Systems > Atari 2600 > W > Word Zapper > Staff Review
Sign up for a free user account and you can leave feedback for this review or even submit a game review of your own!
Review by Rob Hamilton
August 09, 2008
Each game of Word Zapper lasts for 99 seconds. During this time, you are forced to properly spell three words with, as the instruction book bizarrely calls it, "a most profound vehicle of amusement, the rotary wing Word Zapper". Ready.....set.....GO!!!! There you are in the middle of the screen. A word (maximum of six letters) appears briefly on the bottom of the screen. At the top is a scrolling alphabet. If the word you get is "DUNG" (which likely isn't actually in the game....), you wait for the "D" to scroll by and hit the fire button to shoot it. And then the "U" and so on. Not that difficult of a concept now, is it? Especially since if you exhibit the competence of a dust bunny and shoot the wrong letter, you face no consequences or repercussions.
However, spelling isn't supposed to be EASY, damnit! And that's where a diabolical array of flying shapes attempts to stop your most profound vehicle of amusement from doing its thing. A good number of these things will ram into you and bump your ship a smidgen off to the side, making it tougher to get a bead on the proper letter. Another type threatens to make the game fun by temporarily scrambling the letters, so you don't know when the one you're looking for will appear. And the final type just obliterates your ship -- a tactic that's far more useful in preventing players from spelling words than those used by the other shapes. You can destroy these objects, but there's no real point, as they aren't hard to dodge and you get no reward for doing so.
And so, you either spell your three words in 99 seconds or you don't and wind up pondering if there's a reason for your pathetic existence. That's it. However, like many Atari 2600 games, this one does have a number of levels -- 24 to be precise. Here, you may control how fast the alphabet scrolls, as well as the speed and number of attacking shapes. Oh, and you can choose if you want to spell words or random assortments of letters. Yes, in a supposedly educational game, half of the levels you can play test you on your ability to correct spell "GLXF" or "QNYA".
I'd say that defeats the purpose of an educational game, but let's be real -- there's nothing particularly educational about Word Zapper. You see a short, simple word and then you shoot letters to spell said word. By the time I was 10 years old and playing this game, I'd pretty much mastered that skill with the caliber of words generated by it. So I was stuck with an inane, short, simplistic and horrible shooter that I didn't learn anything from. Most profound vehicle of amusement, my ass.
|
|
|
Most recent video game reviews written by Rob Hamilton
Star Ocean: The Last Hope (Xbox 360) [February 03, 2012]
Scarygirl (Xbox 360) [January 28, 2012]
Faery: Legends of Avalon (Xbox 360) [January 17, 2012]
Infinite Undiscovery (Xbox 360) [January 05, 2012]
Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening (Xbox 360) [December 16, 2011]
|
You can click the tabs on the above bar to choose whether you wish to read comments from visitors who have posted on Facebook, or from registered site users who have left feedback on the forums. Please leave a comment of your own if you have anything to say!
|
|
|
Follow Us |
Advertise exclusively for 1 month... only $1000!
Recent Forum Discussions
+ playstation vita, yo.
+ RotW January 29 - February 04 2012
+ Games to be added to the database...
+ The Final Fantasy XIII-2 thread
+ [News] Final Fantasy X HD will be a remaster, not a remake
+ [News] Schafer has pitched Psychonauts 2, Minecraft dev says 'let's make it happen'
+ [News] Naughty Dog explored making a new Jak and Daxter, made Last of Us instead
+ Magical Mystery Tournament!
+ disco's SoulCalibur V review
+ nickyv917's Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door review
+ HonestGamers review bounties topic (February, 2012)
+ nickyv917's F-Zero GX review
Staff Game Reviews
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| SoulCalibur V |
| The Simpsons Arcade Game |
| Quarrel |
| Star Ocean: The Last Hope |
| Pushmo |
| Medal of Honor: Airborne |
Site Staff
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |  | ||
 |
Featured Reviews [+]
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Rayman Origins |
| Othello |
| Scarface: The World is Yours |
| The Last Express |
| Golden Axe II |
| Assassin's Creed: Revelations |
Exclusive User Reviews [+]
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| White Knight Chronicles |
| Dragon Wars |
| F-Zero GX |
| Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door |
| Pokemon Snap |
| Final Fantasy X-2 |
Info |
Help |
Privacy Policy |
Contact |
Advertise
© 1998-2012 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site--from reviews, guides, cheats and editorials to message board posts--may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Word Zapper is a registered trademark of its copyright holder. This site makes no claim to Word Zapper, its characters, screenshots, artwork, music, or any intellectual property contained within. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.
