Section Z

Set in an unspecified year during the third millennium, the player takes the role of an astronaut sent to infiltrate and destroy a space station orbiting near the Earth that is actually the secret base of an alien empire known as the "Balangool"."

A console version of Section Z was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America and Europe in 1987. The gameplay was altered for the NES port, particularly in its level design and game controls.

The NES version features three stages, each comprising 20 sections (for a total of 60 sections), which are full-fledged levels in this version, although not all sections need to be visited to complete the game. In contrast to the alphabetical sections in the arcade version, the sections in the NES version are numbered instead. The first stage begins at Section 00, which is the outer perimeter of the space station and then proceeds to enter Section 01, the first actual corridor of the base. At the end of most sections, the player will choose to enter one of two transporters, each taking player to a different section of the base. Some transporters will take the player to a previous section while others cannot be opened until the player has fulfilled a certain condition and will kill the player if they try to enter. The objective of each stage is to destroy the two power generators located at different sections of each stage in order to open the path to the final section of each stage (Sections 19, 39, and 59 in that order) and face the boss.

Instead of using one button to fire and the other to turn around, the player now uses one button to fire at one direction and the other to fire at the opposite. The player starts with a standard-issue laser rifle and can upgrade their weapon into a Flash Buster (which fires medium-range bullets at three directions) or a Megasmasher (which fires wider v-shaped laser beams). Either weapon can be upgraded into the Mega Buster, which provides both, wider-long range shots at three directions. The player can also obtain a Barrier Shield that will protect the player character for 32 shots.

The player also has a numeral indicator which represents their remaining energy, which will gradually be depleted when the player takes damage from enemy bullets or when the player loses a life by touching an enemy. However the player can still continue at the beginning of their current section, even if they lose all of their lives, as long as they still have energy left. When all energy is lost, the player is sent the start of the stage with full energy to start all over. The maximum energy can be increased by destroying the power generators in each stage. The player can also summon as a special transmission shell by pressing both button simultaneously. These includes a Mega Missile, a Flash Ball, and a Crush Ball. Picking these shells and using them will cost the player four energy points.

The Famicom version in Japan was released in Disk Card format for the Family Computer Disk System add-on. In contrast to its NES counterpart, which the make player complete the game in one sitting, the Disk System allowed player to save their progress in one of three save files. After a game over, the player can quit the game and resume where they left off by loading the save file. The English localization of the game's manual identifies the main character as "Captain Commando", a fictional spokesman for Capcom USA who later starred in his own video game.
Source: Wikipedia, Section Z , available under the CC-BY-SA License.