For something sporting a bright colour palette and a premise that simply involves dodging bullets and shooting enemies, ZOE Begone! is rather deceptive. Initially it seems no more complex than the arcade classics Defender and Fantasy Zone due to its screen-looping and on-screen radar, but there’s far more to it than just that. Jump in without playing the tutorial, and our triangular heroine – who simply wants to sleep – will soon end up as a paint splat.
See, what we have here is a battle against an animator. They populate the celluloid-based playing area with all manner of geometric adversaries for our sleep depraved pal to shoot, with the animator’s tools (brushes, pens, etc) appearing as bosses. It’s inspired by the early days of animation and has a similar hand drawn feel to Cuphead, only with abstract shapes instead of cartoon characters. All of this is accompanied by a swinging jazz soundtrack that fits well.
It’s a shooter more complex than most, heavily reliant on the bumper and trigger buttons in addition to using the analogue sticks to move and shoot. The idea is to dash and ground pound through chains of enemies to increase the multiplier and generate cash bestowing apples, with said actions requiring energy – refilled by stomping blue pellets spread liberally across the bottom of the screen. After time, you’ll learn to dash, ground pound, collect a pellet, and dash into the next row of enemies – which will see the multiplier swell. Obviously, there’s a need to avoid bullets too while keeping an eye on the energy gauge.
There’s an extra layer to all this as while airborne it’s only possible to shoot left and right. By landing on the ground, our hero can shoot in multiple directions while running ‘n gunning. This can be very useful in some instances, such as dealing with larger foes, but becoming airborne again can be tricky when enemies are hovering above. There’s also the matter of needing to be very precise when collecting pellets, as they must be ‘pounded’ directly in the middle. When trying to avoid bullets and low on energy, this can feel very finicky.
In addition to energy pellets, the bottom of the screen is also dotted with health pick-ups. That’s to say, as soon as the stage starts all its health tokens are ready to be collected. As they don’t respawn, it’s a case of using them sparingly, mostly waiting until you’re on death’s door – with the health bar able to withstand several hits. Using pick-ups willy-nilly can result in final waves with barely any left in reach, or in worst case, none whatsoever. This goes for the bullet hell style boss battles too, which can be very challenging if you’re low on health or if there’s no pick-up available – as there’s the chance to ‘lock’ the screen in place before a boss fight commences. Bosses have super-sized health bars to slowly chip away at, much like Cuphead, resulting in struggles to stay alive for a good couple of minutes. Thankfully, continuing a boss battle gives an instant retry, rather than rolling back to the previous wave. Or reel, as they’re known.
ZOE Begone! will throw you a lifeline occasionally, with the number of continues gradually increasing, and an upgrade shop that appears between reels – including the chance to miss out on a new weapon or shield in return for a score boost. Weapons don’t last for long however, making them feel gimmicky rather than essential, and the process of collecting apples can be tricky as they soon vanish and are often surrounded by ground units. There’s also the chance to boost score by successfully completing a single-frame battle, in which all enemies must be shot within just a few seconds, mostly looping around on a pre-set path. Playing like a mini game, these short sequences break up the action and are satisfying to complete successfully.
The score chasing element is well implemented, with your score slashed in half upon using a continue, and the presence of online leaderboards with filters. Topping the leaderboard seems to boil down to getting as far as possible without using a continue. Beating all five stages on a single run is a very challenging pursuit, although I don’t doubt that it’s something obtainable after hours of practise. There’s also a time attack mode which features rearranged stages and more enemies to dash through than usual to add precious seconds to the clock. Beating animator for the first time will unlock freeze frame mode, so there are a few extras to dabble with.
If you’ve reached this point of the review and have the impression that ZOE Begone! sounds rather demanding, you’re right. It’s the kind of experience that could only exist on consoles in the modern era, not exactly being pick-up and play. This would have been too complex for ‘80s arcade floors. Nor is it a ‘quick burst’ experience as the average session lasts around 30 minutes once adept. To complete all five reels in one playthrough, you’re looking at around an hour – with a lot of practice needed beforehand. The process of learning and mastering ZOE Begone! is similar to besting the classics of yore though, with individual waves requiring strategies to beat. The difficulty rises sharply during the midway point, making it comparable to the early sprite-based Llamasoft games, with unique waves that present whole new challenges to overcome.
ZOE Begone! is recommended to seasoned shooter fans – certainly, don’t let the colourful visuals fool you – but isn’t likely to please anyone looking for a quick shooting fix. The final stages are very challenging, and occasionally it feels like more luck than skill is required when things become hectic. Shorter waves and bosses with smaller health bars would have helped mitigate the difficulty. I felt that there’s much to admire about the fact that it isn’t just another twin-stick shooter, but at the same time, also felt it was guilty of doing too much. Its ideas and mechanics aren’t gradually introduced but dumped on the player from the get-go. This makes for a very demanding experience – which may have you cursing occasionally – but one that’s also quite satisfying to master. What I wouldn’t have given for a ‘smart bomb’ though.
Retchy Games’ ZOE Begone! is out 17th September on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Switch and PC. Published by PM Studios.