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Madman Ivan Retovitz rips off an arsenal of USSR nuclear weapons and threatens to transform the world into a radioactive desert. As the leader of the three covert commandos, you must pilot the AH-648 Apache and traverse the underground bunkers to destroy the nuclear madman.
— Back cover
Through the trafficking of illegal drugs, Ivan Retovitz used the money to buy Middle Eastern weapons to carry out terrorist attacks as part of his plan to destroy the current world order, having already taken over Zyristan in a coup and seeks to utilize nuclear technology in order to bring the whole world to its knees and start "the fourth empire". It's up to a team of elite world troops to overthrow Ivan and stop him from turning the world into a nuclear wasteland.
Red Zone is a 1994 Shoot 'em Up developed by Zyrinx and published by Time Warner Interactive for the Sega Genesis.
Red Zone provides examples of the following tropes:
- Big Bad: Ivan Retovitz took over Zyristan in a coup and has prepared nukes to counter all threats made to him.
- Countrystan: The action takes place in Zyristan.
- Drugs Are Bad: According to the manual, Ivan Retovitz trafficked drugs in order to further his evil plot.
- Game-Over Man: On the game over screen, Ivan makes a speech about how the nuked world will be deprived of life for thousands of years and desired that over being a dishonored man.
- I Lied: Ivan makes a promise not to nuke any country when he tries to take over two of them, but he does not really maintain this as part of his goal to capture all countries and will nuke the entire planet out of spite as shown in the game over screen.
- Mighty Glacier: Ralph "Rocco" Stratton is a man of great strength, but he lacks in speed compared to his teammates.
- Nuke 'Em: Ivan makes a threat to nuke the world when he tries to take over other countries. But will try to take over all countries with him nuking the entire planet during a Game Over.
- Red and Black Totalitarianism: Retovitz is shown entirely in red and black colors in both the intro and the game over screen.
- The Smurfette Principle: Jade is the only female in a team where the other members are men.
- Take Over the World: Ivan already had enough power when he ruled over Zyristan, but procured nukes as a measure to ensure he eventually takes over all countries.
- Token Minority: Ralph is the sole black man in the trio with Joe and Jade being white.
- Top-Down View: Both helicopter and on-foot levels have a top-down view. Unusual for a Sega Genesis game, walls and structural objects are rendered with a 3D perspective that varies with the player's position, though it's fairly obvious that the latter are composed of flat sprites stacked on top of copies of themselves.
