ZZT is not mainly used for RPG's, in fact, there haven't been any ZZT RPG's out for a while. ZZT can be used for a mix of things including Action, Adventure, Dungeon Crawls, Side-Scrollers, and pretty much anything if you have enough creativity. The graphics of the games you can make are bad. Take a look at the screenshot and you will know what I mean (sorry for the bad one, click here for an enlarged version).
You can find a lot of games and tips from other ZZT-fans at the ZZT website. Take a look at it, there are really much ZZT-games!
Reviewer: lisbonant When it was released, ZZT was already years out of date in terms of graphics and gameplay. This may have been the reason it grew in to such a cult icon: it had very few readily apparent merits. However, the magic of ZZT was not the included demo games. The real appeal was the built in Game Creation System ZZT shipped with a rudimentary graphical editor and a simple object-oriented programming language, and the community simply went to town. Anyone who ever got caught up in it should feel a familiar stab of nostalgia up seeing that screen.
Countless hours have been poured in to not only making immersive worlds and storylines within the world that is ZZT but also in to exploiting the engine in new and creative ways. These user-submitted games are freely available for download and are very easy to install and play. Somebody recreated Links Adventures, some are more puzzle-oriented, there's even one that takes place entirely on one "board", working in a burger joint! The possibilities are virtually endless. Surprisingly enough, there is still a fairly active community.
ZZT is still discussed and developed for. It's extremely easy to get started, and several tools are available to aid in design. It requires virtually no experience to create your very own ZZT game that is extremely fun to play and share with others.
Of course, the graphics are extremely limited by today's standards, but this only serves to give the game a certain retro charm that is impossible to find in any other game. At such a small size, this game really packs an impressive punch. You simply cannot call yourself a DOS enthusiast unless you have downloaded this game and played through some of the contributions from the talented community. ZZT provides so much more than any other game, including those currently available. It is nothing less than inspiring to explore other people's worlds and see what they have come up with, and the simply ingenuity is seldom found in other gaming communities.
ZZT is so much more than just an old DOS game. It really is its own microcosm of retro video game creation. Don't let yourself pass this one up. You won't regret the download for one second. Enjoy!
