Not since the excellent puzzle-platformer ElecHead have we been so delighted with a robot-based platformer. That’s what Bzzzt (2023) delivers with some serious panache.
This is by indie team Ko.dll in Prague of the Czech Republic. As arcade platformers go it’s a buzzing time of it, with a massive focus on speedrunning across many, many stages in jump-dash-run style. We like it a lot for its breezy charms and addictive qualities, plus those lovely SNES era style graphics.
Jump! Dash! Run! Bzzzt it Up a Notch
In this one you take control of the tiny robot ZX8000 and enter a world of manic stages of precision, fast-paced jumping. It doesn’t take long for the level design excellence to kick in and you’ll soon swoon for Bzzzt.
The thing pays homage to classic platformer lore, including the likes of Mega Man II (1991) on the NES and modern titles such as Super Meat Boy (2010). With the latter, there’s the rinse and repeat element of everything—punishing difficulty and many deaths.
It’s all about completing stages in breakneck speed.
However, Bzzzt does have helpful difficulty options that are most welcome. You can pick easy mode, if you wish, and that takes the edge off what would otherwise have been one hell of a tough game (something 2023’s Gravity Circuit didn’t want to do—to its detriment, we think).
We think the most comparable game is actually the modern classic Celeste (2018).
It’s not as good as that, but it gets close. The level design… fabulous! You get Metroidvania style power-ups and the like to advance through the game. And it’s all very rewarding, plus the devs have thrown in constant new surprises and stage variety.
Gameplay wise it packs a hefty bzzzt. But it looks amazing, too!
And there’s a nifty little retro-style soundtrack to go with this. Mega Man II is legendary for its pelting score and Bzzzt pays homage to that with many bangin’ beats. The music is by composer Martin Linda.
Overall, you get about two and a half hours or so of gameplay with Bzzzt. It’s intended for pick-up-and-play type action and delivers that enormously.
But its speedrunning potential is also off the charts. We can imagine there’ll be a lively community scene here to set records across stages, with nerves of steel required for some of the challenges here.
Great stuff, then, but not a sedate time of it. If you want a relaxed platformer this likely isn’t for you. If you want something fast, relentless, often very exciting… yup! Bzzzt delivers. It’s excellent.
