♦ Livestream of 4 ZZT worlds. ♦
♦ Stream Contents ♦
• (3:08) "Weird" by Mark McIntyre (1995) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/weirdmm/]
• (12:41) "Math" by Mark McIntyre (1995) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/mathmm/]
• (24:46) "Pablo" by Mark McIntyre (1995) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/pablomm/]
• (1:07:26 - Note that the title screen is a bit flashy) "Tour of Lunar Designs" by SkyWalkRo (1999) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/ldtour/]
The remaining Mark M. worlds in the queue! These have all been pretty solid, and these last three (plus a tacked on magazine).
We begin with "Weird" which quickly lives up to its name thanks to ZZT crashing out of nowhere very early on with no clear cause as to what happened. It's colorful, it's got a neat little action board using a moving barrier to avoid spinning guns while also navigating around puddles of water, and it's got a half-hearted invisible wall board. There really isn't much to say about Weird, other than it's over quickly and doesn't do anything that would make you regret those few minutes spent in it.
Then comes, "Math", which also lives up to its name. As far as ZZT edutainment goes, this is on the less interesting end. Pick from two levels and answer multiple choice math problems that never go beyond basic arithmetic. Like, I don't know, 2nd maybe 3rd grade level? While the educational component lacks excitement, the levels are set within some nice looking boards with players answering math problems to make their way to a large castle or board a space ship. The latter of which also has ammo and enemies to fight on one screen making for a somewhat more engaging experience. Answering incorrectly causes you to lose ten health so there is a game over condition, and the space path can in theory become more challenging if your math skills aren't where it wants them to be.
"Pablo" comes next, the game we all wanted to see from last week. It's a bizarre adventure with some strong Dungeons of ZZT influences. Pablo's friend Ramone has gone missing, and you need to find him. This involves a roundabout quest to get inside a castle, paying bridge trolls, and hunting for keys. It's okay, and some of the prettier boards make this one a bit more memorable than a standard ZZT adventure. Notable for having a side board "The Joke Hut" which contains a double digit number of jokes you'd find in a kid's joke book, relying mostly on wordplay for humor.
Finally, just because it would have been quite short otherwise, we take a look at a magazine world for Lunar Designs, or more accurately a demo disk. This is the company that brought us games like "The Legend of Pikachu: Pokeflute of Time" in which Pikachu takes on the role of Link and Tifa from Final Fantasy 7 takes on the role of Zelda. A number of brief demos of author SkyWalkRo's games are included, as well as two unseen adventures.
- "Fantasy Lake 1" by MAkev showing a villain, Xannan, capturing a bunch of townsfolk as revenge for an unnamed injustice they suffered 20 years ago. Xannan kills the protagonist's father and you vow revenge.
- And "Space:Spacestation 37" by both SkyWalkRo and MAkev, a sci-fi game where aliens have taken over the spacestation, and you need to save it. You don't get much story or action with this one unfortunately.
Good job to Mark and those in Lunar Designs, making some games that were definitely worth poking around in this week.
♦ Play these worlds directly in your browser ♦
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/weirdmm/
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/mathmm/
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/pablomm/
• https://museumofzzt.com/file/play/ldtour/
♦ Originally streamed on October 27th, 2024 ♦
