XZR: Exile (ZZT Remix) by _ry0suke_

Title Screen

February's pick was simply no contest. _ry0suke_'s game XZR: Exile (ZZT Remix) was clearly the best game uploaded, although there were a couple of noteworthy releases ... Raze's Sim: Life, it must be admitted, is beginning to attain some vague semblance of amusement.

Please note that this month an exception has been made. This game is not complete; it cuts off in the middle of the third file, but it was superior to all the complete games uploaded this month.

OMG!

Inside the Cathedral

Before I begin, I'd like to point out that this game is not, to the best of my knowledge, original; it is based on an RPG originally released on MSX and later to PC Engine and the Sega Megadrive. I have not played this game, so if I make any mistakes here, ignore me. Everyone else does.

You play Sadler, an assassin with a 'free mind' employed in a 'save-the-world' quest by a suspicious character who commands a branch of the French foreign legion. Your quest to find a small object, the Holimax, with AMAZING POWER will take you to the desert, a group of islands, and uh ... France and Japan.

Because of the lack of originality I can't commend _ry0suke_ for the plot of the game, but the graphics are quite nice, and the programming very sound.

At a whopping three files long (admittedly some large, empty boards are partly to blame) XZR looks like a bastard to finish, but the difficulty is actually very low. Both melee and projectile combat systems are used, and there are a number of bosses that are rather disappointingly easy to beat.

Mountain Shrine

There are some nice sound effects, but virtually no music. While the art board graphics are pretty good, the graphics of the playable boards are a bit mediocre. There's also a lot of 'walking around' to do ... usually involved with one of the puzzles.

It's also slightly buggy. One can't play through it without encountering a couple of bugs, and I noticed a few more ... mainly problems with board connection. All that makes it sound a bit bad, but it's actually quite fun to play through, if you have the patience ...

7 / 10