I am continuing with the rather futile task of playing all the video games.

It's been a while...

Game 000019: !Sqrxz!

A game from German developers Retroguru, !Sqrxz! was originally a DOS game, slightly updated a few years ago and ported to a variety of new and retro platforms.

The game is a technical platformer with mild puzzle elements. It boasts that it is a difficult game - which is true, but it has a slight tendency to achieve this via the use of traps which are impossible to spot the first time round, and almost trivial to deal with after that. It certainly hits the right buttons for a 90s nostalgia trip - and the music is fantastic. However once you've played through the first few levels, you've really seen all this game has to offer, and it didn't hold my attention for more than about an hour.

It's a free download, and is pretty cool that the game has clearly designed within the constraints of the older platforms on which it is also available. For a modern PC game it doesn't compare favorably to other games in the genre, but it is perhaps unfair to hold it to these standards given the developer's aims. One for hardcore retro fans only I think.

---

!Sqrxz! is one of a few games that have been added to the Giant Bomb database lexicographically before the games I've already played within the last year. The next games on the list are '88 Games, which is an arcade cabinet which will be too difficult for me to track down, and '89 Dennou Kyuusei Uranai, Japanese horoscope software - and not really a game. So next time: 'dillos for iOS.