♦ Let's Play of the ZZT world "Tower of ZZT" by David Newton (2000) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/towerzzt/]. ♦
I got sick and was basically unable to do anything for a solid week! So, while feeling somewhat functional, I opted to do a quick recording of a game as I had made 0 progress on the next Closer Look.
Which brings us to Tower of ZZT, the first in an early 2000s trilogy of "Retro" ZZT worlds inspired by the original series. David locks the very same player from Sweeney's games up in a tower, and demands they find the five purple keys to head back outside.
What you get is a fairly decent take on classic ZZT. Unlike Town/Dungeons/Etc. the game is much more structured, divided up into floors with a small number of rooms to explore. This keeps the game moving quickly as travel time is mostly minimized, though it comes at the cost of lighter boards, with the majority of screens rewarding players with a key (purple or otherwise).
The gameplay isn't the most original, with Tower's boards often mapping directly to boards from the original worlds. Robot piloting, slider puzzles, grabbing all the gems on a board filled with monsters... typical stuff. But it is tried and tested material! Fans that know the original saga like the back of their hand will find this one comfortably familiar, but refreshingly new.
Unfortunately, there is a missing board connection that prevents players from obtaining the final key without the use of cheats found in modern ZZT source-ports to arbitrarily change boards. Use something like ClassicZoo to play, and you'll get a low-friction game that understands for better or for worse, what ZZT games were like back in its earliest days.
♦ Play this world directly in your browser ♦
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/towerzzt/
