Summer 2005 Dualstream Day of Zeux Judging Sheets:emalkay
3702 - Growth and Consolidation
Gameplay - 50/75
This was a very fun and addictive game to play. It took a while for me to warm to it but once I fully understood how it worked I was well on my way to becoming a very rich man. As a farm simulator this game demanded a lot of skill and patience from the player, like knowing when to buy and sell your fruit or jam and making sure you water your plants at the right time. There were many perks to this game too like the option to build Jam factories and increase your yield.
It was only until about 5 minutes into the game that I started to get fed up with the same routine. I was expecting more exciting things to happen as the game progressed, but it just repeated until the very end. Even the unfortunate occurrences like plants getting AIDS (wtf!) didn't do much to spice things up, in fact it made the whole thing slightly more tedious.
Aside from the repetitiveness this was a pretty innovative and challenging game to play. It was a nice surprise to see it had a cinematic ending too.
Graphics - 31/ 60
Nothing really special going on here. Everything was nicely placed and the colours seemed to work well.
Innovation - 42/45
A very original concept, not many simulators out there for MZX. The engine worked really well and I couldn't find any flaws with it. This was a very well thought-out game.
Plot - 25/40
Because this was a simulator I am going to be very generous with the points here. The game had a small introduction to it and it had a funny ending.
Music/Sound - 27/35
You had the option to select your own music from a list of tracks or you could leave it off, a nice approach. There were no .wavs to be heard but the speaker FX sounds were all done quite elegantly.
Theme - 30/30
There was nothing BUT growth in this.
Discretion - 13/15
The mouse did seem to be a bit jerky at times. That's all I can think of.
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Original and fun to play.
TOTAL: 218
5364 - Galaxy Slime
Gameplay - 28/75
This was undoubtedly the most difficult game of the DoZ, it wasn't the most pleasant of experiences I have to say. There were too many parts in this game where it was impossible not to get hurt and carrying your health status over to each proceeding level was a pretty bad idea too. The shooting seemed kind of slow to respond at times which didn't help things, especially when confronting some of those frantic one-eyed enemies. I found the controls very restrictive.
I must say though, the levels were planned out quite well. Each one got harder as it went on and the environments didn't repeat too much. I did have problems getting through level 3 however; those walls at the start were really hard to dodge. The bosses were done satisfactorily; they were challenging and demanded a fair bit of patience to defeat. I wasn't too impressed with all those built-ins the big brain at the end kept firing but it did seem to keep me on my toes. Once I managed to beat this guy the game didn't cut to an ending or anything, it just stayed with that board. I know an ending was made in the editor but it seemed to have been left out accidentally.
Graphics - 19/ 60
Quite simple-looking really. Contained a lot of basic char designs along with some bland scenery. The cut-scenes were nothing special. The best piece of graphic in this entry was the brain-thing at the end.
Innovation - 16/45
Space shooters like this have been done countless times in MZX, this one did not differ from the rest. Giving the player some extra weapons and/or power-ups would have made a lot of difference here.
Plot - 29/40
It's very rare for space shooters like this to have ANY plot at all which is why I have been so generous with the points. It was a weird plot, just on the verge of being wacky in fact. I did enjoy the part with the twist, where the commander guy turns into that green monster, yeah, the script did have its moments.
Music/Sound - 13/35
The music was selected poorly, especially with the first level, it did not go at all. I heard "mortal kombat" shouted a few times too, hrrmm. Also, what kind of space shooter doesn't have any SFX?! I will, however, award marks for the boss music because it made me feel somewhat uneasy, nice job.
Theme - 30/30
You fly around space investigating various planets, top marks.
Discretion - 7/15
Not getting to see the ending because the team didn't link to it was very disappointing. I noticed some minor char glitches and sometimes my ship would just overwrite other enemy ships. The shooting engine could have done with some tweaking too.
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Nothing special, nothing new.
TOTAL: 142
6170 - A space exploration game of some sort.
Gameplay - 1/75
This wasn't a game. The ship controlled pretty well I guess.
Graphics - 15/ 60
Although I could tell great effort went into the graphics I wouldn't say they looked pretty. It was just thin monochrome lines with a pixel engine behind it.
Innovation - 15/45
The pixel engine ran like a charm, there wasn't anything else though apart from that.
Plot - 20/40
Nothing at all, but it didn't need one so I'll give half marks.
Music/Sound - 0/35
There was nothing to be heard.
Theme - 30/30
You fly your spaceship around space.
Discretion - 1/15
This wasn't a game.
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This wasn't a game.
TOTAL: 82
9081 - A sad game.
Gameplay - 39/75
This game involved a lot of waiting around. I had to set my speed to 1 in some parts, it just got too boring, especially that escape pod sequence, it got really annoying after a while. The fires were really hard to dodge and I kept dying at first, I also wasn't too pleased when I crossed over the word "On" and died instantaneously, woe is me.
I must say that the team did a good job in creating a sense of realism, I really liked the atmosphere this game had, it had something about it, very eery. Beating the game with a race to the finish line kind of spoilt this. The dream sequence was really strange, it was the best part of the game for me, suddenly the game went from very real to incredibly surreal, it was great. Like the rest of the game, the ending was pretty weird too, but it wasn't too bad I suppose.
Graphics - 41/ 60
They were okay, nothing special. Some parts looked really neat but others just looked mediocre.
Innovation - 30/45
Realism is a hard thing to pull off in MZX, the team didn't quite pull it off in this case but it was a good effort. I guess the race to the finish line was something... different.
Plot - 21/40
The dialogue was written well and I liked the way the story unfolded, there wasn't much to it however. You just had to escape from the ship.
Music/Sound - 31/35
The music really set the scene, it was quite bizarre at times but it went really well. The dream sequence had some great sounds too, filled with all kinds of oddities and strangeness.
Theme - 19/30
It was more of a spaceship exploration game than a space exploration game really.
Discretion - 10/15
Some of the waiting just lasted for too long and the instant death saddened me.
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Odd.
TOTAL: 191
19662 - Cheese's Adventure
Gameplay - 51/75
To spite having no instructions, this game was pretty easy to grasp from the outset. The levels were constructed brilliantly with the enemies well placed. The map screen was cleverly built to allow the player to return to previous levels and gain experience thus receiving extra attribute points. It was this attribute system that was the highlight of the game, although saying that, it did get tiring at times constantly revisiting levels to level up just so I could have a chance against those medalling bosses. The pixel movement engine in this entry was phenomenal, I've never played anything like it, it was a joy to control.
Now here's the catch, this was a very hard game to beat and it demanded a lot of patience. Some enemies, the bosses in particular, were just too hard to defeat and I found myself saving every 5 seconds later on in the game, it was that hard for me. After about 45 minutes of gameplay I finally get to the end boss, hey ho, it's time to go back and level up. After around 15 minutes of levelling up, I managed to go back and destroy the flying monster, just about.
This game was quite long and the team did well to stretch out some levels that seemed to be quite straightforward at a glance. I see no point, however, in levels with no enemies in them...No point at all.
Graphics - 59/ 60
Incredible. I only took 1 mark off because nothing in life is perfect.
Innovation - 38/45
This game oozes innovation. The pixel engine in itself is quite outstanding. Combine this with the attribute and EXP system never seen before in a MZX platformer and you're onto a winner. The Robotic in this game is quite a remarkable achievement.
Plot - 8/40
Not much to report here. I'm not even sure what this game is about, there wasn't even an ending. You would expect with the RPG elements within the game that there would be some kind of deep storyline to go with it, or maybe I'm just asking for too much. Either way, I see a lot of room for improvement here.
Music/Sound - 29/35
Great choice of music, I'm in love with ROMANTIC.IT. The sound effects worked pretty well and ow.wav didn't annoy me for a change.
Theme - 19/30
You are born from an egg and you must grow stronger to defeat the bad guys, it works I guess.
Discretion - 10/15
Sometimes I fell down a hole and I would still be in the level, I could walk out either side too; I consider this to be a significant bug.
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A great accomplishment.
TOTAL: 214
21986 - Captain Ballpark
Gameplay - 7/75
The jumping was fun I guess, but uh, this game seriously lacked in this department. I actually found the title sequence more entertaining than the game itself. Not being able to kill the only enemy in the game was quite depressing, especially when he could hurt you.
Pretty soon into the game it became obvious that it wasn't finished, perhaps more time spent on making the game rather than the title screen could have prevented this.
Graphics - 49/ 60
Contained some pretty well designed multi-char graphics and the introduction was nicely done with some excellent drawings, hats off to you on this one.
Innovation - 6/45
The idea of getting stronger as you got fatter was a nice idea but, from what I could tell, the engine never got finished so I'm not awarding any points for that. The jump and dodge aspect of the game was a pretty original concept but it wasn't anything special.
Plot - 30/40
Hilarious! It was undoubtedly the highlight of this game. The introduction had an excellent, well-scripted story which came with an assortment of witty names and one-liners. You just gotsta love that Fatometer, shame on you Michael Moore!
Music/Sound - 32/35
Synthesized speech is always a crowd pleaser, I thought it was spoken just a tad too fast though. I found the music to be quite subtle and it blended very nicely with the game. There were all kinds of sound effects throughout the intro, I especially liked the "Can I touch it?" sample, very good. The humour in this entry relied heavily on the use of sound.
Theme - 24/30
It's all about getting fatter, and fatter, AND FATTER.
Discretion - 4/15
This game is not finished which leaves it containing some serious bugs. For example, I could not finish the first level and I could not kill that one guy. It's also incredibly short.
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Very funny but shamefully unfinished.
TOTAL: 152
31340 - React
Gameplay - 61/75
This entry had all the basic ingredients a MZX action-RPG needed; a good story, a variety of weapons, a world map screen and not forgetting the obligatory item shop. The enemies encountered throughout this game were not too hard to defeat but after finishing it (3 times!) I did not want to see another lazer beam shooting plant ever again in my life.
The team did well to create a good balance between action and dialogue with this. It was nice to see that most battle sequences were fought after an exchange of words, I think it was the script that gave this game more life, making it more enjoyable to play. With the inclusion of 3 possible endings, it gave me the urge to find out all three of them. Saying that, each ending left me feeling quite unsatisfied with my glorious victory in completing the game, all you got was one measly paragraph for your efforts, very disappointing.
The weapons were a bit of a let-down as they all did the same thing but just caused different amounts of damage. Perhaps adding more imaginative types of weapons would have made this a much more exciting game to play. Nonetheless, this game had me engrossed from the outset and did well to keep me entertained right until the very end.
Graphics - 7/ 60
As far as I could tell, EVERYTHING was built upon the default MZX charset. Those flesh eating rats were just fast trees, no effort was made at all. I guess the board layouts were designed quite well, but that doesn't count for much.
Innovation - 31/45
Multiple endings are great, I just wish the team put more effort into making them. Mixing up the role-playing with the action seemed to work quite well too.
Plot - 36/40
This was the driving force behind the whole game. It was very descriptive and contained all sorts of satirical references and plot twists. It was very interesting how the story behind the plant developed, giving you more and more answers as the game progressed. It also had its funny moments which seemed to blend in very well with the rest of the dialogue. The only bad thing I can say about the plot was the rushed ending, all of them.
Music/Sound - 27/35
Wasn't so sure about the title screen but the rest of the soundtrack fit very well with the game. I feel, however, that not enough was done to put emphasis on some of the deeper parts of the game. Also, no sign of any sound effects which makes me sad.
Theme - 25/30
You are in space and you are exploring yes, but you're not exploring space itself, just one planet. I know, I'm very picky.
Discretion - 9/15
Had slight glitches with parts of the dialogue whereby I could move the player around, I guess there were a few lockplayer commands missing? I didn't like the way you had to stop shooting before some enemies would die, intentional or not. I also came upon a considerably large bug while playing the board "root 1", sometimes the doors would not unlock when I killed the lazer plants.
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It was a pleasing experience but it seemed a bit untidy in places.
TOTAL: 196
31711 - Final Frontier
Gameplay - 62/75 After reading through paragraph after paragraph of instructions I felt I was ready for the space combat about to commence and ready to kick some ass. I activated my weapons and started shooting right away as I was plummeted right in the middle of it. But what's this? Why aren't they dying? Why are my controls so unresponsive? What's all this random crap doing at the top of my screen? Help me! I didn't know what to make of this part, it was very adventurous of the team to try it out but it just didn't work. I just dodged the enemy spacecraft and headed for my destination.
Now for the good part. The main part of the game (ie. not the space battle) was short but sweet. It contained some well-programmed aliens, who appeared to be quite smart I might add, and some nifty weapons. The bosses were formidable opponents and demanded a great deal of skill from the player, especially that last boss who seemed to be invincible, luckily I got him in a corner, set the speed to one and shot him to death with the pistol...I'm so great. Minor details like the blood and the instant gunfire added some realism to the game.
I didn't see much point in the inventory, maybe if the team had more time it would have played a greater role later on in the game. The ending was quite funny and I felt it was a good way to end the game. It left me wanting more.
Graphics - 49/ 60 On the whole, the visuals to this entry looked very pretty but it did have some tacky moments too. The space battle looked very impressive and made use of multi-char graphics. The status bar seemed to function okay graphically.
Innovation - 30/45 Like I said earlier, the space combat, although an excellent idea, just did not work so I'll only award a couple of points, just for the effort with this. I'd say the robotic standard in this entry wasn't anything spectacular but I really liked the status bar. The weapon engines, although a tinchy bit unresponsive, were something out of the ordinary.
Plot - 30/40 The yellow scrolling text at the beginning reminded me of Star Wars, it was well written and gave you a good idea of what was going on. For an action-adventure game like this I thought it had a good, well-structured storyline with an excellent, unexpected ending.
Music/Sound - 31/35 Lots of monster growls, gunshots and explosions! The sounds added more realism to the whole thing and helped to create a more frantic atmosphere. The music selection was very befitting, I'm completely diggin' the title screen music.
Theme - 27/30 Works well with the topic. Nothing else to report here.
Discretion - 10/15 Lots of bugs, too many to mention, it was mainly overlay stuff. I was pleased to see it was finished though.
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A great all-rounder with some cool ideas but the space battle at the start is a stain on this entry.
TOTAL: 239
39201 - Space Kung Fu
Gameplay - 68/75
A joy to play. It was a game that required some serious thought from the player but it was also kept exciting with its moments of action. The levels worked brilliantly, they were cunningly designed to make this game a rather enjoyable yet challenging experience. Never before have I seen laser beams used so well!
The enemies were tricky little buggers and I felt much pleasure in destroying each one, once I took the time to figure out how they worked I dealt with them much easily. Each time I screwed up in this game I didn't feel so bad because with the simple press of the 'G' key the level was restarted instantly and I was given another chance to beat it.
It has to be said, however, that the game got really tough as it went on. I got very impatient with the last two levels in particular, that's when it started to get a little annoying. At times my character would move too far when I pressed a key which left me feeling rather irritated, especially when encountering enemies. The ending was a bit of a let down, just a few paragraphs to sum up the game. Still, this game was a stunning achievement and it stood out from most of the other entries.
Graphics - 51/ 60
Nothing extraordinary but I loved the 1x2 characters, great work. The level designs were very detailed and nice-looking.
Innovation - 38/45
You won't find many MZX games like this around, I can tell you. It must have taken a lot of planning to make something like this. Also, the narrated story was a fun way to get across what appeared to be a pretty simple storyline.
Plot - 28/40
Quite comical...I didn't quite understand the story at the beginning but it was very funny nonetheless. The ending was a little rushed but then again, it wasn't a serious storyline to begin with.
Music/Sound - 32/35
The sound effects were used well with the game, I thought the music was very befitting for this sort of genre and...Yay for narrated storyline!
Theme - 24/30
More to do with space than exploration really, although the plot does mention flying off into space so I wont deduct so many marks for that.
Discretion - 12/15
The movement was just a little iffy sometimes and I noticed a few deleted floor tiles but apart from that, this was a solid-built game.
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Great concept combined with a weird and wacky storyline.
TOTAL: 253
42914 - Secret Galaxy
Gameplay - 1/75
Uh, just jumped around a bit and saw a tortoise.
Graphics - 20/ 60
What was there was not bad. It also had a multi-char player and enemy that looked okay. There wasn't much of this around so I can't give away many marks for this.
Innovation - 2/45
Apart from a fully functioning jumping engine there was none to be seen, even my gun never seemed to cool down. The planet selection screen was pointless.
Plot - 20/40
It did have a good background story, although one board had a yellow background which obscured the white text so I couldn't make some of it out.
Music/Sound - 4/35
It came with a bit of music.
Theme - 30/30
Yes, full marks here. It does stick with this theme 100%.
Discretion - 0/15
Nothing works because it is unfinished!
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Hint for DoZs people: Manage your time wisely.
TOTAL: 77
44305 - Chronicles
Gameplay - 55/75
I had a whale of a time with that sword, it seemed to work pretty well (most of the time) and wow! You can climb up walls with it! The light gravity in this platformer made the jumping quite easy to control, although I did find myself floating on some occasions, pretty weird. It was a real let down to see so many bugs in one entry, the team didn't even bother to link the asteroid board to the next level, which brings the game to an abrupt end. I had to go back in the editor myself and fix this, I just replaced a = with a <.
Back into the game, it was nice to see the way in which the enemies interacted with the environment. Sometimes they would jump over obstacles and were all harmed by the spikes. The game was also quite diverse, with the asteroid dodge and the 'Hurry-and-get-to-the-top' level. The team did well to gradually raise the difficulty as the game went on, and it didn't get too hard either.
Graphics - 45/ 60
The chars were drawn with great detail and the backgrounds were well drawn. Some parts, however, just looked a bit ugly. I didn't quite get what the graphics were supposed to mean in between levels but they looked okay, nothing fancy mind.
Innovation - 35/45
Like I said before, the sword engine made this game a helluva lot more fun to play and the diversity of gameplay also made this game a bit more stimulating. The jumping engine didn't always work to the player's advantage in some places but it was a nice idea.
Plot - 31/40
There was a well-written story throughout this game. It was presented well in between levels and really got me into the game more. The ending reminded me of another MZX game which had a similar twist, a game that I know pretty well, wink.
Music/Sound - 29/35
A variety of music backed up with some explosive sound effects. I thought the music in between levels was very befitting. Loved the final boss theme.
Theme - 29/30
Sticks to the space exploration theme pretty well.
Discretion - 4/15
There were way too many bugs, an inexcusable amount. The jumping engine was very buggy and I had to restart the game on a few occasions because I couldn't jump. The sword engine got a bit faulty at times when latching onto walls. The missing board link between the asteroid level and the proceeding one was really annoying too.
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A platformer with a twist, just not polished.
TOTAL: 228
52671 - Demon Surge
Gameplay - 67/75
The game was set within a stunning environment and you immediately got the feel of the game when you began. The stealth engine, although a little basic, worked fine and made the atmosphere seemed quite intense. Each enemy appeared to be cleverly positioned forcing the player to think hard about each and every move. Once I completed the game for the first time I was quite surprised to find out about the other two 2 endings to be unlocked. I was compelled to play it again and find out what I was missing out on. You get a little more storyline when you achieve ending A and the plot takes a slight twist.
The difficulty was set just right throughout and I was able to accomplish all 3 endings with some great challenges along the way. I found the sword engine really easy to control and it responded well. The multiple endings gave it a great replay factor. The cut scenes in between levels did well to keep me interested in the game and I enjoyed exploring some of those realistic environments. I think a more complex stealth system could have made this an even better game to play.
Graphics - 55/ 60
Some brilliantly drawn boards, the attention to detail was great. The colours on each level blended well with each other and helped set the mood for the game. I loved the artwork on the cutscenes, excellent work.
Innovation - 41/45
The stealth engine seemed to fit well but could have done with a bit more complexity to make it more realistic. Multiple endings are always a welcome edition to any MZX game especially when there's a deep storyline like this.
Details like the enemy alert status and that outburst of steam are neat little ideas.
Plot - 38/40
Written excellently, contains a lot of twists and turns. Your background story becomes more apparent as the game progresses and you have the power to change which way the game goes.
Music/Sound - 28/35
There was nothing really special about the sound in this entry. The 'alert' music seemed to work quite well. The whole thiing have done with some more sound effects to add that extra realism but all in all it sounded okay.
Theme - 8/30
I'm sorry but it didn't seem to fit with the theme enough. There were a few mentions of "growth" and I guess you were slowly transforming into a demon, but the game on the whole barely sticks with it.
Discretion - 12/15
A few overlay bugs here and there but nothing major, apart from that, everything seemed to run without a hitch.
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It was an astonishing entry but it didn't stick with the theme enough.
TOTAL: 249
60315 - Valve Preasure
Gameplay - 64/75
It was your usual MZX shoot-em-up but with a twist; you had find the switches contained in each level before the time ran out and the pressure got too high. This gave the game an intense and exhilarating feel to it, but saying that, it seemed that the first level was the only part of the game where something happened when the time ran out, I hope I'm not wrong about this.
There were some neat enemies throughout this entry that were programmed really well and put up a good fight. Both bosses, although a little easy, were equipped with some awesome weapons and functioned okay. Ammo was placed resourcefully in all the levels making sure the player had enough bullets to beat each level without worrying too much about running out, the same went for the health aswel.
This wasn't particularly long but it did contain a lot of action and felt like a worthwhile game to play. It was a shame the ending was so poor, just a couple of lines in a default text box, pfft.
Graphics - 53/ 60
Some great char work in this. The 1x2 player looked very slick and the enemy designs were well drawn and animated nicely. The choice of colour throughout the game was picked well too. Not too sure about that title screen though.
Innovation - 31/45
Although the valve pressure release was a nice extension to the gameplay, I didn't see much difference with this and any other MZX shooter out there. There was only one weapon and like I said before, there was only one instance where I saw the maximum valve pressure take effect. I must say though, the robotic behind some of the enemies in this was pretty impressive and gave the game a little more sparkle.
Plot - 20/40
Okay, this was an action shooter so plot isn't the main theme going on here but still, I saw tons of room for improvement with this. Nothing story-wise was told in between levels and that ending was just, well, pooh. Quite disappointing.
Music/Sound - 33/35
Oh yes, the sound effects were done marvellously, I especially loved those frightening growls, excellent. The music was quite dark and moody which set a great atmosphere about the game but it was quite up-pace at times too. The sound did well to compliment the gameplay.
Theme - 20/30
It's more about exploring a spaceship rather than space really.
Discretion - 12/15
A few char glitches here and there but everything seemed to run well. The passwords got overwritten at the bottom of the screen sometimes which was a little annoying. But overall, there was nothing much wrong with this.
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Great action but nothing groundbreaking.
TOTAL: 233
66108 - Super Space Adventure 3D
Gameplay - 8/75
I didn't quite know what to make of this one. It was basically just a game where you spoke to different people and played a really boring game of "shoot the squares". Very linear. Nothing much else to say really.
Graphics - 9/ 60
Too simplistic, it lacked in all departments. I can't stand walking through big empty rooms... It's pointless.
Innovation - 4/45
Points awarded for the box shooting game. That is all.
Plot - 15/40
A bit random but funny in parts. Seemed as if most of the team's effort went into the plot. It did have a fair bit of dialogue but for a comedy game though, it just wasn't funny enough.
Music/Sound - 2/35
No music, just boring default MZX sound effects.
Theme - 27/30
The background story does involve going into space and exploring.
Discretion - 7/15
Couldn't find any bugs.
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Hrmmm, very strange.
TOTAL: 72
79840 - Blacktropics
Gameplay - 17/75
There was a lot of meaningless conversing to begin with, the word "N***a" was used way too much for my liking, it was highly unnecessary and not funny. Were the phone numbers even there for a reason? The shoot 'em up part was dull and short-lived (thankfully), using built-in enemies like that is just a sign of laziness, at least they weren't overused. This game was very short and the abrupt ending was very unsatisfying.
Graphics - 38/ 60
The map screen looked okay and some parts contained some well laid out boards. I wasn't too keen on the use of colour, although they did give the game a bit of a cartoon feel to it. The guy in the big house looked pretty funny in the cut-scene, I laughed quite a lot at that.
Innovation - 6/45
Went from RPG mode into action mode, some tiny innovation there, but oh no! Built-in enemies! ak!
Plot - 21/40
For a comedy game I thought the humour in this was too simple. The ending was very silly, made me giggle slightly.
Music/Sound - 25/35
This game had great music, it was catchy and very uplifting. I saw no sign of any .wav SFX, a pity.
Theme - 9/30
Right at the very end you are sent out into space in a rocket, not good enough.
Discretion - 12/15
A couple of char glitches but nothing major. There was also a lot of meaningless stuff, could have been unfinished ...Maybe.
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A bit dull and not all that funny.
TOTAL: 128
81762 - The Gardener
Gameplay - 51/75
This was a very amusing entry indeed. Although the gameplay elements were quite simplistic, this was a well thought-out and funny game. It contained all sorts of weird and wonderful absurdity, like making old people explode, very good indeed. It also had the occasional humorous one-liner like "You take the Canadian." sidesplitting stuff.
One thing that got me a little stressed was the fact that I could only pick up certain items at certain parts of the game. It took me a while to figure out I had to go back and get the cone thing and the T.V which I was unable to pick up at the start of the game. Apart from this, everything else seemed to run smoothly. The inventory didn't help me much but it was nice to know it was there in case I needed it.
I thought the ending was hilarious, it was very predictable but still made me laugh hysterically. I got a great deal of enjoyment out of playing this game, it was just a little too basic for my liking.
Graphics - 29/ 60
Very ZZTish but it wasn't untidy. It could have done with a lot more detail, I couldn't even make out what some items were. The title screen wasn't very pretty.
Innovation - 20/45
The inventory engine was done nicely and the idea of collecting ingredients for your plants to grow was a good one. Nothing really sets this apart from other MZX adventurers though.
Plot - 28/40
The story was pretty original and was very funny in parts. There wasn't much plot during the game, it was mainly made up of comical pieces of dialogue. The ending was excellent, drawn a nice close to the game.
Music/Sound - 2/35
No music or .wavs, just built-in SFX. This let the game down big-time.
Theme - 30/30
Oh yes, make those plants grow!
Discretion - 13/15
When you die the game just froze and did not cut to an end game board, the same happened with the ending. That was about it really.
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Very funny but it lacked depth and good looks.
TOTAL: 173
81802 - The Dawn of Zeux
Gameplay - 69/75
From RPG to shooter to puzzler to platfromer to just straight up button bashing, this game had it all. I was very impressed with the amount of detail that went into this game, incredible stuff. The action part of the game was where the most fun was to be had, where you had to shoot monsters and gain EXP (not that you could ever level up with an EXP target like that), the monsters were programmed well and kept me on my toes.
You were also required to use your head in some places, like beating the spectrum puzzle and listening out for Mike Jones to rap that all important phone number. I didn't quite get the whole "Mighty Bomb Jack" part, it seemed a little random but it was quite enjoyable to play nonetheless. The electric shock and 9/11 key-bashing games added a bit of excitement to the whole thing, they were a little easy to beat but I figured out that if you bashed too quickly your energy would not increase.
What held the gameplay back, I felt, were the very long, and sometimes boring, cut-scenes. That scene in the house went on for too long and withdrew a lot of energy from the game. Some of the cut-scenes however were quite funny and kept me locked into the game. The intro made me laugh but I thought the ending was a bit quick.
Graphics - 58/ 60
Excellent work. The graphics reminded me of those classic RPGs you would get for the SNES(Super Famicom), the board designs were magnificent and contained great detail. I really liked the static border too, it gave it that retro factor. The cinematic scenes were nicely drawn, never seen MZX braids drawn so well.
Innovation - 44/45
The gameplay was very versatile and the puzzles were wittingly thought out. I haven't seen anything in MZX like those electric shock/911 mini games before, great stuff. Getting political messages across in MZX is also something new to me, whether I agree with them or not, it's still an original thing to do.
Plot - 30/40
Ah yes, politics. The team obviously felt they had to get a their political views across in this, I'm not saying this is a bad thing but I felt at times it spoilt the game, it just got a bit boring after a while. The long dialogue sequences didn't carry the story along in some parts, it just felt like a lecture in post-911 terrorism at times. I found the comedy aspect much more enjoyable, there were some very humorous moments in this.
Music/Sound - 34/35
Mike Jones in the place! The soundtrack was awesome, it fit the game so well and it had a jukebox to top it off. The sound effects were used well and yeah... C-C-Crunk it up!
Theme - 9/30
I think drug growth was mentioned and there was a big lecture on business franchise. I'm not too sure about this.
Discretion - 12/15
Like I said earlier, those button-bashing mini-games didn't respond well when I pressed the keys really fast. Also, in the caves, if you held up when walking through a tunnel you'd get transported really fast between locations.
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Remarkable stuff but the politics held it back in some parts.
TOTAL: 256
86970 - Shoot the Enemy and Win.
Gameplay - 2/75
It was more of a story than a game. This was weird, I didn't know what to make of it.
Graphics - 25/ 60
Pretty simple, there wasn't much to see with those small boards. For a story game I would have expected better visuals than this.
Innovation - 3/45
It was odd, I'll give it that.
Plot - 19/40
To spite its strangeness it was well written and had some funny moments. I still didn't get most of it though.
Music/Sound - 0/35
Nada.
Theme - 27/30
It's all about growing up and facing obstacles in life...I think.
Discretion - 10/15
The player could wander off anywhere on some boards.
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Odd.
TOTAL: 86
98083 - Space Invader.
Gameplay - 21/75
After many attempts I could not complete this game, gasp. It was just too hard when you are given so little ammo for each level, it left me felling really frustrated. On top of this, the controls were horribly unresponsive throughout the whole game.
I must say though, some of the enemies were programmed really well and a few of them reacted to the player in an intelligent sorta way. When I did have ammo, I found the battles were not that hard and I found it quite enjoyable. The jet pack was fun to use and it spiced things up a little, but then again it didn't always respond to my key press, ak.
Graphics - 30/ 60
There was some nice char work but some of those level designs were just a bit repetitive and uninteresting. The colours could have done with a little tweaking too but the graphics were not bad on the whole.
Innovation - 29/45
The jet pack and space exploration element sets this game apart from other MZX sidescrollers out there. I also liked the idea that you had to kill all of the enemies in each level before you could leave, it was a shame I didn't have enough ammo to do this.
Plot - 5/40
I just saw a couple of sentences that let me know what was happening, I know it was a sidescroller but still, more effort was needed here.
Music/Sound - 0/35
None at all.
Theme - 30/30
You explore the solar system and invade different planets, excellent.
Discretion - 3/15
For the lack of ammo and the appalling unresponsiveness. Had these problems been rectified we could have been looking at a completely different game here.
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It's a shame because I saw a lot potential with this one.
TOTAL: 118
99086 - Space Exploration
Gameplay - 40/75
It was the humour that really drove this game, it was the only reason I had the urge to keep on playing. The jokes were a little simplistic at times but they did manage to keep the game amusing. It was a good idea by the author(s) to include the action-side-scrolling parts; it made the game more challenging and a little more enjoyable, although the monsters were not the brightest of creatures. The atomic yo-yo was pretty cool and fun to use on the enemies, I wish it didn't fly through the walls though. The map system, although very plain, was pretty well made and managed to add more freedom to the game.
Getting further into the game, however, I found myself getting quite frustrated walking through long, pointless corridors and walking into those horrifying invisible walls. It was funny for about 3 seconds. I managed to beat this game in about 15 minutes, which is not bad for a DoZ game but it was a shame that most of it was meaningless.
Graphics - 28/ 60
I would describe the graphics as mediocre. The colours were bright and cheerful which helped to lift the mood of the game. The downfall here was the poor level design along with the occasional use of default chars, the title screen was pretty damn ugly.
Innovation - 9/45
Mixing the adventure and platform genres was the only real innovation this game had. Damn those invisible walls.
Plot - 26/40
Pretty basic story although it was pretty humorous. It's basically "You need to buy a new van so you have to find the Bollars to pay for it!". There were a lot of wacky characters in this with some great lines that made me chuckle. The ending seemed to be a bit rushed though but it did make me laugh.
Music/Sound - 28/35
Crazy, silly music which went with the game nicely. No sign of any .wav SFX unfortunately which could have made the game a lot funnier.
Theme - 30/30
The game was all about space exploration.
Discretion - 8/15
I found a couple of bugs with this. The minor bug being that you have to stop yo-yoing the walking monsters before they explode. The other bug is a biggie: With the "hat wearing guy", once you have the phone number for the bellyaching professional you can keep selecting the option to give him the phone number, thus receiving infinite Bollars.
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A good effort but a lot of it was pointless.
TOTAL: 169
RANKS
1 39201 Space Kung Fu
2 81802 Dawn of Zeux
3 19962 Cheese's Adventure
4 31340 React
5 52671 Demon Surge
6 37052 Growth and Consolidation
7 44305 Chronicles
8 60315 Valve Pressure
9 31711 Final Frontier
10 81762 The Gardener
11 99096 Space Exploration
12 9801 A Sad Game
13 98083 Space Invader
14 5364 Galaxy Slime
15 79840 Blacktropix
16 21986 Agent Ballpark
17 86970 Shoot the Enemy to Win
18 66108 Super Space Adventure 3D
19 42914 Secret Galaxy
20 6170 A Space Exploration Game of Some Sort