage from each other.
Unfortunately HyperZone has a lack of power-ups. There’s nothing to upgrade your shot aside from charging it. Different types of projectiles could have gone a long way to making HyperZone more fun to play. As it stands there just isn’t enough gameplay diversity. To make matters worse the enemies are very weird and simple in design. In the first few stages you’re going to be fighting back against colored squares and other shapes. Later on you have more elaborate designs, but the sheer simplicity here is a little bizarre to be honest. It just goes to show how little effort HAL put into HyperZone aside from the technical aspects.
On the plus side you do have a variety of different ships you can use. When you reach specific point thresholds you switch ships at the start of the next stage. I haven’t been able to tell if there are any major differences beyond cosmetics; they all shoot pretty much the same shot and it seems like enemies require the same number of hits regardless of what craft you’re flying. The differences appear to be mostly cosmetic. Aside from a differently colored shot you also have a new interface at the top of the screen. It’s a small, but cool touch that made the ships feel at least a bit different.
HyperZone also suffers from a very low difficulty. I was able to run through the game with very little trouble. Every stage is very forgiving, and there are lots of places to heal your ship should you take damage. The boss encounters offer a little more challenge but these too are mostly push-overs. Their projectiles are easy to dodge, and their hitboxes are generally large. You really won’t struggle in HyperZone. HAL isn’t exactly known for their shooters, and I think their inexperience with the genre is a big reason why this one is so ridiculously easy. That doesn’t mean it isn’t mildly enjoyable though.
On the plus side HyperZone is a beautiful game. It makes heavy use of the SNES’ advanced color palette, and as I mentioned earlier, mode 7 is used aplenty. Because of it the scrolling is remarkably smooth even if it does just simulate 3D graphics. It’s a good looking game but I do wish the enemy designs weren’t so bland. They put in such little effort into this aspect of HyperZone that it’s pretty obvious it was rushed to launch. The soundtrack is pretty decent. Overall I really did like the soundtrack.
HyperZone is clearly more of a tech demo, and should never have been released to retail in its official state. There just isn’t enough ‘game’ here in my opinion. Reaching the end of this one takes very little skill, and it’s also ridiculously short with no real additional modes of play. For a full price release (even back then) that’s pretty sad. It does have some of that early Super Nintendo magic, but overall you’re not missing out on too much should you choose to skip HyperZone.
