Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom cover
FranchiseBuck RogersSeriesBuck Rogers

Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom

First release
1982
Genres
Shooter, Arcade · Action, Science fiction
Platforms
Arcade

Sega released the arcade video game Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom in 1982. It was a forward-scrolling rail shooter where the user controls a spaceship in a behind-the-back third-person perspective that must destroy enemy ships and avoid obstacles; the game was notable for its fast pseudo-3D scaling and detailed sprites. The game would later go on to influence the 1985 Sega hit Space Harrier, which in turn influenced the 1993 Nintendo hit Star Fox. Buck is never seen in the game, except assumedly in the illustration on the side of the arcade cabinet, and its only real connections to Buck Rogers are the use of the name and the outer space setting. Home versions were released for the Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari XE, ColecoVision, Coleco Adam, Intellivision, MSX and Sega SG-1000 video game systems, and the Commodore VIC-20, Commodore 64, Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, Apple II and ZX Spectrum computers. A version for IBM PC using CGA graphics was also available.

Attributes

No Attributes added.

Details

Storyline, release dates, time to beat, age ratings, modes, links, keywords

Release dates
Arcade
1982
Game modes
Single player
Perspective
Third person
Keywords
rail shooter, shoot 'em up, 2.5d, spaceship, based on - tv show
… All 15, war, on-rails, high score, licensed game, based on - comics, vertical scrolling, auto-scrolling levels, planet, sega vco object, male protagonist

How it plays

Languages

  • Englishinterface
IGDB · recorded 9 Nov 2026

Language data: IGDB · recorded 9 Nov 2026