I distinctly remember playing Zaxxon in the arcades, although I’m now a bit shocked to discover it was 1982. What I remember most about Zaxxon isn’t so much its amazing graphics, but rather a vague sense of bewilderment as I tried to wrap my head around its pseudo 3D controls.
This was the first game to introduce isometric graphics, which is how we used to have 3D games before the third dimension was discovered. Zaxxon’s visuals perhaps weren’t so much amazing, actually, as they were clever. Impressively clever, mind you. Whoever figured out a method of fooling our senses so simply was definitely underpaid, no matter what sort of wage they were on.
Now we don’t need anything too clever to give us a 3D-looking game; just a bucket full of polygons, an iPhone and thirty years of game development to deliver Zaxxon Escape ($0.99).
The isometric flight through an outer space obstacle courses is now a fully-3D run through endless tubes, which raises the first and most prominent question about Zaxxon Escape, and I expect it’s one that the developer Free Range Games knew the iPhone world would be asking: how exactly is this Zaxxon?
Love the game or loathe it, there’s no denying that it’s genuinely impossible to spot a family resemblance between Zaxxon and Zaxxon Escape. It’s only fair to also pose the question “does it matter?” and the answer really depends on whether you’re a retro purist, a fan of the original or a newcomer to this long-lived franchise. But it’s not unreasonable to expect something that carries the Zaxxon banner to cater, in some way, to those who played the classic coin-op, so it’s off to a bad start for all you (us) old people.
Perhaps the best way to approach Zaxxon Escape is as if it were a brand new game with no arcade legacy. You shouldn’t have to do that, but you’ll be less disappointed if you do.
Viewed from behind your fancy new 3D ship, the game shunts you down an endless tunnel filled with trip hazards, coins to collect and sharp turns to navigate. The ship itself uses tilt controls, rotating around the center as you automatically fly in a straight line through the tunnels.
Letterbox openings that you can only fit through when properly aligned are the most common barrier you’ll face, with similar hurdles popping up along your route. The accelerometer controls keep your ship parallel to the ground at all times, which means rotating the entire device around a 360 degree axis to navigate these obstructions.
It’s easy to see what the developer was trying to achieve here, and in some respects it works quite well. Accuracy of your ship’s rotation is easy to accomplish, since you’re effectively lining up the actual iPhone with the gap you’re hurtling toward. On the other hand, you’d better make damn sure you’re playing the game while sat on a bed, or with an array of bean bag safety nets strategically positioned around your feet, as a quick game of Zaxxon Escape is sure to liberate the iPhone from the tyranny of your gaming grasp.
This is doubly true as the game progresses. Your ship speeds up, making the rotations more of an emergency, and right angle bends must be traversed with a swipe across the screen in the direction you want to turn. Again, it’s a very simple mechanic, requiring a quick and dirty flick across the screen when prompted, after which the ship maneuvers automatically. Tapping the screen fires off a shot, which is used to remove full-screen blockages and allow you to continue on your endless run.
Simple controls, sure, but flicking the screen while the iPhone’s dangling upside down from two precarious fingers soon makes the whole thing look like a card trick gone wrong. Glad you set up the bean bags now, eh?
Coins are found floating around in these techno corridors, which are used to buy various upgrades for future games. These power-ups include a temporary auto-pilot (which essentially removes much of the game’s objective and turns it into a spectator sport), score multipliers, automatic coin collectors and so forth. These are the items you’re likely to be able to afford simply from playing Zaxxon Escape, but there are others you’re invited to desire that will probably demand an in-app purchase.
A second life, speed boost and even brand new ships are all on offer. For a price. Consider that about half an hour’s play rendered around 250 credits, yet the cheapest new ship will run up 50,000 credits, so even the most severe OCD sufferer is going to have to open their wallet a second time if they want a new ride. Chances are you simply won’t bother.
And as most every forum poster has pointed out, the complete lack of the original version – either via IAP or as an included incentive – is almost unforgivable. What would it have taken to chuck the retro shooter in? A few kilobytes and quick and dirty emulation? Shame on you, Sega.
So Zaxxon Escape seems to have taken a bit of a kicking here, but it’s not that it’s a thoroughly bad game. In its own right it could have been a decent endless runner, as the visuals are sharp and the concept is sound. Yet it unequivocally fails to earn a place in the Zaxxon canon, and with only one game mode and a greedy in-app store, it struggles to demonstrate its value as a standalone title.
Was WIll Right involved somehow? Sounds like something he would do.
99 cents?!?! Holy fart balls. I expected the depth and awesomeness of this to easily push $3+. I cannot wait for this game, I can't wait for my wife to play it, she was a HUGE populous fan, as was I. And my daughters will have a blast with this as well, they love creating and playing with stuff like this. It doesn't seem to have IAP, at least not the consumable kind, and if this adds IAP to expand the game modes, I am ALL for it.
Holy fart balls indeed.
Hmm. This is interesting. For 99 cents ill give it a shot. Would be cool to implement some sort of simulation element into it. Whether that's creating inhabitants and making sure they survive and don't start wars and such, protecting from natural disasters and maintaining the planet to sustain life while molding it to your liking. Ill download it just for the building mechanic though. It'll be exciting to be able to have the reviews and such mold the future of the game possibly. Awesome.
Can I just say that this would be awesome on the vita with the back touch panel?
I wouldn't mind being able to fling meteors at the planet, and observe the effects. Also volcanos, earthquakes, storms and other natural disasters could be fun too.
Empty planet with creatures. This will be fun for like 10 mins n most people will not click on it again. It would be great if they incorporated some aspect of viva piñata into it.
By that logic, Minecraft should have been a failure. Considering how popular and/or good Minecraft became as it was developed and eventually released, that shows that players can have as much fun, if not more fun, with both a structured action RPG and a sandbox where the potential things to do are essentially unlimited. Creativity and engagement are both compelling elements of game design, and neither is more powerful than the other. Both are good things to have. And this game looks to have the creative side down pat, and will find ways to create a more engaging experience as players get to play the game. So even if this doesn't start with both, it will hopefully have both by the time it reaches something close to completion.
Not really. . . . Minecraft offers good tools, but more importantly tight control of over what you create (blocks as opposed to amorph land mass, and supposedly, semi-autonomous life and death cycle). Black and White was fun for a while, but once the novelty of slapping your beast wore off it got boring rather quick, and pretty much the same could be said about Spore (the creature creator was the most fun part in that one, sadly).
black vs white? or was it black and white? regardless Looks pretty amazing.
Ideas on how to make topia fun? How about just making populous for ios out of it.
Bring us Populous! The populous demands it!!
Yes! Populous on iOS! That has to be a thing now!
Am I the only guy that think that this game is going to get boring fast with no "purpose" or "goals", yes terraforming and moving animals around is fun, but for how long?
Ever heard of a little program called Minecraft? Seems to be popular for the same reasons.
Minecraft has a goal, not "visible" but it is there, the crafting of items, where does this appear in this game? unclear, or at least not obvious.
There is no goal, and we aren't really calling it a game at this point. Its more of a world simulation where you shape the world, watch things grow and interact, etc.
I have no problem with that, I am just stating that some sort of progress, goal, etc needs to be somewhat known / visible for the game to gain traction, otherwise it is a nice simulation or a technology proof of concept.
Isn't the goal in minecraft to kill the enderdragon and make those horrible green people suffer?
Everything is optional, there really is no goal, those are just things you can choose to do if you want.
Perhaps think of it as a toy, not a game... often toys can be fun much longer than games (because if there's a goal, it can be reached).
Certainly reminds me of the game I used to play called Populous ~
This needs to be Populous - the game has so much potential but after 10 minutes I will have seen everything I can do - it needs to have some deep and long lasting gameplay for me to come back to it.
I'm really looking forward to this title and the updates to follow.
Why isn't this released yet?! Better come in 2 hours!!!
I read 11th somewhere, so this time tomorrow you will have planetary control :D