MegaZeux Excellence Awards

The MegaZeux Excellence Awards (also known by its abbreviation, MZXEA) were conceived by Adam (myth) Parrish as an annually-held awards ceremony where the community voted on their favorite MegaZeux games released that year. In actuality, only three were ever held: the first two were held in 1996 and 1997, after which community interest began to wane. A final effort was made by Hercules to revive the tradition in 2000, which was ultimately to be the last MZXEA. In general, the perception was and is that there are not enough high-quality MZX games released on a yearly basis to justify the ceremony, and everyone is already aware of those games that are high-quality anyway. In addition, controversy over Luke Drelick engaging in ballot stuffing for his game, Engine 2, caused a decline in faith in the legitimacy and credibility of the awards.

Awards

The MZXEA had three major awards for best overall game, each represented by an ampersand (&). The Gold Ampersand went to the best game released that year, while the Silver and Bronze Ampersands were awarded to the two runners-up. Genre-specific awards were also given, including awards for Best Unfinished/Demo Game and Best DoZ Game. (This needs to be rewritten with specific rules and regulations, including a description of the council system. Relevant details are at [1])

History

1996

Ampersands

Award	Winner	Author
Gold	Orb of the Twisted Demo	Nathan Ridley
Silver	Weirdness	Software Visions
Bronze	Honor Quest	Darren Hewer

Category Winners

Category	Winner	Author
Best Action-Oriented Game	Damaged Mind	Darren Hewer
Best Adventure Game	Honor Quest	Darren Hewer
Best Comedy Game	Darkness	Darren Hewer
Best Puzzle-Oriented Game	Weirdness	Software Visions
Best Graphics	Orb of the Twisted Demo	Nathan Ridley
Best Sound/Music	Weirdness	Software Visions
Best Demo/Unfinished Game	Quest of Durin Prerelease	Adam Parrish
Best Utility/Engine	MegaZeux Encyclopedia v1a	Software Visions
Best Website/Internet Resource	MegaZeux Stockpile	Barney9651

Nominees

Best Action Game		Best Adventure Game
Damaged Mind	Darren Hewer	Honor Quest	Darren Hewer
Nick Brick	Jubal Scharold	Engine	Luke Drelick
Bomb Brothers	Jeremy Lamar	Crystal Cities	Millenium Software
Super Zero II	Visitech	Zog the Hunter	Nathan Ridley
		Caverns of Zeux	Software Visions
Best Comedy Game		Best Puzzle Game
Darkness	Darren Hewer	Flik!	Helios Software
Funky Chunkey Monkey	Scott Hammack	Calmness	Darren Hewer
Oh No, Not Another Star Wars Parody!	Kevin Vance	Weirdness	Software Visions
Yapok Sundria 2, Castle of the Aardvarks	Daniel Haug
Best Graphics		Best Sound/Music
Weirdness	Software Visions	Weirdness	Software Visions
Bloodgate	Tom Ivey	Honor Quest	Darren Hewer
Slimed	Helios Software	Bloodgate	Tom Ivey
Quest of Durin Prerelease	Adam Parrish	Engine	Luke Drelick
Orb of the Twisted Demo	Nathan Ridley
Best Demo		Best Utility/Engine
Quest of Durin Prerelease	Adam Parrish	MZX Encyclopedia	Software Visions
Orb of the Twisted	Nathan Ridley	Smileys	Adam Parrish
Sivion	Clint Neilson	Autoscroll	Kevin Vance
Bloodgate	Tom Ivey	Majik Boomerang Engine	Majik
TGOMDDAD	Luke St. Clair	Saint Games Sword Engine	Luke St. Clair
Best Website/Internet Resource
Megazeux Stockpile	Barney9651
Matt Williams's ZZT and Megazeux Page	Matt Williams
Realm of Megazeux	Adam Parrish
MegaZealot Links Page	Darren Hewer
Scott Hammack's Megazeux Page	Scott Hammack

Council Members

Adam Parrish (chairman)

Gregory Janson

Matt Williams

Kevin Vance

Darren Hewer

Scott Hammack

Luke Drelick

Nathan Ridley

Barney9651

Evan Furchtgott

1997

Original MZXEA 1997 Page)

Best Action Game

   * Midnight Bomber vs the City -- Impulse Software (?)
   * Talon's Tale -- Jeremy Lamar
   ** Time Trial -- Destiny Software (?)
   * Tae Kwon Do Joe -- Eon Entertainment (?)

Best Adventure Game

   * Honor Quest II -- Chapter 1 -- Autumn Dreams (Darren Hewer)
   * Honor Quest Special Edition -- Autumn Dreams (Darren Hewer and Adam Parrish)
   *& Eggplant Adventure -- Draconic Creations (Casey McCann)
   * Portals -- Damien Wellman/SkidMark Int'l
   * Blade of Islan -- Duky Incorporated (Luke Drelick)

Best Comedy

   *& Cans ][ -- Destiny Software (inmate2993)
   * Final Fantasy EdVenture -- Duky Incorporated (Luke Drelick)
   * MegaZeux Superstar -- Autumn Dreams (Greg Falcon)
   * Smiley RPG -- Destiny Software (?)
   * Spirit Revenge -- Autumn Dreams (Yenrab)

Best Puzzle Game

   ** Dylan's Gems -- Stargazer
   * Bomb Threat -- Intervision Software (?)
   * Darbytown II -- DNB Productions (?)

Best Graphics

   * Xenogenesis -- Autumn Dreams
   * Zog the Hunter 2 demo -- Autumn Dreams (Nathan Ridley)
   * Blade of Islan -- Duky Incorporated (Luke Drelick)
   * Honor Quest Special Edition -- Autumn Dreams (Darren Hewer)
   ** Booshkies -- Draconic Creations (Eric Drobile)

Best Sound/Music

   *& Honor Quest Special Edition -- Autumn Dreams (Darren Hewer and Adam Parrish)
   * Dylan's Gems -- Stargazer
   * Blade of Islan -- Duky Incorporated (Luke Drelick)
   * Spirit Revenge -- Autumn Dreams (yenrab)
   * MegaZeux Superstar -- Autumn Dreams (Greg Falcon)

Best Demo

   ** Xenogenesis -- Autumn Dreams
   * Booshkies -- Draconic Creations (Eric Drobile)
   * Shining Legend demo -- Autumn Dreams (?)
   * Bernard the Bard Demo -- Jeremy Lamar
   * Sivion (final) demo -- Autumn Dreams (Clint Neilson)

Best Utility/Engine

   * ASTeRiCk's PCX2CHR converter -- ASTeRiCk
   * Legendd's PALFADE utility -- [[Autumn Dreams (Nathan Ridley)
   * Veloso's MiniCounters -- Autumn Dreams (Greg Falcon)
   * MZXPack -- Brad Faler
   ** MZX Encyclopedia IIa -- Matt Williams

Best Internet Resource

   ** MegaZeux World -- Evan Furchgott
   * Realm of MegaZeux -- Adam Parrish
   * MegaZealot: Links -- Darren Hewer
   * mWorld -- Matt Williams
   * MZX Gamer -- Brett Smith

2000

(I will do these later, or someone else can. Relevant details are at [2])