Red Zone is a chopper simulation action game made by Zyrix. The studio is out of business now, but would be known for having one of gamings best talents. The music composer Jesper Kyd who got his start making soundtracks for Zyrix games. The game is about a Russian Dictator coming to power and threatening to launch nuclear missiles at his enemies if the demands aren't met. Of course, you don't give into terrorist, so the United Nations decides to send a special elite chopper team to stop him before it's too late.
GAMEPLAY
Anyone who played the Strike games by EA on the genesis will be in familiar territory with this game. You play from a top down view of your helicopter and the field. You fly from objective to objective completing each mission while still keeping you copter in one piece. The simulation really comes into the gameplay of this game. If your copter is hit a certain way, it effects the way you can control it. For example, if it gets hit on the left tail you won't be able to turn a certain way real well. Another example is if the Copter is hit from the front, then your radar goes out and you can't see the highlighted marking of the map that guild you to the next objective. Stuff like this is a good idea on paper, but makes the game very difficult as you only have one life. Once your copter goes down, it's game over. The game forces you to use strategy while playing by attacking from flank positions and not go ballsy into the red zones. In the later levels, however, it doesn't matter. You will still die quite often.
The game also features ground missions, where you can pick three of the team members to attack an enemy base. You have the balanced solider. The big, slow, heavy weapons guy. And the fast and agile female solider, who take more damage then the other two. The ground mission are also top down in view, and are pretty clunky overall. Still it's not too bad.
GRAPHICS
Zyrix takes the Genesis to the limit by attempting to create a top down 3D game. The game uses graphic effects that almost mimic SNES's Mode 7 Graphics. The helicopter moves in a 3D like rotational map and it mostly looks pretty good. The Chopper as well as the enemy tanks and soldiers are still in 2D however. The game even has a full motion video opening of the Dictator calling for war. The whole thing is done in red and black, but still for a Genesis game, pretty impressive. The ground mission graphics mirror that of games like Soldier of Fortune on the Genesis. Big detailed sprites with fluid movement by the three team members. Overall, the graphics are pretty well done for a genesis game.
MUSIC & SOUND
The sound effects use generic shots and explosives, but the music is pretty damn good. As you may know, the Genesis wasn't known for it's great music, but when a talented composer made music for the system, it really stood out. Jesper Kyd at an early stage in his career was already showing how talented he could be. Not only is the music really well composed and fitting to the gameplay, the music tracks are also pretty lengthy like a movie score.
OVERALL
Red Zone could've been a great chopper game, but because of the steep difficulty of the levels, many people who played it, soon gave up on it. That's why I give Red Zone a 3.5/5. In the end, the best Helicopter experience for the genesis is still in the Strike games.