Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz

Moby ID: 55
Macintosh Specs

Description official descriptions

Lord Dimwit Flathead the Excessive was so much in love with himself that he ordered to erect a huge statue of himself in the Fublio Valley. This angered a local resident named Megaboz the Magnificent, who cast a curse over Dimwit and the entire Empire, and disappeared. Ninety-four years later, the curse is still in effect, and the king Wurb Flathead is looking for a brave adventurer who would find a way to remove it. This adventurer, naturally, is the game's protagonist, who possesses a piece of parchment given to him by his ancestors, which might be the key to the whole mystery...

Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz is chronologically a prequel to the first three Zork games, and is a text adventure with a graphical interface and scene-based colors and borders. Like its predecessors, the game relies on puzzle-solving, including inventory item manipulation as well as logic-based puzzles. An interactive map, in-game hint system, and the included Encyclopedia Frobozzica are there to make the player's task somewhat easier. The game also includes four graphical mini-games based on popular logic puzzles.

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Screenshots

Credits (Apple II version)

Lead Programmer
Programmer

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 83% (based on 15 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.3 out of 5 (based on 28 ratings with 1 reviews)

Get comfortable. You'll be here a while.

The Good
True to form, Infocom strikes again. A deeper, richer, fuller adventure than any of the previous Zorks, this one has kept me busy for hours. The auto-mapping feature is VERY nice, and Infocom seems to have tried to eliminate the ubiquitous "getting the player to an unwinable state" problem found in some of its other games. Good combination, too, of logic and strategy puzzles.

The Bad
I didn't think the graphics were necessary (except for the map, as mentioned above). Also, the online hints can be too tempting when you get really stuck -- I recommend doing a "hints off" at the beginning of the game.

The Bottom Line
In a word: excellent! (Wait... that's four words.)

DOS · by Mirrorshades2k (274) · 2000

Trivia

69,105

Infocom's famous 69,105 number is referred to in the line "This zoo, with 69,105 cages, is easily the largest in Quendor."

Encyclopedia Frobozzica

One of the more interesting in-game elements of Zork Zero is the "Encyclopedia Frobozzica" -- a thorough reference work of almost all things related to the GUE (Great Underground Empire, or the world of Zork). One could literally spend hours looking up entries -- try all the old references from the old Zorks and see what you can learn. A lot even have pictures!

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Related Sites +

  • Infocom homepage
    At this site you can find information on ALL of Infocom's interactive games, Infocom related articles, sample transcripts, InvisiClue hints, walkthroughs, maps and information on buying Infocom games today.
  • The Infocom Gallery
    High-quality scans of the grey box package and manual of Zork Zero.

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 55
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Brian Hirt.

Apple II added by John Romero. Amiga, Macintosh added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: Trixter, Dietmar Uschkoreit, Mirrorshades2k, Alaka, mo .

Game added March 1, 1999. Last modified March 8, 2024.