Zazmo arcade is a fun little collection of 5 old school games which may not be the thing everyone wants to play but there is a lot to appreciate in the simplicity of it all, and if you had grown up playing games during the right era, you will definitely feel the tags of nostalgia dragging you further into the game.
First we have tank wars. Tank wars is a slightly modernised take on Battle City on the NES, with slightly upgraded controls due to the invention of the twin analogue sticks on the controllers these days. Overall it’s quite challenging to begin but gets better as you go and learn the intricacies of the shots. Breakdown is a fun combination of Super Puzzle Fighter and Arkanoid which was extremely difficult at first but I ended up having a lot of fun facing the AI in various games. It's very intense and quickly became my favorite game of the collection. The visuals are cheery and bright and do a good job of conveying the mood the game wants you to be in.
Mazard is next up on our list. I’m not sure I ever played anything that could have been the inspiration for this game but based on the other games I’m sure there was something behind this. It wasn’t my favourite game of the lot, but wasn’t too bad. You run around in a maze and kill aliens. There’s 3 different types of enemies. A normal enemy that just runs around, one that goes invisible and one that occasionally shoots bullets. None are particularly difficult to deal with once you get used to them but the combination can be quite lethal.
Next we come to last stand. This is reminiscent of asteroids from the Atari except you are also tasked with defending crystals from enemy ships. These ships caused way too much frustration to enjoy this game. Each of the other games were difficult but there was a gradual increase in my scores as I got more used to the game. This just always felt unfair. The enemies come out in force and are shooting bullets which feel impossible to dodge besides with luck. Either way I had a bit of fun with it but quickly got tired.
Lastly we have Robs Adventure. This is a space invaders style game where you are constantly flying towards the top of the screen and need to kill the enemies. There are various upgrades available but in all honesty there is one that sort of breaks the game. I tried 2 or 3 runs and had discovered the missile launcher was the best weapon. Once you have 2 or 3 upgrades (the max amount) it's basically just a point and shoot until you accidentally end up getting hit by a stray bullet. This game was pretty good and I get the occasional temptation to go back to it. Overall I think this is a nice collection and I think everyone should give it a chance.
I give it a score of 7.5/10.
