ZZT

The Good
Though its simple, ASCII graphics were dated even when ZZT was released, it was such a robust tool for game creation, that it's still popular to this very day. While there were certainly limitations to what you could do with it, ZZT was a perfect starting off point for any would-be game developer. There were plenty of pre-packaged enemies and tools, but with ZZT OOP (ZZT Object Oriented Programming), a creative user could make anything from a custom baddie to a fairly complex RPG battle system.

The Bad
As I've said, ZZT doesn't look very good. It doesn't sound very good either. While that doesn't take away from it's overall appeal, it will most certainly provide a barrier to entry for folks accustomed to the prettier things in life.

The Bottom Line
ZZT was one of the first truely community driven games -- I remember downloading games from AOL's media library back when AOL WAS the internet. It's a fun game in and of itself, and there's a huge library of free, community-made games that add to an already impressive package.

The Good
The editor. It allows you to create games of your own easily. Many great games have been made (the last reviewer, Matt, for example, released some games WHICH KICKED ASS). ZZT still has a big community. I've met quite a few funny people in the ZZT scene. =D ZZT allows you to put your ideas into games without having to learn a difficult programming language. ZZT OOP is very easy to learn. It doesn't take up much time, nor does de rest of the world editor.

The Bad
The graphics are simple. So is the music (internal sound beeps).

The Bottom Line
A great game, altough simplistic, it's capable of some pretty cool things. The community is still very alive, WWW.ZZT.ORG is the place to check if you're intrested.

The Good
ZZT was the brainchild of Tim Sweeney, the person behind Potomac Computer Systems (which later became known as Epic MegaGames). I remembered the first Epic game that I played was Jill of the Jungle, which was the result of ZZT's profits. Even though I loved that game so much that I played more Epic games, it was not until I read a Epic catalog that I became familiar with ZZT.

The shareware model allowed people to try out one part of the game for free, but the same people had to pay money for the other parts; and Sweeney was more than familiar with it. The shareware edition of ZZT consists of two parts - "Demo of ZZT" and "Tour of ZZT", and introduces players to the game's locations and enemies. The registered version had an additional four parts, as well as a level editor that allowed players to create their own worlds.

No matter which part you are playing, the object is to find a set of purple keys needed to unlock the exit. To do this, the player needs to guide their character across locations. To help them, the player can supply themselves with health, ammo, gems, torches, and other colored keys. The player has to defeat creatures that are usually found in zoos and solve a few tricky puzzles. (Or, to make it easy, "zap" your way through them.) These puzzles ranging from getting a purple key without getting shot at to moving a few blocks to make a passage.

The game uses ASCII graphics, which is very basic for a game released in 1991. However, all the characters are recognizable by the ASCII codes, and there are fantastic graphics that are made in ASCII, such as the demon seen at the end of "Dungeons of ZZT". I like how a single wall can move by itself if the player is near it, like those elevators in "City of ZZT".

Sound-wise, the game uses standard PC Speaker sound. However, Tim managed to create a few tunes that sound pretty neat. Such music occurs when you reach the exit. A funny thing about this exit is the one exit is not quite the finish of a part; you have to solve at least one more puzzle.

An aspect that makes ZZT shine is the built-in editor. Anyone who has a knowledge of GCS can create anything in the editor, including shoot-em-ups and RPGS. The editor was very popular that Sweeney urged users to create their own levels, with the best ones being included in the Best of ZZT compilation. The best user-created levels can be found on the Internet.

The Bad
The only problem with ZZT is that its graphics were obsolete before it was released. Apogee Software, its rival, made a similar game our years ago, and by the time ZZT was released, the graphics of its games were either in EGA or VGA.

The Bottom Line
In conclusion, Epic's very first game proved popular among gamers due to its level editor, and any computer, no matter how fast or slow, is able to run the game. And if you have played other ASCII-based games like Apogee's own Kroz series, then I'm sure you'll like playing ZZT. A sequel known as Super ZZT was released, but it didn't prove popular with gamers. The major element, the built-in editor, was hidden from view, and the only way they could access it is via the /e parameter.