Original artwork, not a still
You have no chance to survive make your time.
— Zero Wing · 1989
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
CATS is a movie-villain threat assembled from mistranslated parts: a deadly ultimatum with the punctuation missing. The run-on ending is what fans love, and it is why the line gets pasted into forum signatures, T-shirts and game mods as the stock bad-guy taunt. It is the second half of a pair with the 'bases' boast, and the two travel together.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Zero WingShow the scene
CATS, the villain of Zero Wing, says this in the same introduction as the 'bomb' line, soon after he appears on the viewscreen. He has just declared that he has taken all of the Federation ship's bases, and here he tells the crew they have little time left. The captain then sends a fighter pilot, called ZIG, into the fight, which starts the game proper. The Japanese original reads closer to 'treasure the little life you have left'. Zero Wing reached Japanese arcades in 1989, and the English Mega Drive version in Europe followed in July 1991.
Sources (2)
- Wikipedia: All your base are belong to usZero Wing transcript tableReference checked
- Wikipedia: All your base are belong to us (History)History sectionReference checked
Context reviewed
