This game looks nice and it has some good ideas, but ultimately, it's a "hold 'd' to win" game. My guess is that the developers wanted to make a Sonic Colors-esque spectacle (hence the powerup that perfectly mimics a powerup from that game, even down to the color), but ran out of time or motivation or whatever and just decided "does it work? then submit it." Final verdict: not much to see here.
Zartan is another take on the ol' Bionic Commando swinging mechanic. It even uses a frog tongue as a grappling hook, like in Froggle. Like my playthrough of Froggle, my experience with Zartan had a bit of a rocky start. First off, the game seemed to have a terrible problem with visual conveyance. Things that looked like walls were actually in the background, etc. This problem remedies itself before long, though.
Admittedly, I don't really remember many of the other 2D swinging games on this list, but I think I can confidently say that Zartan is not the best...not by a long shot. In It Belongs in an Ancient Ruin, for example, I never felt cheated out of my progress because the mechanics were all very intuitive and did exactly what you told them to do. Zartan, on the other hand, is no stranger to the cheap death. The hitboxes on things that instakill you are too big, the camera moves a bit too fast, making it more difficult to set up your next grapple, and the whole game, while having its very fun moments, constantly verges on being frustrating. Another thing I liked about IBiaAR is that no design choices seemed pointless, but in Zartan, there seems to be no purpose in collecting the fruit strewn about the level, which is one of the most major objectives the game gives you.
If you like the idea of 2D swinging games, you'll like Zartan, and while the raw quality of the game is not as good as I'd have liked, there's certainly enough to keep you occupied...if not entertained...for a while. Of course, there is no save feature, so whether this is a blessing or a curse is up to you to decide.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay sticky
Links
Y not: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18529
Lickiana Jones: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25888
PS- we've finally made it to the last letter of the alphabet...how exciting
