Supa Zazai Da!

Super... what?

Supa Zazai Da is another Gamopat conversion by Templeton, the same genius who graced us with the stupendous Crash Time Plumber. So I couldn't wait to get my grubby mitts on his latest work after reading the superb review by ST Graveyard on Atari Legend. Sadly, I admit to being more than a little disappointed with it. I initially failed to play more than a handful of - frustrating - games before rebooting my Atari STe with a massive portion of disappointment.

Now, I'll never knock anything powered by Maria Whittaker (yeah!) but this is rock solid and felt too difficult!! And having only one life certainly didn't help, especially when the enemy could fill the entire screen with bullets! Yep, this is a wolf in sheep's clothing and seemed like a bad joke. Dang, I was incredibly bad at it and genuinely gutted too.

I know, I know, those first impressions of a weak gamer. Sigh, but, I think you better read on...

Trust me, this game will destroy you and all any expectations for success!

Don't judge a book by its cover

I later returned and anxiously grabbed my creaky old joystick, determined, but expecting the battle of my life. After many embarrassing failures, I eventually beat the first hoard of cute nasties and somehow even gained extra points thanks to the green particles. But, how I managed to dodge the enemy's bullets, well, it felt like a personal achievement!! The clue is how you navigate through the cloud of bullets, it's easier than you might think (watch the video).

Nevertheless, the scary boss instantly gave me a good drubbing and I was again greeted with the Game Over screen. I defeated him on my next nerve-racking attempt so was close to tears with ecstatic joy!! Once the second level begins you realise there's a familiar and repetitive pattern so I hammered it home and battled my way onto the third and fourth levels, with relative ease. The lesson is to stick with it as it can be conquered and enjoyed!!

Talk about a massive learning curve. Or at least for me? Wow, this game is so rewarding...

However, nobody said those bosses would be easy. Especially when they can fire so much!!

Pixels and Sonics

The visuals scroll along at an ultra-smooth 50fps but it's the outrageously cute sprites, from a wide variety of games, which everyone will adore. Your computer will require a Blitter coprocessor, which is not a problem for the Atari STe and Falcon, but the original ST models might be outta luck (unless you have a later revision or a Mega ST).

Musically, Supa Zazai is fantastic but also very different depending on your hardware: an unnerving chip rattles ST players, whereas the STe gets exhilarating streamed audio (both different and brilliant). As instructed, pump up the volume!

It looks and sounds fantastic is what I'm trying to say about this Blitter-boosted game...

50fps action through and just look at that huge sprite. Impressive, to say the least!!

The CryptO'pinion?

What a journey!! Nothing like I imagined yet, it lived up to all my expectations. Arcade fans are going to drool over their keyboards when playing this - it's fast, fun, thrilling and addictive. Quite simply, Supa Zazai Da is an exhilarating shooter with gorgeous aesthetics and I hope Templeton has many more Atari STe games in the pipeline, I really do.

It's zany, it's crazy, it's insane and I love everything about Supa Zazai Da. An amazing shooter. Please, play this!!

Download Supa Zazai Da! via AtariMania.