Stunt Car Extreme (Tapwave Zodiac review)

Developer: Fathammer
Publisher: Tapwave
Released: 2003

Stunt Car Extreme is a racing game that was packed in with the Zodiac console.

+ Track design is generally good and each includes multiple routes which is ideal for determining the most efficient lap times.

+ Unlocking new events and cars is gratifying, and your fellow racers have some personality that enhances the competition.

+ It's exhilarating to boost wildly and successfully pip the opponent to the finish line as you teeter on the edge of control.

- Frame-rate is choppy though which results in over/under-steering when cornering or attempting to line up for a ramp jump.

- Accelerate and nitro buttons are positioned too closely together, and one should have been mapped to the R trigger.

- Graphics are average, with low quality textures and a severe amount of pop-in that can affect your racing lines.

Z Pak: Fun (Tapwave Zodiac review)

Developer: Megasoft
Publisher: Tapwave
Released: 2003

Z Pak: Fun is a collection of three games that all require use of the touch screen. 

Kickoo's Breakout has 36 levels where you bounce a ball off your paddle to destroy bricks. The touch screen controls are generally fine and afford you precision ricochet angles, but reloading a level after losing a ball is painfully slow as every brick draws back in individually (taking you out of the flow). I also don't like how often the annoying Reverse control item appears. The stages don't offer anything you haven't already seen in Arkanoid (1986, Arcade), but overall it's a mildly entertaining diversion for a couple of stages. MegaBowling has three throwing modes and multiplayer capabilities that offer some variety in short bursts. The timing mechanics in Arcade (press and release a metre to bowl) and Swing (stop a moving overhead icon to line-up your angle) are susceptible to offering strikes in certain spots, but swerving the ball for a spare is satisfying. Stroke mode challenges you to to swipe the touch screen to bowl and it's highly accurate even when throwing diagonally from a corner. However, throughout all three modes getting a split appears to give you zero chance of achieving a spare, as there's no knock-on effect to the other stray pins. PaintBall tasks you with making three or more balls of the same colour next to a pipe opening. The controls are perfect and the decreasing paint level acts as the game's much needed tension. A cool feature is how one ball can subtly shimmer and by quickly removing it from the playfield you can earn extra points. Also, the stimulating Chroma mode cleverly works your noggin by tasking you with mixing colours to create the necessary combination. The atmosphere is lacking though and there's no fanfare for lining up 4-5 coloured balls in a row.

Z Pak: Fun is a solid, yet unremarkable collection of games, but those looking for simple time-wasters will find some enjoyment in these titles. Each controls and plays well enough and while you won't find any deep mechanics or innovation you'll likely find yourself having a game or two when you boot up the Zodiac.

Random trivia: Another compilation titled Z Pak: Adventure was released on the Tapwave Zodiac in 2004.

Animated Dudes (Tapwave Zodiac review)

Developer: Titan Interactive

Publisher: Tapwave

Released: 2004

 

Animated Dudes is a platform game that's exclusive to the Tapwave Zodiac.

 

There's eight worlds and your mission is to stop Dr. Barrell from building a sludge manufacturing plant on the Moon and pouring sludge all over the Earth. There's three playable characters; Slime (spits slime at enemies), TNT (uses its fuse as a whip) and Plunger (can double jump and use air attacks). Junkyard world is mainly platform based but it does have an auto-scrolling section where you ride a truck and deal with incoming birds and bombs. It's nightmarish due to the immediate difficulty and the fact that there's little room to manoeuvre. Forest is littered with blind jumps and unavoidable enemies that only come into view at the last second. Most of the time you succeed it's down to pure luck rather than skill! The Sewer has a neat vertical chase sequence but the screen tearing makes it easy to mistime a jump. The game also crapped out on me in one level by making all enemies invincible! Northlands and Desert worlds are more of the same but they exhibit poor-pacing due to the slightly decreased difficulty. The rest of the game is brutal and includes France (rooftop platforming as you head to the Eiffel Tower), USA (auto-scrolling levels where you ride a skateboard in a bid to collect 475 icons), and the Moon (side-scrolling shooter with horrendous controls). The bosses are mildly interesting but their projectiles sometimes blend into the background, and the in-game camera can be erratic. And then there's the dreadful save system; after each level your progress is automatically saved but if you lose all ten lives and reload your file you're dumped back at the opening tutorial! The only real highpoint is the crisp art style which reminds me of Earthworm Jim (1994, Mega Drive).

 

Animated Dudes is a game that really could have used some difficulty settings (as well as a working save function!) to off-set its focus on extreme trial and error. Like Tempo (1995, Sega 32X) it has a fun art style and tons of personality, but it simply doesn't have the gameplay to back up its visual presentation.
 

 

 

Random trivia: The game was only available as a download title and never received an SD card release.

Duke Nukem Mobile (Tapwave Zodiac review)

Developer: MachineWorks NorthWest

Publisher: Tapwave

Released: 2004

 

Duke Nukem Mobile is a first-person shooter that was also ported to mobile phones in 2005.

 

There's 21 bite-sized missions and the objective in each is to defeat every alien, pick up the key card and head for the exit. At your disposal is a Pistol, Shotgun, RPG, Pipe Bombs and your trusty Mighty Foot! Each level is compact and usually comprises of one small area that can be completed in around one minute. The action is very Arcade-like in terms of mowing down wave-after-wave of enemies and in that sense it harkens back to games such as Robotron: 2084 (1982, Arcades). The controls are crisp and the shoulder buttons do a fantastic job of letting you strafe with precision and fluidity. The auto-aim is also generous so you never have to perfectly line-up to hit your intended target. Each enemy type has a unique ability to keep things interesting (e.g. Enforcers rush towards you at lightning speed, while Assault Troopers shoot from distance) and I love that they're not immune to each other's projectiles! It's basically classic Duke-fun and while the gameplay can be repetitive there is some mission variety, such as disabling RoboGuns or refraining from shooting explosive gas tanks. Some later missions are longer (and by that I mean they take two minutes to beat!) but the frame-rate starts to dip which can affect your aim. Some levels contain bosses but they only put up a marginally better fight than all other enemies. The graphics are impressive with tons of texture detail and an excellent draw distance, and the voice clips from Duke give the game tons of personality. However, the fact that you can clear the entire set of missions in around 20-30 minutes is criminal (with little-to-no difference between the Easy, Medium and Hard settings) and there aren't even any other modes to unlock.

 

Duke Nukem Mobile is a great shooter while it lasts, but the sparse amount of content makes it feel like a tacked-on Mission mode to what should be a much bigger game. The hardware can clearly handle Duke Nukem 3D (a homebrew version exists for the Zodiac) and it's puzzling why the developers didn't attempt a full port instead.

 

 

 

Random trivia: The ending promises a sequel called Duke Nukem Mobile II: Bikini Project which never arrived on the Zodiac (although it was released on mobiles in 2005).