Game Details
| Size | 366 MB |
| Region | USA |
| Genre | Shooter |
| Format | 7z / BIN |
| Year | January 1997 |
| Console | PSX |
Area 51 (1996) is a loud, chaotic, quarter-devouring arcade light-gun classic that made a massive splash when ported to the PlayStation 1 in early 1997. Developed by Mesa Logic and published by Atari Games, the arcade version was a massive hit thanks to its use of digitized pre-rendered 3D graphics and live-action video actors.
While playing a light-gun shooter at home on a standard 90s TV could be tricky, Area 51 stands as one of the definitive arcade rail-shooters of the era, sitting comfortably alongside titles like Time Crisis and Virtua Cop.
Story & Premise: Lockdown in the Desert
Deep within the secretive, classified military base known as Area 51 in the Nevada desert, an underground excavation accidentally punctures an ancient, subterranean cavern. This triggers the release of the Krona, a highly aggressive, parasitic alien race that has been trapped beneath the earth for millennia.
The Krona rapidly infect the base’s military personnel and scientists, mutating them into horrific, bloodthirsty alien-hybrids and activating the facility’s automated defense systems.
The Clean-Up Crew: You play as a specialized operative belonging to the S.T.A.A.R. (Strategic Tactical Advanced Alien Response) military unit. Your squad is dropped directly into the hot zone via helicopter with a simple, lethal directive: blast through the infected base, destroy the alien threat, and force your way to the lowest level to trigger the nuclear self-destruct sequence before the contamination breaches the surface.
Back Cover Description
“WELCOME TO THE TOP SECRET APOCALYPSE!”
“The legendary arcade smash hit blasts its way onto the PlayStation with full force! Area 51 drops you directly into the crosshairs of a terrifying alien outbreak inside the world’s most mysterious military stronghold.
Lock and load your weapon to face down waves of digitized alien mutants, rogue security drones, and heavily armed zombie soldiers. Shoot structural hazards to blow up fuel tanks, break windows, and uncover massive hidden armories. Compatible with the PlayStation Mouse and standard light-guns, Area 51 delivers a heart-pounding, explosive arcade experience right to your living room.
Trust no one. Shoot everything!“
Key Gameplay Features
- On-Rails Light-Gun Mechanics: The game handles all player movement automatically. Your camera glides seamlessly through the military base, and your sole responsibility is to pull the trigger to eliminate hostiles as they pop out from behind corners, windows, and heavy machinery.
- Digitized Live-Action Presentation: Rather than using early polygon graphics, the game utilizes real actors filmed against green screens, dressed up in tactical military gear or grotesque monster suits. Combined with pre-rendered 3D backgrounds, it gave the game a highly distinct, gritty 90s sci-fi aesthetic.
- Destructible Environments & Upgrades: Tapping into pure arcade fun, you can shoot almost anything on screen—including warning signs, lights, computer screens, and windows. Blasting specific background elements rewards you with weapon upgrades, transforming your basic pistol into a rapid-fire Machine Gun, a high-spread Shotgun, or a devastating Grenade Launcher.
- The Krona Hunter Secret Mode: A legendary Easter egg built directly into the game code. By shooting only the first few human teammates encountered at the very beginning of the level without hitting an enemy, the game transforms you into a mutant Krona alien, shifting the color palette and turning your weapon into a rapid-fire alien plasma blaster.
- Controller Versatility: While engineered specifically for light-guns (like the Konami Justifier or Namco G-Con/Guncon), the PS1 version can be played using a standard PlayStation controller or even the rare PlayStation Mouse accessory.
Short Review: Pure, Brainless B-Movie Fun
The Good
- Perfect Arcade Port Accuracy: Tantalus Interactive did an exceptional job keeping the fast frame rates, loud audio design, and complex digitized sprites intact for the home console hardware.
- Incredible Secret Rooms: The game is absolutely packed to the brim with hidden bonus rooms and score multipliers. Memorizing where to shoot to blow open doors or trigger secret shooting galleries adds immense replayability.
- Fun Local Co-Op: Grabbing a second controller or a second light-gun allows two players to team up on screen simultaneously, cutting through the mutant hordes together.
The Bad
Incredibly Short Run Time: If you have decent reflexes and infinite continues turned on, you can completely wrap up the entire campaign in roughly 45 minutes.
The Modern Hardware Problem: Traditional retro light-guns work only on older CRT (cathode-ray tube) televisions due to how they track screen refresh signals. If you are playing this on a modern flat-screen TV via emulation or upscale hardware, you are forced to use a regular controller, which moves a slow digital crosshair across the screen and drains a bit of the frantic arcade magic.
Screenshots
