King's Quest ZZT 2

Definitely not as, uh, lethargic as the first KQZZT. This one is three files long, but it doesn’t really feel like much takes place within its 100+ boards. The overall style has not changed: there is still a lot of walking (along with that, constantly reconfiguring the game speed) and not much going on in most screens. I guess it’s okay.

Like 1, this tribute game feels a little off. Prince Alexander is practically on a war path. Many subquests involve amassing weapons, killing people because they’re in the way, and getting revenge by hacking the villain to pieces. (It’s not as off as the first one, where Alexander poisons the enemy guards’ drinking water and then hacks the villain to bits.) There are goblins to kill while strolling down the dirt road to elf town, and ogres to kill in RPG fights. Then you get to kill wolves, bats, and enemy guards.

This is based on a series where you’re a damn dweeb who can't kill a flea without being chastised and guilt-tripped; where you can’t hit someone or do anything outrageous because it’s bad manners. Where the king can drown in a lake because he forgot to swim.

Along with these sensibilities, the frustrating riddles and gridlocked, shapeless environments that plagued the actual series are also gone. (Hooray!) But that doesn't really leave much to do...

The storyline doesn't seem to matter much, even though it starts pretty heavily. In file one, you are chasing some dudes, in two you revisit areas from the first game, and in three you're running errands for people. The RPG battle engine is pretty boring, the only strategy being save and restore until the enemy randomly picks the weakest attack a few times so you can stay alive long enough to kill him blah blah blah. You fight enemies in the usual touch combat way, which is not too annoying in this case. There is a good platforming engine and a kool room with spears that extend and retract through the walls.

There are also some minor issues, like objects disguised as passages that tell you you can't use them (so annoying). And why does the player burn himself whenever he looks at fire goddammit

I had a lot of fun playing this. There aren't many better adventure games, and this is kind of like the first King's Quest ZZT except better.

The graphics are some of ZZT's best, and the story's kind of interesting, as random as it is.

There are ZZT's games that are good, but not so good to remain in players' minds. There are game inspired from films, games or other that aren't good as the original. But there are also games as good as the original, funny, challenging, amazing. King's Quest ZZT and King's Quest ZZT 2 are two of those. You'll never forget them.

Graphic-9 Sound-10 Challenge-10 Longevity-9 Enjoyment-10

Overall-10

Final Score-(10/2)=5

I played this quite a while ago, and remember being struck with two things.

1) How generic it was. The story, the gameplay, and the characters didn't feel very new.

2) How well-executed it was. Aside from a nasty problem in the opening, I didn't run into any severe bugs, and found that there was more than technical competence here. The graphics looked nice, the gameplay was neat, and, although I knew where the game was going, it was a fun ride.

I'm not going to give a detailed critique of the plot and writing here, because you probably know what I'm going to say. It's passable. The gameplay is what holds this together, and there are some solid enough engines. The villain's forgettable, but so what?

This is a game that does stuff correctly. It's fun and varied in its gameplay. It entertained me. For that, it gets a 5.

Nice game, lullo.

Awesome game. Good graphics, gameplay, and story sums it up nicely. It also has nice rpg battles, with an lot of creatures. Great game.

I have never been so offended by a game in my life. This game not only degrades my name, but my position as king. The graphics are even worse than my first quest! Whutup wit dat!? I never once smiled during one of my adventures, or looked up constantly!

Countless innacuracies, and a lack of both plot and interest, both make this game unplayable.