Review | Zodiac DX

LifeisXbox’s Zodiac DX review | So it’s time to see who has ever played with an old gaming console and is looking for a way to play a nostalgic game again! But somehow hasn’t bought a handheld emulator? Well, then you are in luck! Today we will take a look at Zodiac DX, made by Foxy Boxy Games! It’s a retro side-scrolling adventure that certainly is interesting to play, but I will tell you all about it below!

ℹ️ | Xendacine played Zodiac DX for 3 hours on PC. This game is also available on Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation.

What we liked!

• Gameplay | If all you are looking for is the most flashy and new gameplay, you shouldn’t be checking out this review, but if you are looking to get your hands on this vibing and pixel-packed adventure, you came to the right place. The game plays about the way you would expect! You have the ability to play 3 different characters while fighting your way through all the levels and fighting bosses. Each character comes with different damage, range, and visuals. A funky plot twist which I enjoyed!
• Music | Something I did not expect but certainly could appreciate was that the music wasn’t boring! I was straight up expecting to hear the same tunes throughout the whole game. But it felt like all levels had some unique vibe attached to them! And boss fights felt epic enough. Again, with a pixel vibe. Weird to say, but I always get these flashbacks to the old arcade stores where you could play on these big machines when I hear this style of music, and it gets me every time!
• Game-modes | What surprised me was that there is still a way to enjoy Zodiac DX after you beat the story! You can crunch your mind for a little while on a fun and interactive card mode! Or if you don’t want to play through all the levels again, you can spend some time fighting all the bosses again! Each in their own game mode!
  Oh, and something you should know, the normal story campaign comes with a great maniac version you can try as well, which makes the game feel rather new and quite a bit harder! Or it can be just the thing you need if you think the normal story is just a bit too simple (as did I).

Somewhere between

• Controls | The key-bindings can feel a little bit weird at the start. That is for sure! Since the game literally opens in a windowed mode and will let you know that ESC is the way you open the menu. You instantly feel forced to open the key settings to see how you can get to the main menu, W, for QWERTY users. Enter does not get you here. It feels weird, but luckily you don’t really need to use them that often. The rest of the feelings are about what you would expect. But backing out and saving then feels weird again—a weird mix of settings altogether.

What we disliked

• Achievements | What I truly missed in this game was some form of incentive to play the game again. After you are done beating the story, and playing the different game modes to your liking, the game is just done. There is no time tracker, no high scores, no achievements. So if you do actually play the game again, it is out of love or enjoyment. For the value, it isn’t that bad, would have loved to see something of this kind implemented though!

How long to beat the story | 2 hours
How long to achieve all achievements| N/A
Similar with | NES, Retro arcade, Gamecube games, Gameboy, …

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