Area 51 is a railshooter and lightgun shooter developed by Mesa Logic and published by Atari Games. It also came out for PC, Playstation and Saturn.

Are are a member of the Strategic Tactical Advanced Alien Response (STAAR) military incursion to prevent aliens known as the Kronn, as well as alien-created zombies, from taking over the Area 51 military facility. Along with two other STAAR members, Lieutenant Stephanie Grant and Sergeant Major Marcus Bradley, you fight your way through Area 51 in order to activate the nuclear self-destruct.

The game uses an FMV background showing an pre-rendered environment. Fellow soldiers and some enemies are depicted by filmed actors. Your standard gun has infinite ammo, and sometimes bullet icons appear which give you a better weapon when shot. If you loose a life, you get reverted to the standard weapon.
In typical genre manor, enemies will appear from behind objects or pop up from the bottom of the screen. You have a short time span to shoot them before they hit you. If you get hit, you loose a life. You also loose a life if you shoot your allies. Some objects can be destroyed by shooting them, which gives you points. Shooting ammo crates will sometimes give a grenade. Using a grenade will damage all enemies on screen.

The game can be played in two-player co-op.