Editing Zero Wing (section)

{{short description|1989 arcade video game}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox video game
| title = Zero Wing
| image = Zero Wing arcade flyer.jpg
| developer = [[Toaplan]]
| publisher = {{vgrelease|JP|[[Namco]]|NA|[[WMS Industries|Williams Electronics]]}}
| producer = Toshiaki Ōta
| designer = Sanae Nitō <br /> Yuko Tataka
| programmer = Hiroaki Furukawa <br /> Tatsuya Uemura
| artist = Miho Hayashi <br /> Naoki Ogiwara <br /> Shintarō Nakaoka
| composer = Masahiro Yuge <br /> Tatsuya Uemura <br /> Toshiaki Tomizawa
| engine = ''[[Hellfire (video game)|Hellfire]]''
| platforms = [[Arcade video game|Arcade]], [[Mega Drive]], [[PC Engine CD-ROM²]]
| released = '''Arcade''' {{vgrelease|JP|October 1989<ref name="USCO">{{cite book | title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編 (1971–2005) | trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971–2005) | last1=Akagi | first1=Masumi | publisher=Amusement News Agency | year=2006 | url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n53/mode/2up | lang=ja | location=Japan | isbn=978-4990251215 | page=52}}</ref>|NA|April 1990<ref name="ATVGL:JaO1971-2005"/><ref name="RePlay"/>}} '''Mega Drive''' {{vgrelease|JP|31 May 1991|EU|July 1991|NA|2020}} '''PC Engine CD-ROM²''' {{vgrelease|JP|18 September 1992}}
| genre = [[Scrolling shooter]]
| modes = [[Single-player video game|Single-player]], [[Cooperative video game|co-op]]
}}

{{nihongo foot|'''''Zero Wing'''''|ゼロウィング|''Zero Wingu''|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} is a horizontally [[scrolling shooter]] developed by [[Toaplan]] and published in Japan by [[Namco]] in 1989 as an [[arcade video game]]. It was released in North America by [[WMS Industries|Williams Electronics]].<ref name="ATVGL:JaO1971-2005"/> Controlling the ZIG space fighter craft, players assume the role of protagonist Trent in a last-ditch effort to overthrow the alien space pirate organization CATS (Abigor in the PC-Engine version). It was the eighth shoot 'em up game from Toaplan, and their fourteenth video game overall.

Headed by development chief Toshiaki Ōta, ''Zero Wing'' was created by most of the same team that previously worked on several projects at Toaplan, initially starting as a project not intended for commercial release but to train new recruits before being ultimately released to the market. Although first launched in arcades, the game was later [[Porting#Porting in gaming|ported]] to other [[Video game#Platforms|platforms]], each one featuring several changes or additions compared with the original version.

''Zero Wing'' enjoyed a degree of success in arcades and its home [[Video game conversion|conversion]]s were met with mostly positive reception from critics. The European [[Mega Drive]] version later gained renewed popularity due to the "[[All your base are belong to us]]" [[internet meme]], which plays off the [[Engrish|badly translated]] introductory [[cutscene]]. The rights to the title are owned by Tatsujin, a Japanese company formed by Masahiro Yuge. The Mega Drive version was later released in North America by independent publisher Retro-Bit in 2020.