Page for the tropes of the Variable Speedometer inside the Zero Wing.
- Adaptation Displacement: Since the Sega Genesis version is the one with the infamous intro cutscene, relatively few people actually know of the arcade original, which doesn't have it, and even fewer know about the Japan-only PC-Engine port that actually has a whole glorified storyline with voice acting and anime cutscenes, even if it's mostly an Excuse Plot.
- Awesome Music: Yes, we all know Zero Wing for a few reasons, but the soundtrack may be some of the best 16-bit music the Genesis ever pumped out, even on par with the blue blur himself. Just listen to the introduction,
Open Your Eyes, Hit Man, and the second end theme. Then there's the Megadriver cover... The Arcade and PC Engine CD/TurboGrafx-CD versions of the songs are quite epic as well. - Common Knowledge:
- Because most people who have heard of the "All your base" memetic intro have never actually played the game, most don't realize that it was made specifically for the Mega Drive version; the PC Engine CD-ROM2 version features entirely different cutscenes while the arcade original simply doesn't have any. This led to many people being disappointed when they discovered the arcade version of the game on Ultracade cabinets in the 2000s or bought the Steam version, which is based on the arcade original, and thus has no cutscenes about moving ZIGs for great justice; at least until a patch introduced a remade version of the MD version's intro.
- The "Captain" character, despite being prominently featured in the Megadrive version's intro cutscene, isn't actually the main character like many people think; a different character serves as the pilot of the player's ZIG fighter. In fact, the Captain is killed in the ensuing explosion along with the rest of the carrier's crew, while the ZIG and its pilot barely make it out.
- Eclipsed by the Remix: There are people who never played the game and actually thought that it had text-to-speech in the dialogue, when it's just an insertion for the remix made by the obscure gabber band The Laziest Men on Mars. Also, both the gabber genre and the TTS softwares used in the remix dates later than the game itself.
- Fridge Brilliance: The remade intro for the Steam and GOG version rewrites the dialogue of most of the crew, but keeps many of CATS's infamous lines intact. A Freeze-Frame Bonus shows that the attack on the ship actually disrupted their translation system, meaning that there's now an In-Universe reason for the infamously mangled English.
- Game-Breaker: Homing missiles can destroy nearly anything in their wake, leaving nothing behind.
- I Am Not Shazam: "CATS" is the evil empire you're fighting against, while the villain in the introduction is merely its ambassador. However, because this is never shown in the introduction, many think that he's named CATS and is the actual Big Bad of the game. According to one of the alternate endings, the ambassador's name is "John Climen"—but given another ending also has the ambassador claim he's the player's mother ("Call me Mommy!"), this can probably be taken with a grain of salt.
- Mainstream Obscurity: The main reason most people have heard of this game is the memes that came from it. Even back in its day, most people hadn't actually played it.
- Narm: The hilariously bad Translation Trainwreck, including the infamous memes. Though for some people, it could be Narm Charm.
- Polished Port:
- The PC Engine CD-ROM2 version of the game plays as fluidly as the arcade version with a more reasonable difficulty curve, and features additional between-level cutscenes and a stellar arrange soundtrack in Redbook audio to round things out.
- The Steam release is an Arcade-Perfect Port with a ton of quality-of-life updates, such as easier difficulties and savestates. At launch, however, it lacked the infamous intro from the Genesis version, which led fans to jokingly call it a Porting Disaster. Thankfully, the developers added the Genesis intro in a patch, complete with new artwork and a redone translation.
- Signature Scene: The Engrish-laden opening cutscene is widely known. Everything else about the game is obscure.
- So Bad, It's Good: While the game itself is pretty decent, the terrible grammar of the intro cutscene is so hilarious, it eclipsed everything else about it.
- So Bad, It Was Better: The retranslated version is a better translation, but fixing the memetic Translation Train Wreck leaves the game without anything particularly unique or funny.
- So Okay, It's Average: General consensus amongst those who have played the game, and not just for the "All your base" intro, is that ultimately, Zero Wing doesn't do much to innovate upon the shmup genre nor does it feature any particularly outstanding refinements; the stages aren't too different from anything seen in other horizontal shmups, the shot types are pretty rudimentary, and while the capture beam mechanic seems interesting, you can't interact with captured enemies beyond using them as shields or launching them back at enemies. Nevertheless it's still a decent shooter with few glaring flaws and labyrinthine stages that are somewhat evocative of R-Type.
- Tear Jerker: The intro cutscene from the Megadrive port, surprisingly. It's hard to notice due to its now-memetic status, but it's a hell of a Downer Beginning: The CATS organization rigs a space carrier to blow and tells them Earth is doomed and theirs for the taking (i.e. "All your base are belong to us"). The Captain, with his hands clasped together as if praying for victory and knowing he's about to die, orders all ZIG fighters launched in a final bid to save Earth (i.e. "for great justice"), and then the carrier blows up, killing everyone onboard including the Captain and Mechanic characters you saw dialoguing at length. Of all the ZIGs scrambled, only one of them, yours, makes it out, all while the music swells from an ominous Drone of Dread to a bittersweet anthem of final hope. It's more evident in the remade version of the intro in the 2023 Bitwave port, which fixes up the translation issues:Captain: The ZIGs are our only remaining option... May there be hope for our future... We are counting on the ZIGs!! For great justice!!
- Watch It for the Meme: The main reason to really play it is for the translation.
