Maybe the best PS2 platformer that doesn't star a lombax or raccoon.
I always felt the original Maximo was a good game held back by a camera fit for one console generation prior (to be fair, it started development in the N64 days) and mildly annoying combat.
Army of Zin fixes both the wonky combat and camera, and not only this, it has a normal save system. Personally, I didn't find the "pay to save" system to be that much of a problem since the original rewards exploration, but I can see why others would want something more natural.
Level design is still mostly linear and there's plenty of hidden chests and whatnot to find, but there's a bit more emphasis on the "action" in this action platformer this time around. Normally, games like this during this era tend to fuck the combat side of things up big time (Pac Man World 3 anyone?) but Army of Zin does enough right to get the job done. It never felt like I was just hammering buttons to delete enemies (except for maybe the very last stage) and i felt encouraged to swap up weapons depending on the situation.
My only real gripe comes with hard mode, and it's not really so much of a gripe as it is a nitpick. I felt like it really didn't change things enough- enemies just take more hits and NPCs die a little faster. In some ways, it actually makes the game easier as there's more coinage and you're able to get a hold of more powerful upgrades sooner. I was hoping enemies/bosses had different attacks or alterations would be made to the levels to incorporate trickier platforming, but oh well. It's literally grasping for straws at this point and it's not like you have to play on this mode to have a blast.
I always felt the original Maximo was a good game held back by a camera fit for one console generation prior (to be fair, it started development in the N64 days) and mildly annoying combat.
Army of Zin fixes both the wonky combat and camera, and not only this, it has a normal save system. Personally, I didn't find the "pay to save" system to be that much of a problem since the original rewards exploration, but I can see why others would want something more natural.
Level design is still mostly linear and there's plenty of hidden chests and whatnot to find, but there's a bit more emphasis on the "action" in this action platformer this time around. Normally, games like this during this era tend to fuck the combat side of things up big time (Pac Man World 3 anyone?) but Army of Zin does enough right to get the job done. It never felt like I was just hammering buttons to delete enemies (except for maybe the very last stage) and i felt encouraged to swap up weapons depending on the situation.
My only real gripe comes with hard mode, and it's not really so much of a gripe as it is a nitpick. I felt like it really didn't change things enough- enemies just take more hits and NPCs die a little faster. In some ways, it actually makes the game easier as there's more coinage and you're able to get a hold of more powerful upgrades sooner. I was hoping enemies/bosses had different attacks or alterations would be made to the levels to incorporate trickier platforming, but oh well. It's literally grasping for straws at this point and it's not like you have to play on this mode to have a blast.