| Graphics: |   3 |
| SFX: | 3 |
| Music: | |
| Gameplay: | 3 |
| Challenge: | 4 |
| Replay: | 3 |
| Overall: | 3 |
| Genre: | Adventure/Classic/Puzzle |
| Reading ability: | Not required? |
| Company: | Den'Z |
Background:
"For a relaxing time, make it Suntory Time." I mean really, why does Suntory have their name on this game? The company that brings us Coffee Boss and CC Lemon had their hands on video games as well? Weird.
What's also weird is that there's apparently a Japanese comedy team called "Ostrich Club." I'm pretty sure that the tagline "Kiitenai yo!" has to be their trademark phrase. The trick to Japanese comedy is to latch onto some insipid catchphrase and repeat it ad nauseam and the viewers just think it's funny. Japanese viewers, that is. For the rest of us, we fail to find this sort of derivative "comedy" funny. The same goes for hitting each other on the head with squeaky rubber mallets. On the back of the box, you can see a picture of these three guys making the intergalactic sign of the ostrich. They appear in the game, too. Oh yay.
= LAME.
The Game:
Weird. This game is just weird. The idea of a mix between adventure game and Breakout seemed oddly unique to me, until I learned of Holy Striker (released as Fire Striker for North America). I've never played that game, but apparently it gets lukewarm reviews. I can't say that I'm very excited about Zig Zag Cat either.
OK, so I admit, I haven't really spent much effort trying to read the Japanese text in this game, but apparently Tom crash lands from space in Zig Zag Land or something, and those three buffoons act as your nemesis in the game. I'm sure you won't be able to murder these three doorknobs, but you do get to kill bugs, pigs, cows, and other stuff that gets in your way. You have a cat (a Zig Zag Cat, apparently) that morphs into your ball. The B button accelerates your speed if necessary, while the A button throws your paddle ball forward. I like this feature, and it kind of reminds me of those paddle games on the Atari 2600 like Olympics or something. The right shoulder button activates your special items, such as when you collect the gun powerup.
Graphics:
Meh. Nothing special, nothing terrible.
Music/Sound:
Forgettable, really. Nothing really stands out. The digitized speech is done nicely, though.
Challenge and replay:
Maybe I have not played this game enough yet, but it doesn't seem that there are any continues. Why make an Arkanoid game into an adventure with save points, but yet stick you with a stock of lives that you aren't able to replenish by returning to the save point? It doesn't make sense.
The Good:
The adventure game plus Arkanoid gameplay is a unique twist, for sure. I applaud this game for its uniqueness.
The Bad:
I can understand why there's no mouse support, but NO CONTINUES? What were they thinking?
Overall:
OK, So I bought this game for its unique combination of adventure game plus Arkanoid game. If you want to buy the game for its novelty alone, then go ahead. It doesn't cost that much. But if you want a really good Breakout/Arkanoid experience, there are certainly better ones than this.
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