Ixion (prototype)

Published in 1983 by Sega, Ixion is a single-player vertical shooter where players navigate through a field of enemies and collect letters to accumulate points. The goal is to gather all available letters, which unlocks the “KAILO” round. Points are awarded for collecting both standard letters and rarer gold letters—along with defeating enemies and acquiring crystals. Special balls, such as the KAILO ball that heals damaged tiles and the OLIAK ball that destroys them, appear during gameplay. The game’s technical specifications include a Zilog Z80 main CPU and a custom sound chip, presented on a 224x256 pixel vertical display utilizing a palette of 256 colors. Players control their ship using a dial and a single button. Ixion was initially intended for release in early 1983, but ultimately saw limited distribution following what is believed to have been unsuccessful location testing. A bonus ship appears as a reward for reaching point milestones of 100,000 points. Although the game did not achieve widespread commercial success, a prototype port was planned for the Atari 2600 console, though it never materialized.