The Daily Click

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Author:	Hill Gigas
Added:	16/10/2008
Overall:
Average:	5/10

Return of Balzar is a dungeon adventure game in the vein of Gauntlet. I've always really enjoyed games like this because of their simplicity. You see the level, you see the treasure, you see the enemies, you know what to do. The game has a feel of an rpg, but doesn't really have any rpg elements other than collecting keys. It's actually just a highscore game, with most items only giving you extra points. This by itself might actually expand it's appeal to some people, leaning the game towards the puzzler genre.

Gameplay is simple. Each level is a maze where you must collect a key to get to the next level and survive along the way. The ultimate goal of the game is to get on the highscore board, so collecting treasure along the way is very important. Play control is actually very solid, I never got stuck, and I never blamed a death on bad controls. Controls only suffer from a lack of variety. It would have been fun to find special weapons in chests. It might also be good to add more traps or secret passage ways in levels.

Graphics are decent, but can easily be improved upon in several ways. The sprites are decent enough, monsters are recognizable as monsters, and the hero is recognizable as the hero. It's only the levels themselves that need more attention. The walls are usually solid black, with a solid gray floor. Even a simple brick pattern would have helped a lot. And filling the levels with other scenery such as bones on the floor, torches on the wall, or even traps such as spikes would really help the levels come alive.

The music in the game serves the gameplay well. The music sounds like a vintage arcade tune that you might have heard with early shooters or maybe 8-bit dungeon crawlers. Sound effects outshine the music, with good sounds explosions and hits.

Lastability will depend on the player. Old school gauntlet lovers may find more time for this game than others. But I think this game has a lot of potential for a bigger audience with more attention paid to the graphics and more variety in gameplay. A lot of the challenge comes from the lack of any kind of continue system. Some people would see that as a good thing, but I would like to see this game expanded upon into something more in-depth. For the sequel, adding a simple experience/level-up system and a simple checkpoint or save system would add a HUGE amount of replayability!

Overall, I think this game is worth a play due to it's small file size and classic arcade feel. I think the game has a lot of potential to be a really great rpg dungeon crawler, and I hope to see the sequel really expand upon the games scope. With a simple save system, a level up system, and maybe a few more items here and there, this could become a very fun klik dungeon crawler that could easily provide some solid hours of gameplay. Recommended for fans of vintage dungeon crawlers.