CINEMAX

Factsheet

Developer:
KO.DLL
Based in Prague, Czech Republic

Publisher:
CINEMAX
Based in Prague, Czech Republic

Title:
BZZZT

Release date:
13th November 2023

Platforms:
Steam (PC)

Website:
cinemax.cz/bzzzt-steam

Regular Price:

Description

BZZZT is a fast-paced “jump-dash-run” retro game with a fresh and modern design made almost single-handedly by one solo developer, Karel Matejka, known as Ko.dll.

Inspired by the 80's tech revolution, this beautiful pixel-art precision platformer transports you back in time with a brand new adventure, paying homage to the popular and much loved gaming designs of the past.

In a top-secret laboratory, inventive Doctor Emily and world-renowned Professor Norbert are working on a highly classified project. Through their joint research and intellect, they finally created a tiny robot with a big AI personality! No larger than a regular household toaster, but with some extraordinary skills, ZX8000 is ready to save the world, one platform challenge at a time!

Meanwhile, other dark influences are at play in the world of BZZZT. The evil mad scientist, Badbert, prepares to unleash his nefarious plans upon an unsuspecting world as soon as he finds the perfect equilibrium of darkness, malice and madness. Bwahahaha.

“So, now it’s your time, player! Grab your controller or keyboard, and navigate ZX8000 to complete his missions and thwart Badbert's evil plans!” – KO.DLL

Karel Matejka, known as KO.DLL, is an artist who started his career as an illustrator and a graphic novel artist. Soon after he got in touch with the first computers, he started making games, which earned him the status of one of the first pioneers who started the gaming industry in the Czech Republic. His unique and multi-genre art style brought him worldwide popularity. Although his main passions are all art forms, he's also a coder, a game designer, a terrific chef, and a dedicated friend. And above all, he's a hard-working game lover with a dream to make games the old way again and pay homage to all the great games from the '80s that - like for so many of us - have formed his style and passions.

He has worked on titles such as Mafia, Operation Flashpoint, ArmA, Memento Mori 1 and 2, Star Wars: Assault Team, Nemo's Reef, Toy Story: Smash It, and over 20 others. It was the accumulated experience of more than 30 years and the endless enthusiasm that allowed him to start this solo project - a game he himself defines as "a time machine back to the 1980s".

“Maybe it is my pixel art passion, the magic of old games boosting players' imagination, or I feel comfortable in the past. All that led me to try making games the old way again - to see if that miraculous '80s magic could still work and if I could share my first 8-bit games experience and feelings with nowadays players. And since no time machine plans lying around on the Internet, the only way to do that was to jump back on the roller coaster of independent development.”

"If it weren't for the 8-bit computers, I would never have started making games. It was love at first sight. My feelings while playing these first games, that enthusiasm, that boundless amount of creativity, playfulness, and the utterly addictive gameplay of the 1980s, that's what I have channeled into my latest game. BZZZT is a trip into the past, exactly as I remember it. With rainbow glasses and pixel art pumped up to the max!!!"

Undertaking a project like this requires exceptional dedication and incredible skill. In the end, BZZZT required drawing an unbelievable amount of 10,000+ sprites, crafting hundreds of meticulously hand-made animations, and spending over 1,000 hours on gameplay and control coding and tweaking.

Together with his friend, Martin Linda, the sound artist behind the BZZZT soundtrack, he wanted to create something highly polished and memorable, like in the old days when new games were scarce.

Features

• Pick a difficulty from casual to hardcore, and choose a gameplay style that suits you the best.
• Enjoy extremely precise and intuitive controls.
• Push your limits in time challenges.
• Compete with others in global and friends leaderboards.
• Experience rich environments with ever-changing game mechanics.
• Survive and adapt your style for intense boss fights.
• Optional permadeath mode.
• Immerse yourself in the beautiful retro soundtrack made by Martin Linda, the creator of Rytmik Ultimate/Studio.

BZZZT Credits

Graphics, Design, Story and Coding
Karel Matějka aka KO.DLL

Music and Sound Design
Martin Linda

Translation
Jiří 'Shigor Birdman' Matyskiewicz, Cassandra De-gol Pokorny, Piotr Kostrzewski, Diego Keretzky Crusius, Paolo Giannini, Clement Willay, Juan Manuel Araújo Veiga, Kohei, Firat

Testers - Community
Julie Macurová, Lukáš Matějka, Diego Keretzky Crusius, Jindřich Šlisík, Filip Pokorný, Dragonenth, Josef Uher, Stefan Durmek, SixelAlexiS, Mario Malagrino, Maya Faltová

Patreons and Supporters
Jan Hloušek, RetroNation.cz, Pavel Dobrovský, Jan Olejník, Michal Pfeifer, Martin Hromádko, Radek Friedrich, Matej Kováčik, Petr Pechar, Vladimír Mariachi Dulava, Erik Kičnavoch, Lukáš Egrmaier, Michael Jurisch, Jiří Vávra, Filip Mašek, Jan Modrák, Beetroot Paul, Aleš Pernikář, Fjuro, Todd Gelman

Publisher
Lukáš Macura (Cinemax), Marek Nepožitek (Cinemax)

Contact

Lukas Macura (BUSSINESS/PRESS)
macura@cinemaxgames.com

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