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If you’re looking for a quirky, sophisticated, bite-sized masterpiece on Switch, look no further. Bzzzt. It’s an action platformer starring a cute robot who must avoid one treacherous death trap after another. It scratches the same itch as Astro BotThe most challenging levelsand I’ve been having a blast with it since it came out on Nintendo’s handheld hybrid earlier this month.
If Bzzzt sounds familiar to you, because the game was released for PC last November. It is the work of a lonely Czech developer Karel “KO.DLL” Matějka and it punches way above its weight class. With a stunning pixel-art aesthetic and the stripped-down gameplay of an ’80s arcade classic, it’s an excellent palate cleanser between bigger, more complicated games. Imagine Super Meat Boy if it looked like this Mega Man and was much shorter.
Your job is to pilot the ZX8000 robot through a series of sci-fi hazards in a futuristic testing facility, while battling the minions of a Dr. Wily-style villain trying to take over the world. The game is divided into 52 compact levels, where ZX8000 can navigate his way through a growing arsenal of upgrades, starting with sprints and double jumps. Completing the level is enough to progress, but the ultimate goal is to collect all the collectibles and finish within the time limit. There are also a ton of secrets to discover, with plenty of nods to older 8-bit games.
Some of the levels I completed in a flash. Others left me rooted to the spot like a meat grinder in a puzzle platformer. The controls feel very precise, the music is a catchy chiptune homage and the game looks electrifying on a Switch OLED. What Bzzzt Best of all, though, are the intelligently designed levels, requiring you to create a mental map of your actions in real time, then adjust it with each death until you’re ready to string together the commands needed to hit each collectible, avoid each hazard, and reach the objective in under 30 seconds.
It’s a lot of fun, even though it’s tough. Bzzzt is also very short – it only takes two to three hours to complete – but that’s part of its charm. It’s perfect for playing for five minutes here or ten there, dropping out before you feel like you want to angrily quit, and then diving back in when things have calmed down a bit and your fingers are ready to work the magic again. And for the real platform geeks out there: Bzzzt even has a permadeath mode. Deathless runs are not for me, but I enjoyed it watching this person try.
