Spiral Zone

Spiral Zone is a 1987 American science-fiction animated series produced by Atlantic/Kushner-Locke. Spiral Zone was animated by Japanese studio Visual 80 as well as South Korean studio AKOM. Based in part from a toy line made by Japanese company Bandai, the series focused on an international group of soldiers fighting to free the world from a scientist who controls much of the Earth's surface. It only ran for one season, with a total count of 65 episodes. Tonka acquired the license from Bandai and created a different treatment to the series, plus a short-lived toy line.

Plot

An evil scientist (Overlord) invents a device that emits a radiation that controls the minds of the people within its range. He gathers a sizable percentage of the Earth on his initial attack, and conventional forces cannot counter-attack as they will also come under the power of the Zone if they enter. Earth's most powerful soldiers are united to combat the menace while wearing their Zone-resistant suits. Each Zone generator is biological in nature and grows to full size and capacity in a matter of minutes. Earth's free forces are faced with the challenge of destroying the generators while resisting the Zone-controlled forces, not to mention how easy it is to re-establish a control Zone. The good guys consist of 5 soldiers that are dropped into special missions by a Zone-resistant plane. The bad guys consist of about 6 guys that are specially treated by Overlord to be Zone-resistant (they still show the red blemishes and retain them whether in or out of a Zone-controlled area) while maintaining free will, and are supported by 'Zone Troopers' who wear a helmet that allows them to leave Zone controlled areas while remaining under Zone control.