If you like “shoot’em ups” with the nostalgic style of retro games like “Afterburner”, “Space Harrier” and “Starfox”, “Ex-Zodiac” is for you, especially if you like games with a lot of varied low poly scenarios, 16-bit style soundtrack, interesting battle mechanics and endless references.

Despite of its low poly style, which reminds you of a lot of games from the Playstation and Nintendo 64 era, “Ex-Zodiac” can give the impression of a simplistic game, but do not confuse simplistic with simple, this game is extremely visually rich, super colorful with detailed scenarios and has a big variety of enemies within the limitations imposed by the development team “PixelJAM Games”.

Its combat mechanics resembles a lot from the mechanics of the games previously mentioned, with scenarios that change between the classic shmup style, such as “Starfox”, and scenarios where you, as a player, controls a futuristic bike like when the main character from “Space Harrier” moves on the ground, there are even some scenarios of direct reference to the franchise, with bosses and monsters inspired by the enemies from the series.

16-bit Symphony

Besides the visuals, this game’s sound aspects are very well done, the sound effects of each shot, each explosion or item obtained are pristine. This game’s soundtrack is really awesome, making the gameplay frantic at all times, both in the scenarios and in the battles against each of its bosses.

Ex-Zodiac: Current Status and Engagement

Currently, “Ex-Zodiac” is still in early access with only a few stages available to play, but it is fully capable of delivering 45 to 70 minutes of pure fun.

Even though it is not a very well known indie game, it is extremely suitable for creators who would like to show their skills to the viewers or for those who know at least a little bit about the aforementioned games, serving as an alias for stories from their past to be told in the form of video analysis or even live streams.

Another good recommendation is for creators focused on speedruns, where the game can be explored with its full potential, creating huge excitement for its viewers.

Availability and platforms

The game is planned to have its release on Nintendo Switch and PC at a future date and for this analysis it was used the PC/Steam version.

Ex-Zodiac

PC, Nintendo Switch (Early Access)

Performance

Streamability

Audience Engagement

Replayability

Summary

Even with the current game’s state, “Ex-Zodiac” deserves much attention not only from the content creators, who loves railshooter games, but also from their viewers.
Because of its frenetic pace, the content creator may struggle a little bit to interact with the chat, but nothing that impacts viewers experience, because the game brings so many references that can surprise the creator and highlight a genuine joyful experience.

4.5