ZPF from Mega Cat Studios and ZPF Team is a new shoot ’em up created for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive that has been ported to Nintendo Switch. Learn more about it in our ZPF review!
ZPF from Mega Cat Studios and ZPF Team is a new shoot ’em up created for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive that has been ported to Nintendo Switch. It presents a future metal fantasy world that uses many of the tricks from the old-school hardware to give us levels with parallax scrolling, large sprites, and a solid soundtrack. The game offers six levels for you to take on, with three of them available right away. Once you’ve sorted out a stage, a new one from the remaining three will unlock. Complete them, and you’ll be presented with the final boss.
Mega Cat Studios took the project to Kickstarter back in 202X, seeking $15,000 in funding for the game’s development and release on physical cartridges for the Sega Genesis/Sega Mega Drive. Once the crowdfunding campaign was over, and thanks to the support of more than 2,100 backers, this one ended up securing over $200,000 in funding. This allowed them to reach one of the stretch goals for porting the game to the Nintendo Switch.
You’ll have three different options for your ship: the Knight, the Gladius, and the Gold ship. The Knight is a powerful one to consider, with a mighty sword melee attack that deals a good chunk of damage, as well as Vulcan blades for regular attacks. The Gladius offers a balanced experience, with a good spreadshot attack to cover a wider area of the screen, as well as a concentrated short-range spinning melee attack. As for the Gold ship, it’s one that is best reserved for those of you who have some experience with shoot ’em ups. Its main weapon is a slicer beam, and it also has a powerful plasma hammer.
Given the game’s old-school style and nature, the controls are going to be simple and to the point, so that you can quickly jump into the action. You’ll be piloting your ship by using the left analog stick or the D-Pad as you shoot at enemies with the Y button, use your melee attack with the B button, and unleash a powerful special attack bomb by pressing the A button. That last one is of a limited nature, so you had better make every single bomb count!
The medals that you collect as you destroy enemies, mini-bosses, and bosses can be spent at the Elf Magic ‘N’ Stuff store to increase your power or melee attack, add some extra lives, get an extra continue, boost your score multiplier, increase how many medals you can get for every enemy you defeat, reduce the enemy shots, or get a hint. Medals are automatically collected, so you won’t need to worry about moving closer to them to add them to your total.
ZPF is a new shoot ’em up created for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive that has been ported to Nintendo Switch. It presents a future metal fantasy world that uses many of the tricks from the old-school hardware to give us levels with parallax scrolling, large sprites, and a solid soundtrack. The game offers six levels for you to take on, with three of them available right away. Once you’ve sorted out a stage, a new one from the remaining three will unlock. Complete them, and you’ll be presented with the final boss. ZPF is out now on Nintendo Switch with a $9.99 price tag.
Disclaimer
This ZPF review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Mega Cat Studios.
