Area 51 is a 1995 light gun shooter video game developed by Mesa Logic and published by Time Warner Interactive under its Atari Games label for arcades. The game involves the player taking part in a Strategic Tactical Advanced Alien Response (STAAR) military incursion to prevent aliens known as the Kronn, as well as alien-created zombies, from taking over the Area 51 military facility.

The Story Behind Area 51

The PlayStation version supports the Konami Justifier, but not the Namco GunCon. Despite the arcade version running on a modified Atari Jaguar, it was never ported on to the system itself. Tiger Electronics later released a handheld version of the game with an LCD screen and a small light gun.

Originally the data from the game was to be streamed from a CD player using Cinepak for compression, but since this could only produce a letterboxed display, lead programmer Charlie Grisafi opted to instead run the game on a COJAG (a modified Atari Jaguar used in arcade games) interfaced with a hard disk drive and using Grisafi's own custom compression software. While enemies, civilians, and explosions are 2D digitized video sprites, the levels and vehicles are pre-rendered in 3D. While the STAAR members were rendered with motion capture, the assorted enemies were created with stop motion animation by Sneaky Pete Kleinow.

How Area 51 Plays

In addition, yellow boxes and barrels marked with "flammable" warning symbols can be shot to cause fires or explosions that can harm enemies. The player must defeat genetically modified zombie soldiers and aliens without harming any allied STAAR team members. If nothing but three STAAR team members are shot, the Kronn Hunter mode is started, taking the role of a Hunter, sent by the Kronn to eliminate the rebels.

The game takes the player through several sections of the Area 51 facility, including a warehouse and tunnels. The shotgun weaponry allows a greater field of error for targeting an enemy. Purple alien/alien zombies require more hits than other targets.

Why Players Still Load It Up

The graphics received mixed remarks due to the graininess of the FMV and the presence of screen borders, and like most console light gun games it was criticized as having very low longevity. Lee Nutter summarized in Sega Saturn Magazine, "As shoot 'em ups go Area 51 is not a bad effort, but outclassed by the [Virtua] Cop games in every conceivable way." GamePro gave Area 51 one of its more positive reviews, praising its frenzied pace and concluding, "Area 51s sizzling action easily overcomes its sizable flaws. Despite this, the reviewer concluded that the game "stands up better against shooters of the past like Virtua Cop 1 and Mad Dog McCree, and not the current crop." The game took the number one slot in the December 1995 "Player's Choice" chart of RePlay Magazine.

It was cited as the first step in a comeback for Atari Games which brought the company from the brink of financial collapse to being a major force in the arcade industry over just a little more than a year. The Saturn port received middling reviews. Executive producer Mark Pierce recalled that the home versions had above average sales by the standards of console light gun games (which typically did not sell as well as other arcade ports, since players could not get the full experience without purchasing a light gun for the console).

Area 51 — Frequently Asked Questions