In the 2012 Toaplan STG Chronicle interview (released as a bundle alongside the Toaplan STG Chronicle music collection), the game's composer Tatsuya Uemura confirmed that Zero Wing was originally just a test project for new hires and that it wasn't meant to be released commercially. Mr. Uemura stated:

The Bionic Commando costume found in the Wii port of the game was likely added to promote the Bionic Commando (2009) video game as it was not yet released, making this the only Dead Rising port to tease a game currently in development by Capcom.

The opening guitar riff heard in May's theme "Blue Water, Blue Sky" is very similar to one that can be found in Skid Row's song "Forever".

In the The Delicious Last Course DLC, Spoiler:if the player loses to Chef Saltbaker on his 4th phase his quote will be "The mark of my salinity shall scar thy fired glaze!". This is a reference to Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, where the game's final boss Gill has a pre-battle dialogue that says "The mark of my dignity shall scar thy DNA".

In "The Delicious Last Course" DLC, there is a puzzle on the map for Isle IV involving a trio of contest winners towards the back of the Isle and a set of 9 gravestones towards the front of the Isle. Completing this puzzle will unlock Spoiler:a secret boss fight that takes place in a dream world held up by the skeletal remains of the Devil (seen in claymation), where you fight angel and demon variants of the Devil on both sides of the stage that change back-and-forth every time you turn left or right. This boss fight was originally designed as a second phase for the Devil's fight in the main game, but ultimately went unused until the release of the Delicious Last Course. A primitive version of the phase can be found in the game’s data. This boss cannot be refought after beating it. Beating it will unlock the Cursed Relic as a charm as well as the achievement "A Horrible Night to Have a Curse", a reference to the text box seen during the day-to-night transition from Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Masaharu Iwata, he stated in the description for "Under the Stars" that he figures “‘I should write a normal song’, but when I do, oh my!” He also commented that the frequency range on the song’s instrumentation was “a little overstuffed”.

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Masaharu Iwata, he stated that when his older brother Sakimoto heard the "Night Attack" theme, he said to Iwata that the theme sounded like it was done by a foreigner trying to write something that sounds "Japanese". Iwata took it as a harsh comment, but agreed with him, admitting that he was too influenced by playing a lot of Western games at the time. He really wanted the atmosphere to feel like a night raid, but the latter half of the song "sounds like all the soldiers are dancing around or something".

In January 1997 interview with Yuji Naka and Naoto Ohshima published in the Sega Magazine about their early days working for the company, he was told by an interviewer about the game (specifically talking about the original Japanese version based on Fist of the North Star) being a masterpiece on the Master System. He asked Naka if he was asked to make it? He responded:


Ohshima commented on Naka's response, that he had never heard that story before and it made him think "ah hah, so that’s why he wouldn’t let me do the musclemen type characters I’ve wanted to draw for so long."

In a 1999 commentary with the game's composer Koji Kondo published in the GSLA archive, he stated that when "Ocarina" became the game's title, he decided to try and build the music around one central ocarina melody. Given that the ocarina only has five notes to play, he tried to write the various background themes in different genres (bolero, serenade, etc.) where each one would evoke a "catchy, memorable 3-note ocarina melody". This was the motif around which he created various simple, but distinct melodies, and was very careful to make sure he didn't repeat himself. Kondo then commented:


Kondo also stated the Hyrule Field theme is the main central song, and that he wrote it so that each time you play it, the song structure unfolds in a slightly different way. He also stated that when Link stands still for a while, the song will change to a more relaxed melody, and when enemies come close, the song will get tenser. Since it is a very long game, he tried to think of ways to keep the players from getting bored, and how to make the music evolve with what's happening on-screen. He hoped to continue pursuing this idea for interactive music in future games.

In a 1995 interview with the SNK Sound Team published in Neo Geo Freak Magazine, composers Shimizm and Konny stated that the team wanted to change up the patterns and image of each song, as they had to compose a large number of songs for each game they worked on while also adding something new into the image of earlier versions of songs and also relating to what the game was trying to express. By doing this, they set up a distinct identity for each game, always searching to make things more "real":

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Masaharu Iwata, he stated that the "Decisive Battle" felt out of step with the game's historical period. He felt it was more like "a muscle-bound action hero wielding a gatling gun in one hand", instead of wielding sword and sorcery, and apologized if it sounded a little phoned in, adding "I'd do it differently now".

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, he joked that he wrote "Bloody Excrement" while he was thinking about the game's protagonist, Mr. Forest Bear, a "pleasant, heartwarming tale of Mr. Bear’s family adventure, that's really never explained", and that his original idea for the song was to make it feel like a pleasant, heartwarming story of Mr. Bear’s family adventure.

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, he stated that he'd tried to evoke "the feeling that you were fighting in the midst of mother nature all around you" for "A Chapel".

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Hitoshi Sakimoto, he stated that the "Random Waltz" theme was his very first battle theme he wrote, and it served as something like a test for different sampling techniques he wanted to experiment with, which he found very memorable. He also stated that, at the time of this interview, when he thought back on when he wrote the theme, it felt like it was 5 years ago, but it was actually only half a year.

In the Japanese version's commentary with the game's composer Masaharu Iwata, he stated that the title for "Back Fire" is actually “Chotto Otona no Daakuman” (“A More Mature Darkman”). A few years prior for the game Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, he composed the last boss theme named “Darkman Abikyoukan” (“Darkman Pandemonium”), which he described as an "up-tempo, kind of insane sounding song" on a level of madness that "Back Fire" couldn't quite reach, hence the title.

In the game's data, found at the offset 0x32E of it's ROM are the strings "MINATO", referencing Minato Giken, the developer company that worked on the game.

In June 2022, cut video game content website The Cutting Room Floor leaked the ROM of an unreleased version planned for the SNES.

According to designer and programmer Jim Burton, publisher Psygnosis cancelled it when it was 80% complete due to poor sales of the Genesis version.

Early versions of the intro to the Spyglass Hills stage can be found in the PlayStation version’s data.

A prototype version of this game contained an item, called "Flametrail", which is not present in the final release of the game. It is theorised this item would use the jet engines of the ship as a means of damaging other ships.

Wario and Waluigi play the wrong sound clips when selected in the character roster. When selected, Wario will play Waluigi’s voice clip and vice versa.