Published by Green Man Gaming Publishing, Skybolt Zack is a new breed of platformer from French developers DEVS MUST DIE. Bringing together the combination of rhythm style button matching combos and fast paced platforming elements, Skybolt Zack is sure to draw out the perfectionist in you as you aim for those perfect runs and high scores through the wide variety of levels and worlds.
What do you do?
Rocket punch your way through 48 challenging levels spread across 15 different environments and 5 unique worlds. Each level features branching paths with varying levels of difficulty depending on the route you take. Following these paths will lead you on to different levels and routes opening the game up for a lot of replayability.
The easier routes tend to be lower down in the level and your movement will mostly involve horizontal movement. Whereas the more challenging routes will see you using a lot more of the verticality of the levels and will require more precise timing, faster reactions and to plan a little further ahead.
How do you play?
You’re free to use almost any controller you want and with that you can also customise your button layout to your preferred combination. Once you’ve settled on that it’s time to jump in to the fantastic looking world accompanied by a retro 90’s platformer inspired playlist.
Each interactable element of the game – mostly enemy robots, or missiles and bullets flying around, will be mapped to a specific button and will be highlighted with the same colour as on your chosen controller. Once you press the corresponding button and the direction you want to go, you’re rocket punch will propel you to your target and essentially destroy it. From then on you keep on repeating that, picking the path you want to take as you progress. The quicker you can do it and the more buttons you can combo together the better your score at the end will be.
Zack’s rocket punch isn’t his only options though, he can dash in any direction, focus – allowing you to reach further with your targeting, and quickly change direction when destroying enemies. Providing players with more depth to the gameplay and mastering its levels. Skybolt Zack definitely fits with the “easy to learn, but difficult to master” idiom.
Game Modes
In Skybolt Zack there are three different game modes for players to get stuck in to. The story is the standard mode that will teach you the basics and let you play at your own pace. Then for the more competitive amongst you, you have Score Attack, where your goal is to try and get the highest score possible. The final game mode is Time Attack, where you’re trying to make it through the level in the best time.
To compliment that and to give you somewhere to show off there are also two worldwide leaders boards, one for each of the competitive modes.
If you want to try Skybolt Zack for yourself you can download the demo. Otherwise the full game releases on November 7th.
