Christmas 2006 Dualstream Day of Zeux Judging Sheets:Goshi
Team 12984 (Team Pneumatic Drill: +10 Against Concrete Tiles) - Irreplacable Memory
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Theme (Memory) 70/100 -
You take role of a person who is using another person to regain his body. But in doing so you have to repair a girl's memories in order to actually succeed. Or something lie that. The theme is only used in the story though, it isn't used in the game at all which does harm it a bit.
Gameplay 10/90 -
After some cutscenes which take like... forever. You are greeted with a map filled with enemies to slaughter. The game gives you no controls whatsoever but when you do find them out you'll see that combat is very flawed. The most basic of enemies takes a long time kill plus enemies can smack you easily with no way to defend yourself. All enemies seem to enjoy chasing you and easily having you get stuck plus all the rooms seem to look exactly the same. The gameplay is terrible. At least try and make the game fun!
Graphics 50/70 -
We treated to some lovely visuals in the title and introduction. Once we get to the areas things take a little hit. Naomi looks hideous. Seriously. The enemies look a lot better than Naomi. What also goves it a blow is that since all the rooms are the same you'll end up looking at the same thing over and over, this also applies to the text boxes which the game mostly has. The graphics are good, they're clear and all but seeing the same thing over and over is no good at all.
Technique 50/60 -
Customized check boxes? Check.
Fancy looking fades between ASCII art? Check.
Mode 7ish styled scrolling in title screen? Check.
Annoying system made to frustrate player and not checked voer carefully? Check.
Story 40/50 -
Well some guy is using another girl to get his body back or something like that however her memories are damaged and thus he won't be able to get his body because of the girl's damaged memories. He then decides to take the girl's body and use it to repair or her memories. Interesting story but the intro is all you get from it.
Sound 10/30 -
You are treated to some nice music in the intro, that all good and all. The "panic" type tune is very annoying to listen to though. The actual action areas don't seem to have music at all plus the game uses no sound effects whatsoever so you play them in silence. Oh dear.
Overall - 230/400
Bad gameplay and sound really harmed the game. I expected better from you.
Team 21079 (god damn i really have to piss) - Fuzzy loses his memory
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Theme (Memory) 10/100 -
You have to run around through various locales in order to find items which slowly bring back pieces of your memory. Thats all there is to the theme really. Come on guys, you wanted if you wanted focus on gameplay do the other theme.
Gameplay 60/90 -
Basic platformer in which you jump and shoot stuff. You move back a bit when you shoot. The most icky feature is that the designers decided to exploit the moving back feature to make some very frustrating elements in the game. This is really harms the game. There's no other notable standouts really. But being forced to use the push back, adding frustrating play is awful guys.
Graphics 55/70 -
ZZTish styled ASCII fades. They're nice but they're not up to standard to the other games. Some people might also not find it clear to see what is what. Also what the heck are the enemies supposed to be anyway?
Technique 20/60 -
Platforming engines aren't hard to do at all and this one uses the most basic of basic. The weapon system is also basic too. There's no notable technical achivements here at all.
Story 35/50 -
So these slimy things decided to attack you for no reason and took your stuff and bonked you on the back of your head so you forget everything. Now you must trying and get your stuff back and cure yourself from amnesia. Well what I want to know is why the slimy thing bonked you anyway. But it is creative I guess.
Sound 15/30 -
The only song that really stood out to me was the ice cave song but it also stood out since it was in a different style to the rest. The rest of the game didn't use the same calm type song the ice cave did. This isn't any good at all really. Plus for a game that involves getting your memories back, the music is totally inapporiate. The music isn't completely terrible though so yeah... But get some better music guys. (Sorry Blizzard)
Overall - 195/400
General is heavy on the theme now guys. Try the other theme next time.
Team 32427 - Dislocated Memories
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Theme (Memory) 90/100 -
Ooooh this is a clever one. You take role as an assassin and kill people by manipulating memories. Pretty creative. But thats the only thing that has to do with the theme really. You just run around "dislocating" them. But since the game in centered around the theme of memories it all works.
Gameplay 40/90 -
Classical MZX action really. You run around and collect stuff to solve puzzles and beat up some bosses. The game's action sections are quite harsh though, taking only 8 hits plus the bosses enjoy constantly shooting bullets making them a tad difficult to damage. The gameplay has some problems too. The scene for when you gather the memory for example, you take a look at portrait and those things still attack you. Also the wedding battle is totally unfair. The gameplay is weak.
Graphics 50/70 -
The graphics aren't too great either. You got typical smilies and typical MZX graphics. They're simple but they're not excellent. Though you can tell what's what, the graphics have room for plenty of improvment. Also the guy playing the organ at the wedding looks awesome.
Technique 10/60 -
There's nothing amazing here at all. Nothing but basic MZX skills were used here. Lots of basic commands like shoot dir were used. The rooftop battle might've seemed amazing to the Team's eyes but all it was is just a few move commands, nothing more. The side scroller isn't anything amazing either since the jumping is very slow and is pretty annoying. Thankfully the section that uses it isn't too frustrating.
Story 30/50 -
Your a guy who runs around going into people's memories and "dislocating" them thus killing them. You take orders from some mysterious guy who has taught you the technique. You soon eventually ordered to kill the guy who taught you the technique. The kill people using memories is creative but everything else is pretty meh.
Sound 20/30 -
The music is varied in style which isn't too good but the sound effects are what make the score low. They are loud and you hear them a lot which is no good at all.
Overall - 240/400
Not bad, but try something more technical and for godsake don't use too many loud sound effects in battles.
Team 34239 - Fritz Blitz
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Theme (Flight) 15/20 -
You take role as a dragon who flies through the air and wants to become king of flight. In order to do so he must take down these various powerful flying creatures coming in the form of a dragon, a GIANT ENEMY CRAB, an alien and a red blob. While doing this they fly too. Has a good amount of flight in this game.
Gameplay 100/120 -
The game is a typical veritcal shooter. Go through stage and fight a boss. Rince and Repeat. Its not a Danmaku shooter sadly (MZX probably wouldn't be able to do it well anyway), plus you don't have any fancy techniques like in all shmups nowadays (No bomb weapon even) but it IS a shmup. Something MZX doesn't get much and it is done well unlike most MZX shmups so it does get away with it. Its quite reptitive though since you see the same enemies over and over and the bosses minus one follow the same pattern over and over. YOu could at least add an extra bit of variety. Some people might complain about the difficulty though (The shmup genere isn't for everyone afterall), but no marks will get deducted for that.
Graphics 70/90 -
The graphics are quite pixellated and blocky looking and just look ugly overall. The ASCII work done for the mugshots and such look nice though but everything else is meh. Everything is fairly clear to see though. But really, they could've been done a lot better. The little explosions the enemies make are nice though and the backgrounds look good too.
Technique 80/80 -
Big marks here, making a shmup system that actually works is quite a feat in MZX. The movement is done and works and the enemies too. It isn't buggy either which also helps.
Story 10/50 -
Your off to go kill everyone and become the master of flight. Pretty cliche, but then again you wouldn't expect a Xenogears styled plot for the shmup genre, right?
Sound 35/40 -
The music is excellent and apporiate, sound effects are a bit lacking but not really a big deal.
Overall - 310/400
Finally a real shmup for MZX >_>
Team 48625 - Team 48625!
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Theme (Flight) 15/20 -
You have to fly to actually finish the game. And the evil balloons fly too.
Gameplay 30/120 -
A platformer in which you can fly with balloons. Its nothing too exciting really but the gameplay isn't really frustrating at all. The controls aren't too trciky either. The game has no difficulty whatsoever though and well it isn't really that much fun. Also the game is too short.
Graphics 30/90 -
Greg's photo is obviously reused from MZX Superstar. Hello Kitty though looks excellent. However the rest of the graphics are just blue sky, a few clouds, and maybe flying bricks. Very bland and simple but that doesn't score very well.
Technique 70/80 -
It uses sprites, MZMs, and SMZX mode. Pretty technical. Though Hello Kitty does have some collision problems but they're not really too bothersome.
Story 10/50 -
Greg has been kidnapped by some evil green balloons and its up to Hello Kitty and the Red Balloons to stop them and save Greg. Very cliche though a group of a balloons is an original idea for a villian >_>
Sound 25/40 -
The music is just random popular songs from the looks of it. For whatever reason they're suitable however proper songs would be nice. The only sound effect in the game though is a popping noise and some voice samples. The sound is otherwise decent.
Overall - 180/400
Too short, try and find ways to get more time. And get a more reliable team mate.
Team 51976 (Compete) - Team 51976 game (The Show)
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Theme (Memory) 15/100 -
You are given a story to memorise and test your memory. Thats all the game has to do with memory.
Gameplay 5/90 -
Its a memory test. You are given a story and a few details to remember then you have to answer some questions. Not an original concept for one, but just isn't really that much fun.
Graphics 5/70 -
Black space and white text. Oh, and huge grey smiley.
Technique 5/60 -
write overlay c0f "Wow, overlay" at 0 0
Story 5/50 -
While the text at the start sounds meaningful and all the game actually has no plot whatsoever.
Sound 5/30 -
You are given one tune and no sound effects. Amazing.
Overall - 40/400
Thank you guys for giving me an easy to write review.
Team 525 - Aviation Aspiration
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Theme (Flight) 20/20 -
You have kid who dreams of flying a girl with wings. You also fly in the sky in dream sequences.
Gameplay 20/120 -
Your in a fixed position and you fly up and down and shoot things. Not bad but it gets boring fast. Very fast. Espically since you see more of the same several times. Also the Final Test thing is very buggy and seems to be impossible for me. Overall, the gameplay pretty much... sucks.
Graphics 20/90 -
The graphics are blue sky, some clouds and a few metallic things in the air too. The cutscene graphics are step up... but the characters look HIDEOUS. The gameplay graphics are very bland and uninteresting either. Pretty weak here.
Technique 20/80 -
Nothing too special here. About the only amazing thing is the backkground on the last stage and the scrolling clouds.
Story 20/50 -
Your a guy who dreams about flying and you go and search with a girl to find a winged woman however you have these strange dreams with orbs and dark gloomy skies. Its typical find something and get your wish granted plot really.
Sound 30/40 -
The music is really well done. Lots of suitable ambience tunes abound. There's no sound effects though.
Overall - 110/400
Okay this is another one I lazily did. I'm getting slack yeah...
Team 5389 (Cnidarian Mothers Association) - The Thing what came from Beneath
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Theme (Memory) 10/100 -
You have puzzles which involve you remembering the letters to work out the demon's name. The demon at the end mentions memory too. Otherwise this game has very little to do with memories whatsoever.
Gameplay 40/90 -
Seems to play like a lot of ZZT games. You have 4 puzzles to solve and then a last one to work out the demon's name. Most of the time spent is one cutscenes really, which isn't a bad thing. But otherwise there's little to do or see and thus doesn't score well.
Graphics 55/70 -
The graphics are like that of a ZZT game, which is never a bad thing. The characters follow the Cans tradition of smilies with feet. The ZZT styled graphics suit the game quite well for some reason and there's nothing too painful or eye straining either. The intro is done in a unique style which looks like an olden day movie which is a plus. Overall the graphics are not too bad.
And Tox, that vagina board is just gross. Keep it clean please.
Technique 10/60 -
Very little robotic is used in the game. Most of the game is just builtin puzzle stuff really. The game does have overlay boxes at the start, but thats basic stuff really. There's nothing too fancy or amazing here.
Story 30/50 -
The story is done in a sorta fairy tale style with a dash of humor (The MSN line is classic). Its about a demon who wants to see if people remember his name and goes off to kidnap some children to torture until they get his name right. The hero decides to go and challenge the demon in hopes to get everyone's children back. Whilst the way its told is great and all the concept itself isn't too creative.
Sound 1/30 -
Only MZX SFX here.
OVerall - 146/400
A little more focus to the theme might've saved it.
Team 65131 (Jerk Club) - Witch Switch
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Theme (Flight) 20/20 -
Well your a witch who wants to get her powers back so she can fly again and you have to fly through 2 levels. Plus Grunty wants to be able to fly like her too. Quite a good number of things to do with flight.
Gameplay 60/120 -
After the intro you have two levels on foot in which you must find mushrooms. The robotic done here is well... pretty bad and the whole on foot section isn't really fun at all. You then get to fly on your broom and it well feels like a completely different game pretty much. You have two sections of flying, one in a forest and one in an airship. Its a nice idea, however the airship section is very frustrating. Also asgromo never submitted his work so the game is quite short. As soon as you finish the airship you finish the game. Overall, the on foot areas suck and the flying areas are okay but are very frustrating.
Graphics 40/90 -
The graphics on the on foot section.... are completely terrible. The witch looks like she has scribble for a face, SERIOUSLY. The cutscene graphics aren't much better. The forest area looks amazing compared to the on foot section. Lots of mushrooms, webs, guys trying to hunt for witchs for dinner... it looks very good. The airship on the otherhand doesn't look very amazing but it
is better then the stuff we had to endure on the on foot section. Otherwise the only thing remotely good looking is the forest, all the other areas need a good amount of work.
Technique 50/80 -
The robotic in the on foot areas is terrible. The head overlay thing isn't done correctly and its almost impossible to kill anything in the areas either. The flying section isn't so bad, its those driving engines in disguise really. Its pretty good and it did manage to make NoahSoft go "Wow" so I guess it must score well right? Well it does lose marks for having very unresponsive controls.
Story 5/50 -
The evil witch Grunty is jealous of the players powers of flight so she creates a potion to switch their abilities. However since you now have her abilities of potion making you decide to make a potion that will get your powers of flight back. Once you do so, you decide to go kick Grunty's butt or something. Not too interesting but it does prompt some questions.
1. Why didn't Grunty just make the flight potion as well?
2. Why did you name the villian after the villian in Banjo-Kazooie?
3. Why am putting questions like this here?
Overall though, the story needs work.
Sound 15/40 -
The music is pretty apporiate so no complaints there. My main gripe are aound effects. For godsake make the hunters make the shooting noises when they're on screen. Its not that hard to do people! Overall the sound effects are weak and the music is okay.
Overall - 190/400
No really, why didn't Grunty just make a potion of flight?
Team 77665 - Relapse
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Theme (Memory) 30/100 -
You take role of a woman who looks at various objects and tries to regain her memories and find out what has happened. Pretty typical wen you compare to how DoZ games used this concept. The theme could've been used a little better.
Gameplay 10/90 -
You wonder around a house and look at some cutscenes. Very little interactions and not a game thats fun. Rather its something like Honour Quest really. SDome actual gameplay would've been nice though.
Graphics 10/70 -
Very little effort was put into this. Its basic stuff, nothing at all that exciting or anything. The most basic of basic. Its is clear though but I'm sorry, you failed this aspect.
Technique 5/60 -
Nothing revolutionary. All basic stuff.
Story 20/50 -
While the game presents real life situations and such and such it doesn't give any link between those and the ending. Most of the scenes are insignificant to the whole idea really. You are also not given reasons to why thing were done either. A bit more planning to the story should've been done.
Sound 0/30 -
You play the entire game in silence.
Overall - 75/400 A lot more effort is required children.
Team 83038 (Bionic Commando) - Press P to experiance
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Theme (Flight) 10/20 -
You play as a flying magician killing flying demons. Thats all the game has to do with flight.
Gameplay 40/120 -
You use the mouse to steer Marty around the stage and click to shoot enemies. The controls aren't hard at all but the game isn't really that fun. Since all your doing is flying around aimlessly killing stuff and the only you can possibly die is running into stuff stupidly.
Graphics 10/90 -
This is Old-Skool's first attempt at SMZX. Its not very good. Marty looks like a grey skinned zombie and looks more like a witch then a magician if you ask me. The enemies look weird and don't really look like demons. In fact they look more like demonic crescent moons or something. The backdrop is bland and nothing interesting either. Even though it uses SMZX, the graphics are crap. Only use SMZX in a DoZ if your confident with your skills with it please.
Technique 60/80 -
Well it uses sprites, mouse control and SMZX so it is pretty technical. Well its stuff I can't ever do anyway.
Story 5/50 -
Marty's town has been attacked by demons. OH NOES
Sound 5/40 -
The music isn't too interesting plus there's no sound effects whatsoever. So this category gets smacked in the back.
Overall - 125/400 Ugh... next time have knowledge of SMZX beforehand.
Team 86715 - *No Name*
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Theme (Memory) 5/100 -
Without a title screen of a sorts we a flung into a board with some dead guy with lots of ghosts and lava... oh and some signs too. The dead guy (Well I THINK its a dead guy) does nothing of worth and the sign just tells you to come to him for answers. So signs talk now guys? And isn't he just there? Didn't we come to him already? Anyway continuing on we get to the end of the game and find out the truth of the guy and the game ends with you stuck in the last area. Overall though the only thing that actually has to do with memory are the two signs. This doesn't score very well children.
Gameplay 5/90 -
The first board requires expert use of Energizers. Die and you get flonked right out of the action area. Kinda like in CAPTAIN BOB. The second board has you moving boulders and avoiding lasers. The gameplay is simply top notch, I really have to salute those guys who made this. Seriously guys, its buggy and not fun.
Graphics 5/70 -
The graphics are amazing use of default MZX builtins! The use of palette is amazing and will water your eyes with beautiful colors.
Oh for godsakes the palette was left virgin and the only thing changed in the charset is just two chars. Geez.
Technique 0/60 -
The game uses no form of robotic whatsoever. Fat zero on this one.
Story 5/50 -
You are on an epic journey to regain your memories and find out who you are by chasing a sign that is pretty much immobile anyway. You must travel through jungles, deserts, forests, mountains to reach your goal. Oh BTW, the storyline sucks.
Sound 1/30 -
BLEEP BLOOP BLOP
Overall - 21/400 Come back with a real iron man entry.
Team 90100 (Just Me) - The Red Giant
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Theme (Flight) 5/20 -
The only thing this game actually has to do with flight is that the meteor well flies. Gee, what excellent use of theme guys.
Gameplay 20/120 -
You use the mouse to move and interact. I dunno about you guys but I found this aspect very annoying. Sometimes John will just walk around randomly or not even go where you want him to. The controls are very frustrating. The battle system is a typical turn based system but never really sparked any interest to me at all. Overall the gameplay is very pitiful.
Graphics 70/90 -
You have an area filled with red and some weird organic things with a single person, and then you have a mechanical section which is... mechanical looking. The graphics are plain and nothing to notheworthy but they aren't eye searing or anything. The enemies animate but the animations aren't too interesting either, just bland, simply graphics here. This doesn't mean they're bad, but there's plenty of room for improvments.
Technique 60/80 -
Well making a mouse system isn't hard but item dragging and making the character follow mouse movement can be tricky. But there's nothing absolutly revolutionary here. The battle system is basic and adds no extra elements to it.
Story 20/50 -
you are stuck in a bio mechanical meteor wen you were trying to study it but get stuck inside to serve it and you must find a way to escape. Pretty typical, the bio mechanical meteor you must serve thing is nice. Too bad it wasn't done very well.
Sound 20/40 -
The music didn't really stand out but it does suit the themes of the game. There's like no sound effects though which does harm the score.
Overall - 195/400 In the words of John: "Goodbye, cruel world. Next time, a better DoZ."
Team 99115 (Team Broken Tiles) - Memory Leak
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Theme (Memory) 50/100 -
You take role as a man who tries to recall events. Quite a lot of things to do with the theme in the story but none whatsoever in the actual gameplay.
Gameplay 10/90 -
Um... wow. The game is super buggy. Plus the game's control isn't too friendly. Using the uh... yoyo thing is a pain in the neck and is very unreliable, plus you cannot move when enemies slap you leading to a quick death if you somewhat get cornered. The game's buggyness and frustrating aren't fun at all.
Graphics 50/70 -
Well we got desert.... and more desert... and more desert...
It looks nice and the characters look nice too but some enemies look like huge blocks for some reason also since the whole game is in desert its pretty repetitive after awhile too. Plus there's several graphical glitches which get in the way too. Oh dear. The desert looks good though but otherwise... welll just read above again.
Technique 50/60 -
Pixel perfect movement, use of sprites, custom text boxes, weird yoyo thing. This game is very technically advanced. Even though it is buggy as hell it still scores high neverless. At least they tried. They lose 10 for buggyness though.
Story 30/50 -
You take a role of a man who is lost in a desert and is trying to recall events in the past. The story seems to be something big, looking through those other board. Otherwise the story isn't really evident at all.
Sound 1/30 -
The game is done in silence... except for the Game Over tune.
Overall - 191/400 Okay so I sorta rushed this one. But I was getting lazy -_-; I got them all done at last though!