Sizzler – New C64 Game Review.

Sizzler – New C64 Game Review.

Have you ever dreamed of creating your own classic Commodore 64 game, with great graphics and wonderful SID music, and have it critically acclaimed by game reviewers and players alike? Well Mik3, a 3 legged robot, has and he is now ready to put together a smash hit title that is sure to obtain a Sizzler award from the crack team of reviewers at the legendary C64 game magazine, Zzap!64.

For Mik3 to succeed in his goal, he will need to roam around the developer’s office collecting various components of code, art and music scattered across approximately 50 flip screens of while avoiding deadly enemy sprites and trying to figure out areas that are either initially locked or only accessible via secret passage ways.

When 5 pieces of each game component have been collected, Mik3 can then take them to the corresponding member of the development team (Stu – game code, Trev – graphics, and Saul – music/sfx) to incorporate into the game. You will also need to collect Idea components, with the premise that the more ‘Ideas’ you collect then the better rated your game will be when you submit the game to the Zzap!64 reviewers.

Once the game development is complete, locate Kenz to help you package your game on a cassette and ready for submission to the Zzap!64 reviewers.

Sizzler provides a very challenging platform gaming experience and only the most hardened gamers will get anywhere near as close to completing the game. Most screens will require you to pause for a moment so that you can understand the enemy movement pattern and consider the various traps and aides available to you before you make your move across.  The typical player will find that they will be making many errors along the way losing one of your 5 allocated lives in the process.

Thankfully, extra lives are awarded each time you collect a game component, though the amount of lives you can have is capped at a maximum of 5, perhaps removing this cap would make the game more accessible to the average gamer.

The overall presentation and production values within Sizzler are strong. The graphics are  large, colourful, well defined and well animated. The look and feel of many of the flip screens are varied, helping maintain interest within the game and making it easier to navigate around without getting lost. It is a great looking game.

Controls are very responsive, and they need to be in order to pull off the moves you will require to avoid the enemy sprites and the soundtrack is quite catchy and never gets dull.

In playing Sizzler for an extended session, despite the difficulty level, the game was initially quite addictive as I slowly uncovered and conquered new screens with each successive game. But after a few hours of game play, fatigue started to set in as I was replaying the same early challenging screens continuously and my desire to continue on diminished.

Given its high quality visuals and great control mechanism, Sizzler certainly is a game to consider for 2019. Just prepare yourself a challenge.

A video review of Sizzler is available below.

Sizzler will be receiving a general release by Psytronik Software in January 2019. The game will be available in disk and cassette formats. Find out more from Psytronik’s Sizzler page.

Review Score
  • 6/10
    Gameplay - 6/10
  • 8/10
    Graphics - 8/10
  • 7/10
    Sound - 7/10
7/10

Summary

Sizzler is a work of art on the Commodore 64 and should definitely be on your list of games to play during 2019, whether you will appreciate the difficulty setting will determine how much you enjoy the game.

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