"Phantom of Zana" is a fun action platformer that I enjoyed playing for the most part. For a free game, it’s very nicely made and offers a lot of content: 13 fairly large levels, a wide variety of moves, and quite a few enemy types. That said, the game has its good and not-so-good parts.
Starting with the good, the controls are smooth and responsive. Moving around and slashing enemies felt great. At the beginning, the player can walk, jump, roll, and perform a horizontal slash attack. As the player progresses by defeating the stage bosses, she unlocks new attacks and moves: shoot, dash, air dash, upward attack, downward attack, grappling hook, slide, and more. These constant additions to the player's move-set kept the game feeling fresh throughout.
The player can also be enhanced with upgrades. Coins collected in the stages can be spent at the in-game shop (accessible after beating bosses) to increase health, defense, and attack power. The player can also collect stars; 50 of them will automatically fill a potion bottle, which can be used anytime to restore health. This mechanic was incredibly helpful and helped me survive the more difficult sections of the game. Clearly, the player character and the upgrade system are well thought out. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the level design choices, especially in the later parts of the game.
This brings us to the not-so-good parts of the game. The game starts off as a fairly straightforward platformer in which you fight enemies, dodge hazards, and collect stuff, but it gradually turns into a rather difficult precision platformer. There are numerous sections that can be cleared only if the player accurately executes a series of acrobatic moves one after the other while watching out for hazards that are placed all around. Making one mistake can send you back to the beginning of the section. These sections were extremely frustrating and sucked the fun out of the game. There were times when I was stuck in the same area for more than an hour and came pretty close to giving up. I eventually beat the game, but only after countless deaths and through sheer determination.
I get that platforming challenges are part and parcel of this genre, but IMO this game overdoes it. It's a bit disappointing because all the cool abilities the player unlocks are mainly used for getting through the harder platforming parts, not for combat. I know many players would enjoy this type of precision platformer gameplay, but personally, I would have preferred if the game focused more on combat and a little less on the tricky platforming.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about the rest of the game. The pixel-art graphics are nice in general, and the player sprites are especially well done. However, the overall art style felt a bit inconsistent, as if different artists had worked on the game's art assets. Another graphics-related issue is the lack of parallax scrolling in most levels. Only one stage had it, which is quite puzzling as the effect is extremely common in modern retro-style games.
The music and SFX are nice, and the synth-based soundtrack was energetic and fit the tone of the game. That said, I probably would have appreciated it more if I hadn't been stuck listening to the same track for hours while repeatedly dying in tough sections.
The boss battles are a mixed bag. They're fun to fight and not too difficult, but I couldn’t help noticing that many of them reuse the same attack patterns: they'll jump, shoot diagonally, then shoot horizontally, and then dash toward the player. The only variation lies in the number of projectiles they shoot. Another point to note is that the bosses do a LOT of damage and can finish you off in just two hits. Fortunately, the player can use health potions to replenish health mid-battle. In retrospect, I actually had more fun fighting the bosses than dealing with the tougher platforming sections. I even remember feeling relieved whenever I reached the boss room.
The game also features two vertically scrolling shooter levels in which the player flies with a jet pack. These provide a nice change of pace from the main game.
In conclusion, "Phantom of Zana" can be difficult at times, but if you’re patient and willing to go through some trial and error to get through the tougher sections, it can still be a fun and rewarding experience. For a free game, it offers a surprising amount of content and quality, so I’d gladly recommend it to fans of the genre. If the developer makes another game using the same character and abilities, but with a stronger focus on combat and simpler platforming, I’d be more than happy to pay for it. I’d like to end this review with a big thank you to the developers for releasing this game for free.
Thanks for reading.
(End of review)
