BZZZT has a simple story about two scientific geniuses who create a tiny robot with a helpful AI personality known as ZX8000, only for an evil scientist to try and use this knowledge for evil. The goal of BZZZT is for ZX8000 to stop him, which seems bare bones, but it is the gameplay that has the charm. BZZZT starts out with a few simple levels based around running and jumping over and through spikes and lasers, and in these stages it becomes clear that BZZZT is a very precise game with extremely tight and responsive controls.
As the game continues, you will find ZX8000 in more difficult situations where running and jumping is not enough. This is where the upgrades come in, which may seem minor, but create an amazing difference in the gameplay, such as a double jump and air dash that change the way you approach the levels. It is not anything major, but it is so well designed that it ends up being extremely charming in the process.
BZZZT has a wide variety of stages with obstacles and enemies and each world ends in a boss fight. The level and enemy design is one of the best aspects of BZZZT and keeps the game from becoming stale by constantly taking older ideas and reusing them in innovative ways. This is a game that understands how to do more with less and come out ahead for it. The level design in BZZZT provides a good challenge for platformer fans and there is even more for completionists trying to collect every golden bolt and beat the stages in the time limit, which adds a lot of replay value to the overall gaming experience.
As mentioned before, BZZZT has a good art style and the game also sounds amazing, which just helps with the game’s overall fun factor. I have heard complaints from others that the game is too short, but I disagree on that aspect. No, BZZZT is a game that knows not to outstay its welcome, while providing enough to keep the experience fresh the whole time. It may seem like it does not provide much you have not seen in other games, but as noted, BZZZT shines by taking older ideas and putting new spins on them to make the experience feel novel.
I think it is clear from my gushing that I enjoyed my time with BZZZT and found it to be a very endearing game that, with its fast pace and tight, responsive controls, does a lot to keep you hooked. It has what it needs to be a fun game and the abundance of ways the ideas are used make it very easy for me to say that BZZZT gets a recommendation. You cannot go wrong with this one and you will be hooked on it just like I was.
Disclaimer: A review key was provided
