They say a short, concise name is a strength; there's a certain weight to it, you see. I'm thinking of games like Doom or Heretic, or Ignition. These are titles that immediately bring to mind a particular theme or mood. In the shoot 'em up genre, on the other hand, the names are often incomprehensible or downright nonsensical. Often brilliant games, but who actually chooses to name their game Drainus - voluntarily?! ZPF follows in this proud naming tradition of gibberish and is a really well-made and cosy retro-flavoured space shooter from the developers who previously gave us - er - Super XYX...
ZPF is the result of a successful Kickstarter project and is therefore available on Mega Drive cartridge, though it's also available in more modern formats. Our Sega-loving editor Jonas is actually the proud owner of the lovely Mega Drive edition, but I had to make do with Steam. What we get is a handful of levels with various themes, such as a futuristic urban setting, a lush and enchanted forest, and a medieval castle. If there's any sort of story in the background, I've completely missed it, but what's harder to miss is all the visual treats the game liberally sprinkles throughout. We're talking about truly beautiful 16-bit pixels that fill the screen in a cascade of colours. The colour palette is vibrant, garish and very much 90s, and I wouldn't want it any other way.
What the game lacks in cohesive theme, it makes up for tenfold in sheer creativity, as the levels feel completely unique and have their own visual identity. One problem that often comes with more detailed 16-bit graphics, however, is that clarity and readability become a bit muddled. There is simply so much visual clutter on the screen at once that enemy fire sometimes gets lost in the parallax-scrolling backgrounds and you die - sometimes in frustrating ways. Visual clarity is something I value highly in my shoot 'em ups, and you never quite get fully used to it, even though it becomes easier the more time you spend with the game.
There are three different ships to choose from, and at least two of them follow the pattern of firing widely or in a more focused and powerful manner. The third variant is geared towards close combat and offers a completely different playstyle. Here, you have to get close to the enemies to hit them, which is obviously risky but also very rewarding once you get the hang of it. Each ship also has a special bomb attack. Personally, I found the ship with the spread shots suited me best, whilst I never quite managed to get to grips with the more melee-oriented ship.
Like most shoot 'em ups, ZPF can be completed in an hour or so. But the replay value here is high, as every level has hidden secrets and to access the definitive ending, you need to find them all! The money you earn by blasting enemies can also be spent between levels. A fun addition, where you can make your ship more powerful, get clues about secrets, or simply boost your score multiplier to reach the very top of the high-score list.
So, to sum up, where does all this leave us? Well, ZPF is definitely a shoot 'em up worth taking a closer look at. Technically speaking, it's very impressive, and had it been released on the Mega Drive during the console's heyday, we'd probably have mentioned it in the same breath as classics like Galenancer, Thunder Force and Truxton. It gets most things right and really only falls short in that there is sometimes a bit too much happening on screen at once, and that the game's wildly varied environments don't quite give it a sense of cohesion. But with its satisfying upgrade system and a highly customisable difficulty level, it's a must-have for any shoot 'em up fanatic's collection.