ZOG

Grab your joystick!

During my time away (wow, that made me sound like a criminal) I was enjoying videos by many YouTubers - ugh, I hate that expression. Anyhow, people like Trusty, PJ Neiland and those Vertical Blankers have released several amazing Atari ST videos. Go on, click those links and take a look for yourselves - but remember to come back here afterwards.

Earlier in February, Into The Vertical Blank released a massive video about many different ST shooters. One of which was called Zog by Chris Lloyd who designed it using SEUCK by Palace Software - and this acronym stands for Shoot 'Em Up Construction Kit. Now, one thing I did pick up from their video was his American pronunciation of SEUCK. I can't speak for all ST nutters over here in Blighty, but everyone I knew pronounced it as a human sound effect: Schhhhuck!

Ah... Okay, so it was just a few of us crazy fools over here then? Damn, let's move on quick...

Frantically bashing the fire-button like a madman hoping not to die!

Am I getting old and slow?

Chris released Zog in 1990 and it appears to be his one and only shooter 'em up (at least for the Atari ST). The gameplay is typically simple; a vertical-scrolling shooter with nothing flashy or fancy as you might imagine - but this is homebrew stuff we're talking about. The docs are pretty thin on the ground but perfectly explain the gameplay: shoot everything that moves. Even shoot the stuff that doesn't move. And that sums up this perky little shooter very nicely.

As with any similar game, we are positioned near the bottom of the screen with the nasties coming into view at the top. Shoot, dodge and blast everything you can whilst trying not to die. Points are awarded for successfully killing the enemies but you only get three lives - which isn't nearly enough. Thankfully, an extra ship can be earned every 10,000 points.

If... you... survive... long... enough!!

Our ship(s) manoeuvre very spritely, but that doesn't mean avoiding the bullet hell is easy. Well, certainly not for me thanks to my old man's reactions. Fortunately, Zog supports two-player mode which is absolutely superb!! Another cool thing is the use of autofire. Yep, no need to hysterically bash the button and I loved this little 'cheat' a lot if I'm honest.

Right then, it's got to that point where I stop waffling on and show yet another screenshot...

With two gamers playing at the same time things improve drastically!!

Aesthetics

Visually, this is a pretty neat game considering that it isn't commercial and also reminds me somewhat of Frenetic. I've played a few games developed with SEUCK and none will blow you away. However, it looks pretty good and the scrolling is smooth(ish) albeit with a slightly reduced screen size. Enemy sprites move predictably, making their way across your screen briskly as the landscape scrolls - a positive testament to the ability of this underrated development tool.

Sadly, there is no title music and all in-game sound effects are the traditional zaps and zings you've heard before. These YM effects are good but a decent background chiptune would have been a miles better option.

Steve, stop complaining because this is public domain! Sheesh, that idiot fella? Hey, it's screenshot time...

A message you see a lot. Argh, if only the gameplay was better optimised...

The CryptO'pinion?

Let's be honest, I doubt anyone will bother downloading this game any time soon. There are already many ace ST shooters like Lethal Xcess, Flying Shark, SWIV, Goldrunner, or Xenon. Heck, maybe even Chopper X. Well, maybe! ;)

However, Zog was released as public domain, so, with that in mind, I enjoyed it. Embarrassingly, I have to admit that didn't get very far! This is one tough cookie and I would have loved any kind of optimisation to its insane design. No matter how I try to avoid the stray enemy bullets, I always end up dying quickly. Which is hardly entertaining, is it?

Having said all that, it's a totally different story as a two-player shooter. With a friend, the hoard-blasting gameplay is fantastic. In fact, I'd go as far as saying this shooter feels like it was meant to be played this way.

So, how should I rate Zog? That's right, a slight improvement to the "CryptO'pinion" as I shall now provide a score (let me know whether you think this is a good idea). Firstly, my greetings to the Fulton boys for their enthusiasm by (wickedly) bringing this game to my attention. It's never a dull moment finding something new and I had lots of fun!

I'm gonna rate it a respectable 65% for dual-gaming. Knock off 10% if you're hammering that fire button alone.

What, you disagree with me? Then get it downloaded from Atarimania and let me know what you think in the comments below? Finally, go and check out Atarilegand for a ton of other SEUCK games listed.