♦ Livestream of the following 2 ZZT worlds. Originally streamed on March 12th, 2023 ♦
• (0:00) "The Sword of Khan 1" by Unknown (1997) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/mwrpg/]
• (18:01) "The Quest For The Jewled Amulet" by Alexander Hristov (1991) [https://museumofzzt.com/file/view/jewled/]
• (1:24:20) End of Ad Break 1
Two adventures that run long. Due to a lack of time, the third planned game will be delayed for next time.
Starting with The Sword of Khan, a fantasy adventure about defeating the evil serpent king who is slowly conquering more peaceful kingdoms. Suffering from programming errors and a lot of stars, this is a game best enjoyed for its silly writing style. It ends fairly quickly with the plug for a sequel of which no known copy exists.
Then comes The Quest For The Jeweled Amulet, a rare find from all the back in 1991, an era in which ZZT games were free of expecations with little to take inspiration from beyond the official worlds. This one definitely has its share of Town and the other Sweeney ZZT games in it, with a love of mechanical locks especially, but livens things up with a more ambitious plot about defeating various evil characters such as Medusa and Mr. Invisible before taking on the mastermind pulling all the strings.
It's got that off the wall design sense to it, with supermarkets that require throwing rocks at the glass to get inside as one example. The gameplay is pretty solid though the player lacks the health to make this world one that's beatable without cheats unless you're _very_ cautious and reloading after any mistake. It has some cool rooms to it, and towards the end features a few early examples of giant ZZT boss fights. By 1991 standards, this is pretty solid, and has enough charm that even with its flaws, it was still enjoyable for the 100+ minutes of gameplay before abruptly ending as a not quite finished game.
