Sega’s latest game to hit Android, Zaxxon Escape, is a remake of the classic arcade game from the 80’s, Zaxxon. However, due to me having never played the original Zaxxon arcade game because I wasn’t born yet then, I’ll just review this modern remake based on its own merits.
Name: Zaxxon Escape | Developer: Sega | Category: Arcade | Players: 1 | Version: 1.0.0 | Size: 38 MB | Price: $0.99 |
Basically, Zaxxon Escape is a confluence of two game genres – endless runner and tunnel racer – where you take control of a fighter plane. The intro screen shows you firing at a structure, which then explodes. The explosion, for some reason or another, starts chasing you. So, what you need to do is escape – escape as far as you can, and in the process manoeuvre your way out of obstacles that threaten to turn your plane into nothing more than a ball of flames.
For anyone familiar with the original Star Wars trilogy, the game feels like a sequence played out on the surface of the Death Star, what with all the white structures whizzing by and you ducking out of obstacles. Even the planes in the game have a similar look to those in Star Wars.
Sadly, gameplay wise, the game doesn’t do much to differentiate itself from the endless amounts of endless runners we’ve been having of late. Sure, now you’re piloting a plane instead of running per se, but I feel like it’s a wasted opportunity all the same, because instead of just having to evade obstacles, Sega should have thrown in more elements like shooting enemy planes. The game’s environment is also same all throughout, and weirdly enough for a game where all you do is chase after high scores, there are no leaderboards in sight.
The controls, however, let this game down the most. The game’s only control scheme requires you to tilt your device to avoid obstacles. In general, I love tilting as a steering mechanism in a game, but Sega has overdone the tilting here. How so? For example, further into the game, there may be a series of six obstacles. Each one will require you to tilt your device to a certain direction by 45 degrees progressively. That means, by the time you get to the fifth obstacle, you’ve turned through 180 degrees, your hands on the verge of getting knotted together. Then you crash, losing not because of your inadequacy, but due to the game’s flawed controls mechanism.
The tilting is an arduous task all throughout. While collecting coins, you will find yourself rotating your device up to a full 360 degrees. The presence of aggressive tilting means that Zaxxon Escape is not to be played on the short train ride, or in any public areas, at the risk of looking like a certified lunatic. It’s also worth noting that the game’s orientation is portrait which feels weird at first. While I don’t know just how bad the controls fare overall on a phone, on a 10-inch slate it is a horror show. If there’s any positive in the game’s controls, it’s that it gives your arm muscles a good workout.
Another element of the game in which Sega has gone overboard is in the implementation of in-app purchases. Going by the average amount of coins you earn each run, upgrading the power-ups at your disposal will take quite a bit of grinding. Also, buying a different plane will cost you a fortune of coins. The average you’d probably earn each run is 200 coins, while each additional plane costs 50,000 coins! Considering this is a paid game, users have every right to feel disappointed.
Conclusion
While Zaxxon Escape may seem fun and addicting gameplay-wise at the beginning (like most endless runners, might I add), it soon loses its lustre. Factor in the game’s horrid controls and an IAP implementation that makes Sega look greedy, it won’t be so much of a bad idea to stay away from Zaxxon Escape. Had the controls at least been decent, I would have recommended Zaxxon Escape, but in its current guise it just isn’t worthwhile. If you think I may be wrong in reaching such a conclusion, it won’t cost you much to find out the truth. $0.99 will allow you to do just that.
Overall rating: 2 stars
