Zero Wing is a “shoot 'em up” arcade game developed by Toaplan. Like other shoot 'em ups of the time, it featured no real plot except to distinguish that the player is a lone hero who will save the universe from an evil force. As per other shooters, the aim of the game is to shoot all enemies that appear on screen and avoid getting obliterated by lasers, crashing into enemies or into foreground scenery. There are mid-level and end-of-level boss enemies that stay with the player until they are defeated.

The music and graphics are pretty much what you would expect from any given arcade shooter originating in the late '80s. Nice, clean sprites and mindless, adrenaline-pumping beats. Overall, Zero Wing plays more like R-Type than anything else, with a leisurely rate of scrolling.

The reason for Zero Wing's popularity beyond its release as an arcade and video game is due to the additions made to the European Mega Drive version. To expand on the game's plot, an introductory cut scene was added to the game. This introductory scene was translated to English from Japanese rather poorly for the European release, because of the European version being rushed, resulting in dialogue such as “Somebody set up us the bomb,” “All your base are belong to us,” and “You have no chance to survive make your time.” The introduction does not appear in the arcade version.