Spirit Revenge
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Last modified 2012-05-17 00:01:24
This is Shloober's Favourite MZX game.
A splendid mix of nostalgia and awesomeness win this game a 5/5!
Nice music, good but not amazing GFX, a good plot and a fairly long game time make this game something which doesn't stand out in any particular respect, but is just rock solid in itself.
A splendid mix of nostalgia and awesomeness win this game a 5/5!
Nice music, good but not amazing GFX, a good plot and a fairly long game time make this game something which doesn't stand out in any particular respect, but is just rock solid in itself.
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Posted date unknown
An adventure game with the basic inventory-style system, that you know and love. You find and collect items and use them to solve puzzles, you know the drill. But where Spirit's Revenge really shines is the fact that it's a fairly long (by MZX standards), involving game that just manages to strike all the right chords. Graphics are clean, music is pretty good, it's puzzles will make you scratch your head but they're not so difficult and obscure that you'll want to quit. Not to mention, there's a story that develops as you progress deeper into the game. Definitely one of the best games out for MZX.
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Last modified 2017-04-26 17:32:52
Ah, Spirit Revenge... Sheer curiosity over one of your music files made me play you... and I can honestly say I'm glad I did. It's a fun little game.
The story is a little weird, all things considered, but it comes together pretty quickly as you progress through the game. The storytelling, on the other hand, is something I have a slight problem with.
The tale is told in a comprehensive and coherent way... but the way it's told -- through cutscenes -- is a little annoying. See, some of the cutscenes in this game tend to drag on for quite a while with no real indication that you're supposed as to whether or not you're supposed to be doing anything. There's also one particular cutscene that seems to take forever to play out (on normal speed), but when it finally ends... it turns out to be nothing but a scene transition... and a really boring scene transition, at that!
Long-windedness and stylistic choices aside, though, the cutscenes were pretty good from a technical standpoint. There's some cutscenes with standard player graphics, but there's also some cutscenes with big graphics drawn with blocks and the like! That was definitely something you didn't see too often in 1997 games.
The controls are kind of non-standard for a MegaZeux game. You do have your usual movement keys... but rather than shooting or bombing, you need to use inventory to progress through the game. The way this works is kind of unique, but also kind of annoying, too. There are three separate keys for inventory management: One for viewing the inventory and getting item descriptions, one for using the inventory, and a dedicated key for picking up, or attempting to pick up, objects you may see laying around. Bumping into them just causes the player character or the narrator -- or some unknown entity that observes things -- to comment on the object in-question. While this is definite more akin to point-and-click adventure games like Space Quest or The Secret of Monkey Island, it kind of feels weird here. It's a small hurdle to get over, though.
One thing I sincerely wish that yenrab had done with the inventory system is adding far more interactions between random objects and held items. I think it would have been great to be able to use certain items on certain things for comedic effect rather than have the game tell me I couldn't do that. Well, what was stopping me from trying other than "these two objects aren't coded to interact together?" In fact, I can only thing of one instance where using an item with an object results in something funny and possibly unexpected. Otherwise, you get standard and non-standard "Nope" messages. How frustrating...
I have a pretty significant nitpick I want to bring up with this game. If you download the game's music, it comes in perfectly standard MOD and S3M formats. No problem there, I like being able to listen to MegaZeux soundtracks in whatever compatible player I have. The problem there is... you actually have to convert the S3Ms to GDM files in order for them to work with the game. Why add this extra step? Why not just have the usable soundtrack as an extra download or something?
Also, while every song is used at some point in the game, there are more than a few area which completely lack music. Again, not a massive problem, especially if you came from ZZT games where music was bleeps and bloops. It just seems odd to have areas within areas that are completely devoid of music...
Finally, let's talk about the puzzles for a minute. None of the puzzles in this game are impossible by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the game took me about two hours to complete from start to finish. However, there are a few puzzles that will definitely have you blindly poking around and using different items on different objects. But... that's pretty par-the-course for point-and-click adventure games and even MegaZeux inventory-based games such as Weirdness and Bernard the Bard.
All and all, I think Spirit Revenge is a good game that could have used a bit more polish in a couple places. If you're looking for something classic and fun to play, this definitely deserves a go.
The story is a little weird, all things considered, but it comes together pretty quickly as you progress through the game. The storytelling, on the other hand, is something I have a slight problem with.
The tale is told in a comprehensive and coherent way... but the way it's told -- through cutscenes -- is a little annoying. See, some of the cutscenes in this game tend to drag on for quite a while with no real indication that you're supposed as to whether or not you're supposed to be doing anything. There's also one particular cutscene that seems to take forever to play out (on normal speed), but when it finally ends... it turns out to be nothing but a scene transition... and a really boring scene transition, at that!
Long-windedness and stylistic choices aside, though, the cutscenes were pretty good from a technical standpoint. There's some cutscenes with standard player graphics, but there's also some cutscenes with big graphics drawn with blocks and the like! That was definitely something you didn't see too often in 1997 games.
The controls are kind of non-standard for a MegaZeux game. You do have your usual movement keys... but rather than shooting or bombing, you need to use inventory to progress through the game. The way this works is kind of unique, but also kind of annoying, too. There are three separate keys for inventory management: One for viewing the inventory and getting item descriptions, one for using the inventory, and a dedicated key for picking up, or attempting to pick up, objects you may see laying around. Bumping into them just causes the player character or the narrator -- or some unknown entity that observes things -- to comment on the object in-question. While this is definite more akin to point-and-click adventure games like Space Quest or The Secret of Monkey Island, it kind of feels weird here. It's a small hurdle to get over, though.
One thing I sincerely wish that yenrab had done with the inventory system is adding far more interactions between random objects and held items. I think it would have been great to be able to use certain items on certain things for comedic effect rather than have the game tell me I couldn't do that. Well, what was stopping me from trying other than "these two objects aren't coded to interact together?" In fact, I can only thing of one instance where using an item with an object results in something funny and possibly unexpected. Otherwise, you get standard and non-standard "Nope" messages. How frustrating...
I have a pretty significant nitpick I want to bring up with this game. If you download the game's music, it comes in perfectly standard MOD and S3M formats. No problem there, I like being able to listen to MegaZeux soundtracks in whatever compatible player I have. The problem there is... you actually have to convert the S3Ms to GDM files in order for them to work with the game. Why add this extra step? Why not just have the usable soundtrack as an extra download or something?
Also, while every song is used at some point in the game, there are more than a few area which completely lack music. Again, not a massive problem, especially if you came from ZZT games where music was bleeps and bloops. It just seems odd to have areas within areas that are completely devoid of music...
Finally, let's talk about the puzzles for a minute. None of the puzzles in this game are impossible by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, the game took me about two hours to complete from start to finish. However, there are a few puzzles that will definitely have you blindly poking around and using different items on different objects. But... that's pretty par-the-course for point-and-click adventure games and even MegaZeux inventory-based games such as Weirdness and Bernard the Bard.
All and all, I think Spirit Revenge is a good game that could have used a bit more polish in a couple places. If you're looking for something classic and fun to play, this definitely deserves a go.
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Last modified 2025-05-07 20:32:39
Oh, this is much shorter after one's played it before and remembers what to do!
I must confess I had to look in the editor to figure out the grappling hook. I was off by one footprint... literally. I would've still beat it if not looking through the editor, would've gone back to the footprint eventually. ^_,^;
I didn't hear music on every board, even using MZX 2.93c to use the included .s3m files without converting to .gdm, which the player is instructed to do at the start of the game; it's possible that it's that the game is expecting filenames ending in .gdm, otherwise they're just missing, or there just wasn't music set for those boards. Hearing silence on certain boards was a little jarring. The castle dungeon, and the throne room, especially could have used some music that was quieter and more reverent than that of the other choices... though the music that is used is appropriate.
Some of the char animations are really nice-- the game is interspersed with one-off single-char animations (moving through the trapdoor, grabbing the bottle of wine, etc.) which is something I don't think I've seen done in other MZX games of the time.
definitely short and sweet, if not for lots of time spent wandering around trying to figure out what to do next-- the author could have really fleshed out the lore-building and humorous details to account for time the player would spend trying to figure out the inventory puzzles. There is a softlock in if one fills up the empty bottle with the drugged wine a second time after having emptied it out already... but other than that, it feels mostly bug-free. I didn't see all the endings either, but I liked the story! :)
I must confess I had to look in the editor to figure out the grappling hook. I was off by one footprint... literally. I would've still beat it if not looking through the editor, would've gone back to the footprint eventually. ^_,^;
I didn't hear music on every board, even using MZX 2.93c to use the included .s3m files without converting to .gdm, which the player is instructed to do at the start of the game; it's possible that it's that the game is expecting filenames ending in .gdm, otherwise they're just missing, or there just wasn't music set for those boards. Hearing silence on certain boards was a little jarring. The castle dungeon, and the throne room, especially could have used some music that was quieter and more reverent than that of the other choices... though the music that is used is appropriate.
Some of the char animations are really nice-- the game is interspersed with one-off single-char animations (moving through the trapdoor, grabbing the bottle of wine, etc.) which is something I don't think I've seen done in other MZX games of the time.
definitely short and sweet, if not for lots of time spent wandering around trying to figure out what to do next-- the author could have really fleshed out the lore-building and humorous details to account for time the player would spend trying to figure out the inventory puzzles. There is a softlock in if one fills up the empty bottle with the drugged wine a second time after having emptied it out already... but other than that, it feels mostly bug-free. I didn't see all the endings either, but I liked the story! :)
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Last modified 2025-05-07 19:27:23
I streamed Spirit Revenge from start to finish for May-gaZeux 2025 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL2ts2TJ9N4). It was a game I remembered hearing about in the 2000s when MZX first got ported to Windows and was looking to see what I had missed out on. Playing it today, I see why it was recommended at the time, and also see a number of issues with the game's design that can make it frustrating at times.
I had assumed from not getting far as a child that the game was to revolve around wandering through purgatory, solving puzzles to eventually return your spirit to a living body or heaven or whatever. When in fact this is just a very short first chapter. The game is much more that medieval fantasy ZZTers and MZXers alike loved in the 90s. (See Ned the Knight/Bernard The Bard, your choice of Sivion, and half the creative output published by Interactive Fantasies.) Here the theme is fairly muted, only coming up when it really has to. Most of the game is spent figuring out how to progress through a castle's dungeon, courtyard, and interior before the villain behind everything is revealed and you set off to defeat them.
The humor holds up overall. Sometimes for reasons other than intended (the Windows 95 jokes) but overall it's a very goofy game that tries first and foremost to keep players amused. This works best when it gets integrated into the puzzle solutions like when you run out of drugged wine to pacify guards and have to find an alternative solution to get past the last one. Finding a guard's uniform to sneak inside without harming any of the guards to acquire one is an unxpected solution as well.
The "Rotate-o-vision" where you get some extra frames as your smiley face changes faving was a cute touch, but adds a slowness to the process of turning that I found annoying. Luckily you can turn it off.
Apparently the game soft-locks if you refill the wine bottle with your "solution"! The game describes the kettle as empty, but will let you fill it up as if it were full which breaks things.
Spirit Revenge definitely has some problems in its design as well, all to be expected given the time of its release. The puzzle solutions can be obtuse and had me cracking open the editor to peek at code for hints. There's a search for coins around the castle that requires touching mundane items until you stumble across all of them. It gets particularly annoying when you're not welcome at the chapel while holding a dagger which requires you throw it away in a specifc spot that Yenrab chose and nowhere else. (Just set it down!) Other solutions break the believability of it all, namely setting the floor on fire in the dungeon using an unlikely item in a very precise spot to light it.
The final chapter which takes place in a cave feels a bit lacking requiring some combinations of items that all just happen to be in the cave and take the game's logic in a far more silly direction. Spaghetti grappling hook just feels like it's there to keep players from just getting a grappling hook that's ready to use.
I also wish the game did more with the two sprits in one body aspect of the game. Outside of cutscenes, it hardly comes up. There are some cool moments that such as digging up your own grave and looking at your own murdered body, but you can pretty much forget that there's supposed to be two characters running around together. The complaint in another review wishing for more distinct messages than "That won't work" seems like a place ripe to add in some dialog between the two characters, giving them a chance to have distinct personalities and opportunities for more jokes should one of them disagree on the course of action.
Outside of hunting puzzle solutions at times though, it's a fun little adventure that takes a genre ZZT struggled with and is able to put it in a more high quality package. It feels like an adventure game fan wanting to make one for themselves, and the result is a solid effort. The documentation mentions a SPOILERS.TXT file which doesn't seem to be included. With a guide to reference to bypass some of the rougher parts without wasting too much of your time, Spirit Revenge would be a humorous adventure game with a unique story. When you aren't stuck with downtime running in circles to figure out what combination of things you have yet to mash together, it's a lot of fun. Just be prepared for there to be some downtime.
I had assumed from not getting far as a child that the game was to revolve around wandering through purgatory, solving puzzles to eventually return your spirit to a living body or heaven or whatever. When in fact this is just a very short first chapter. The game is much more that medieval fantasy ZZTers and MZXers alike loved in the 90s. (See Ned the Knight/Bernard The Bard, your choice of Sivion, and half the creative output published by Interactive Fantasies.) Here the theme is fairly muted, only coming up when it really has to. Most of the game is spent figuring out how to progress through a castle's dungeon, courtyard, and interior before the villain behind everything is revealed and you set off to defeat them.
The humor holds up overall. Sometimes for reasons other than intended (the Windows 95 jokes) but overall it's a very goofy game that tries first and foremost to keep players amused. This works best when it gets integrated into the puzzle solutions like when you run out of drugged wine to pacify guards and have to find an alternative solution to get past the last one. Finding a guard's uniform to sneak inside without harming any of the guards to acquire one is an unxpected solution as well.
The "Rotate-o-vision" where you get some extra frames as your smiley face changes faving was a cute touch, but adds a slowness to the process of turning that I found annoying. Luckily you can turn it off.
Apparently the game soft-locks if you refill the wine bottle with your "solution"! The game describes the kettle as empty, but will let you fill it up as if it were full which breaks things.
Spirit Revenge definitely has some problems in its design as well, all to be expected given the time of its release. The puzzle solutions can be obtuse and had me cracking open the editor to peek at code for hints. There's a search for coins around the castle that requires touching mundane items until you stumble across all of them. It gets particularly annoying when you're not welcome at the chapel while holding a dagger which requires you throw it away in a specifc spot that Yenrab chose and nowhere else. (Just set it down!) Other solutions break the believability of it all, namely setting the floor on fire in the dungeon using an unlikely item in a very precise spot to light it.
The final chapter which takes place in a cave feels a bit lacking requiring some combinations of items that all just happen to be in the cave and take the game's logic in a far more silly direction. Spaghetti grappling hook just feels like it's there to keep players from just getting a grappling hook that's ready to use.
I also wish the game did more with the two sprits in one body aspect of the game. Outside of cutscenes, it hardly comes up. There are some cool moments that such as digging up your own grave and looking at your own murdered body, but you can pretty much forget that there's supposed to be two characters running around together. The complaint in another review wishing for more distinct messages than "That won't work" seems like a place ripe to add in some dialog between the two characters, giving them a chance to have distinct personalities and opportunities for more jokes should one of them disagree on the course of action.
Outside of hunting puzzle solutions at times though, it's a fun little adventure that takes a genre ZZT struggled with and is able to put it in a more high quality package. It feels like an adventure game fan wanting to make one for themselves, and the result is a solid effort. The documentation mentions a SPOILERS.TXT file which doesn't seem to be included. With a guide to reference to bypass some of the rougher parts without wasting too much of your time, Spirit Revenge would be a humorous adventure game with a unique story. When you aren't stuck with downtime running in circles to figure out what combination of things you have yet to mash together, it's a lot of fun. Just be prepared for there to be some downtime.