Title: Zack Zero Format: PSN Release Date: January 2012 Publisher: Crocodile Entertainment Developer: Crocodile Entertainment Price: $6.29 ESRB Rating: E
Zack Zero is a good reason that I am for Indie Developers getting a chance to release on a major platform like PSN. Playing through this simple indie title, felt like watching a saturday morning cartoon.
Presentation/Story:Zack's story is told in a comic book style atmosphere, and I love that about it. The narrative is simple and serves as a strong enough foundation for your short playthrough. Zulrog is your typical bad guy, who kidnaps Zack's main squeeze. The narration of the story is told with the completion of each level. The guy doing the narration sounds okay, but can get annoying at times. Visually, the game looks solid and polished. From desert canyons to futuristic bases, the game's environments have a wide range of locales. Vibrant colors keep the game looking fresh every time you boot a new level up. The developers also uses cool tricks to make the 2D levels convert into 3D, with depth illusions similar to Littlebigplanet.
Core Gameplay:Zack Zero is a standard 2D platformer, the name of the game is jump over obstacles, killing enemies, and reaching the end of the level alive. You won't have many problems reaching the end, the game's checkpoint system is very forgiving, which is great. Even though the game is in 2D, enemies will come from the foreground and the background, creating a 3D feel and look. The staple of this game is all wrapped up in Zack's suit, which has 3 different manipulations, which grants you different and specific powers. Fire allows you to glide and send out waves of flame. Ice lets you slow down time, and Rock lets you move heavy objects and can destroy fragile surfaces allowing you to reach different areas. The new 1.01 patch was released, mostly to rid the game of bugs. The patch didn't get every bug though, you will still see the mini bosses stuck in an animation and can't attack. Gameplay is still solid, and with the patch, very playable.
Final Thoughts:Indie developers are making long strides at releasing good titles on PSN and XBLA. Zack Zero is a cool game that has a lot of promise, but a few bugs can hinder your overall experience and holds it back from being good.
Final Rating = 6.75/10 Email: [email protected] Twitter: @iSamKulii Apps: S&S Reviews on Apple and Android Stores
