Preview – ZPF

I’ve got a lot of love for developers who make games for retro hardware. Modern platforms are all largely homogenous, but in the ‘80s and ‘90s they all sang with unique voices. Their restrictive hardware force creative solutions. New games can harken back to the console’s staples or take it to completely new places. Fascinating. I just love it. Plus, it’s for a niche, so it takes guts to take it on since no one is getting rich from it, probably.

Mega Cat Studios has been at it since the nouveau retro publishing business first started picking up steam. 2017’s Coffee Crisis is still pretty far off from the homebrew Atari 2600 scene, or 2010’s Battle Kid, or even 2009’s Zaku, but the new age of boutique retro publishing is still pretty recent, and Mega Cat was there when it was starting to grow.

Also, I worked there freelance for a period of time. See the disclosure at the bottom.

Admittedly, I haven’t played many of the games they’ve published. Dunno why. But now that I don’t have to devote a portion of my time to writing Roblox guides, I’m free to check out more nouveau retro games, hence I was eager to dive into ZPF, a Genesis/Mega Drive-powered scrolling shooter by the devs of Tanzer (which I haven’t played).

FUTURE PROG ROCK FANTASY

ZPF bills itself as a “Future Metal Fantasy,” but what ZPF stands for is a mystery. I’m guessing maybe “Zipper Pull Fighter.” Or “Zapper Pushpin Fix.” Also, here in Canada, we pronounce it Zed-PF.

Anyway, I don’t fully buy the “Metal” part of “Future Metal Fantasy.” This looks more like “Future Prog Rock Fantasy.”

What were we talking about? Right. Genesis horizontal shooter. I’ve been playing a lot of those recently with Retro-Bit’s re-releases of obscure Japanese shoot-’em-ups. ZPF distinguishes itself from most genre-kin on the platform by being obscenely colourful, hence the prog rock reference. It’s striking. It’s like someone built a parking garage in Fantasy Zone.

I don’t cover very many shoot-’em-ups, and that’s largely because they’re difficult to review. It’s a pretty rigid genre of games, and it feels like you have to get into the weeds to compare them. I feel as though a critique requires talk about collision detection and enemy placement, and that can be boring. So, you’re going to have to bear with me.

SAVE THE GIANT SKY TORTOISES

I’m not entirely certain what the story behind ZPF is. I didn’t watch the lore trailer. My guess is that you’re piloting an experimental fighter and are the last hope of some sort of civilization or army. The demo lets you try out three levels in any order. You can choose between three ships: a standard spacefighter, a gold one, and an actual flying medieval knight. The main difference is their shot pattern. The spacefighter shoots in a fan configuration, the gold ship shoots a forward wave of energy, and the knight has a concentrated beam of swords. They also have melee attacks for when enemies get close, but, to be honest, I kept forgetting that existed because getting that close is dangerous.

If you play the first level, ZPF seems deceptively easy. I took the spacefighter through it, and enemies could barely appear on screen before they were cut down. The other levels, however, present more of a challenge.

One thing to note about the demo is that each level is played in isolation, whereas the full game seems as though you’ll progress through them to the end. What I mean is, once you complete a level in the demo, you get a Game Over screen and are sent back to the main menu. There’s a store that comes up before you set off into a stage where you can buy ship upgrades. But since there’s no progress, you can’t save up money to buy things. However, if you go to the difficulty setting in the options, you can change your starting money. This isn’t a complaint, just something to keep in mind.

KNIGHT FLIGHT

ZPF is pretty solid for the most part. I can’t say I’m entirely blown away, but I do think it’s a decent shoot-’em-up. The graphics are detailed and appealing for the most part. I’m mainly impressed that enemy projectiles don’t get lost in the visual noise of the vivid backgrounds. It feels like a lot of thought went into their brightness and size to ensure everything works as it should. It’s still not perfect, but it’s sufficient.

The music is satisfying, as well. I love the Genesis’ FM Synth sound, and it’s put to use pretty capably here. I can’t say that any of the melodies got stuck in my head, but the percussive sound, crunchy bass, and overall tempo make the tunes effective place settings for the action.

If I had one complaint, it’s that, as striking as the colours are, I find the backgrounds to be somewhat lifeless. They’re largely cluttered belts of images that move in chaotic parallax configurations. They give a good sense of speed but not place.

And this might just come down to preference. My favourite shooter levels are ones that present tangible environments. For example: the second level in Axelay, where you’re traveling through an O’Neill cylinder and can see the city behind you. Or, any number of games where you start off in the atmosphere of a planet and then descend to the surface.

In ZPF, when you transition between sections in a level, it just fades between them. You’re looking at one background, and then that background changes. Each one just repeats until it flashes to the next. The reason why this might not really be a problem for some is because it doesn’t really affect gameplay. There are still segments with distinct obstacles and enemies. They just don’t really connect in a meaningful way. Even for me, that’s not the end of the world.

PEASHOOTER-FREE ZONE

I also experienced a bit of slowdown in spots. It doesn’t particularly bother me, but I know some treat that sort of thing as an anathema, so I feel it’s worth mentioning.

Honestly, I enjoyed the demo for ZPF. While it’s probably not going to be my favourite shoot-’em-up on the console, it’s reasonably solid and aesthetically unique. It’s also not painfully difficult like some of the recent games I’ve played. I also appreciate how, even if you haven’t powered up your ship, it still makes you feel powerful. You aren’t reduced to a peashooter every time you bump into something. It’s a great feeling.

It’s enough to make me feel like springing for the cartridge. Even with the qualms I have, even if it doesn’t knock my socks off, ZPF feels good to pick up and play. It has a significant visual punch, and isn’t difficult to the point of being unapproachable. There are plenty of shooters out there that let you play as a dude or a dude in a spaceship, but how many let you pilot a knight? Legitimate question. Are there any others?

You can try it for yourself during the February 2025 Steam Next Fest.

This preview was conducted using a pre-release version of the Steam demo. The opportunity was provided by the publisher’s PR. The author has done freelance work for Mega Cat Studio, including contributing their blog and writing on a game project.