Originally released for the Sega Genesis in 2025, Mega Cat Studios has ported ZPF, a new-retro 16-bit horizontal shooter, to Xbox. While the futuristic metal fantasy setting is eye catching and looks impressive from the trailer, the unfair difficulty and lack of polish steeply limits the fun factor.
High action. Big bosses. Multiple vehicles each with varying stats. A purchasing upgrading system. Both melee and range attack options. A pumping, chaotic soundtrack…. on paper, ZPF has the recipe for a quality shooter. Plus, let’s be honest, having a new Genesis game in the modern day is pretty darn cool. Unfortunately, the final product will only leave a frustrating taste in your mouth.
I hate to say it, but ZPF on Xbox feels like a game that was not play tested despite having an interesting design document. Instead of navigating the main menus using the A and B buttons, you know, like every game that has ever been created, the player must oddly press the Start button (which technically Microsoft calls it the Menu button on the Xbox controller). At first, I thought this was a bug, but nope, Start is the only button that works on the menu screen. Further, pressing the Select guide (aka the Guide Button) brings up the very limited emulation menu but it might as well not be there at all because the font is impossibly small. I think it is literally 1pt font, maybe less, so the player has no chance of reading it. This is such an obvious problem, it is baffling how it was allowed to pass into the final product. Even the high score table at the end is hard to read.
So if you manage to actually start the game by fumbling through the poorly designed menu, the brutally unfair gameplay will ensure you rage quit after a few attempts. ZPF is a hard game but not in a git-gud way. Like, this might even be more difficult than Silver Surfer on NES. Enemies, which repeat and flood the screen with the same pill-shaped projectiles, make sure you will die well before seeing any boss. Increasing the continue amount and default medal collection, basically putting all the options in your favor, still doesn’t mean anything because Game Over will happen in about a minute. After many trials, I was never able to beat a single stage, let alone even make it to boss. Since the screen is pretty much always filled with bullets, there is no opportunity to memorize attack patterns or enemy spawns. There is just no way to manage bullets of this magnitude with the actions at your disposal. This game hates you with a passion and never apologizes.
It is a shame because there seems to be a good foundation in ZPF thanks to the reasons listed above, but it simply isn’t fun when the player has zero chance. Most of the Achievements still have a 0% unlock rate, or very close to it, so all players are in the same boat. Since it is impossible to survive for more than a minute, this game offers very little entertainment value when the player’s input is horribly unbalanced and wrapped around a clunky interface.
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
X/Twitter: @ZackGaz
Please consider supporting me on Patreon or BuyMeACoffee.
RATING
OUR SCORE - 3
3
SCORE
ZPF looks like a cool, high-action shooter, but the lack of polish and odd design choices only results in frustration, not fun.