Time Zone is a 1991 Famicom platform game that was never released outside of Japan, though a Fan Translation exists. It was created by EIM and published by Sigma Enterprises.
The plot involves the evil Dr. Time kidnapping Ken's girlfriend Hikaru and absconding with her across multiple time periods. Armed with his mighty baseball cap, Ken follows the duo across the eons, from the distant past to the near future, until the final confrontation in a place outside of time and space.
This game contains examples of:
- Butt-Monkey: The game starts with Dr. Time crushing and stomping on Ken as he takes Hikaru away, and every between-level cutscene has Ken being tricked or hurt in similar fashion.
- Cactus Person: Anthropomorphic cacti appear as enemies in the Wild West zone.
- Expy: Dr. Time is a dead-ringer for Mega Man (Classic)'s Dr. Wily, down to the begging for mercy routine and piloting machines for his boss fight.
- Kite Riding: The 1632 world ends with a rooftop Boss Battle against a ninja on a kite.
- Prehistoria: The second zone is a prehistoric world that the Status Line calls "9999 BC," with the usual dinosaurs and volcanoes.
- Save the Princess: Dr. Time kidnaps Hikaru for no good reason, setting Ken on their trail to defeat him and rescue her.
- Status Line: The second zone is a prehistoric world. How do we know? The player's status info dates it as "9999 BC".
- Thinking Up Portals: Dr. Time's remote control opens portals to different time periods every time Ken has him cornered.
- Wackyland: The final world, labeled "????", is a weird land of melting clocks, sweets, and playing cards where nothing makes sense, with the final battle taking place in a void.
- Weaponized Headgear: Ken's primary weapon is his baseball cap, which can be thrown like a boomerang at different angles to hit foes.