Looking for download: Dutch anti-alcohol platformer for Dos - "Zefalo"

[Amayirot Akago]

I've been hunting down this old Dutch game called Zefalo for some time now. The only place that seems to have it up for download is Vetusware.com, but I've tried registering there and haven't yet heard back from them. If anyone else has the game and is willing/able to upload it for me I would be most grateful :)

[Smiling Spectre]

Funny... That's not the first time when I hear about the game, but you are right - it not exist anywhere, it seems, aside of Vetus. I have account there. Downloaded your game. Contact me with the preferable way of delivery. :)

[Amayirot Akago]

Funny... That's not the first time when I hear about the game, but you are right - it not exist anywhere, it seems, aside of Vetus. I have account there. Downloaded your game. Contact me with the preferable way of delivery. :)
Smiling Spectre, you are a national treasure :D

[marko river]

Interesting. Is it abw? :)

[Amayirot Akago]

Interesting. Is it abw? :)
It is as far as I know, put it on my Dropbox right here if you wanna check it out.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57502026/ZEFALO.ZIP

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57502026/platformer001.png

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57502026/platformer003.png

Just between you and me tho, it sucks :p The jumping controls are the worst of any game I've ever played.

[marko river]

That makes it even more interesting :D

So, can you make few more screenshots, one title screenshot and perhaps write short review? I find this bad obscure games awesome, and it's making this place richer :OK:

[Amayirot Akago]

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57502026/Zefalotitle.png

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57502026/zefalo002.png

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57502026/zefalo004.png

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57502026/zefalo005.png

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57502026/zefalo006.png

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/57502026/zefalo007.png

Zefalo was created as part of a Dutch campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol abuse, "Drank maakt meer kapot dan je lief is" (Drinking destroys more than you hold dear). In the game you play as a little superhero who goes into people's brains to purge them of alcohol molecules by putting them in his backpack and disposing of them in garbage containers. While the graphics and music are decent enough, the game is marred by awful controls, unfair level design and tedious gameplay, not to mention horribly annoying repetitive sound effects when Zefalo jumps or takes damage.

[arete]

Very nice review ...could you maybe make it a couple of paragraphs longer? :mhh:

Game sounds interesting. What's your rating out of 5?

[Amayirot Akago]

Zefalo is a Dutch platformer created as part of a Dutch campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol abuse, "Drank maakt meer kapot dan je lief is" (Drinking destroys more than you hold dear). You control the titular Zefalo, a tiny superhero who goes into drunk people's brains to make them sober again. You can choose from four difficulty levels, each corresponding to a different person whose brain you enter, although the overall level layouts remain the same. Each level represents a different part of the brain, going from emotions to motor skills, senses, and finally memory.

To beat a level, you go around collecting alcohol molecules that are lying around, and bring them to garbage bins to dispose of them. So you go around flipping switches to open doors and activate platforms, and avoiding enemies and hazards. You can only carry 5 at a time in your backpack, which unfortunately means a lot of running back and forth to dispose of all the alcohol you need to beat the level, and thus the game ends up getting tedious really quickly. The biggest point of aggravation, however, are the controls. This game has easily the worst jumping controls I've ever seen in any game ever: to jump, you hold the jump button and then release it to go straight up, or hold left or right while holding the button to jump sideways. When jumping up, you can only move a few scant pixels in either direction while in mid-air, which means you have to be right next to whatever you're trying to jump onto. Even then, the regular jump is too short to even make it onto most platforms, so you have to hold the run button while you press jump to jump higher, which makes me question why the short jump even exists. Worse, a sideways jump early on in the first level requires you to stand EXACTLY on the edge of the platform you're on or you won't make it.

The level design is completely unfair to boot. Hazards and enemies are often placed directly in your path with barely any way to avoid them, especially with the crippled jumping controls, and worse, healing items are in pits of deadly acid seemingly just to spite you. Not to mention just finding your way around is a chore because the levels are pretty much mazes through and through. I tried, but I couldn't bring up the patience to even beat the first level. The game does have decent graphics and artwork, but the design of the levels doesn't really seem to fit the theme the game is going for. The Adlib music is decent enough, if repetitive, but the sound effects are awful with Zefalo constantly making the same annoying noises whenever he jumps or takes damage.

In the end, Zefalo remains little more than a curiosity and not worth seriously playing. I give it a 1 out of 5.

[arete]

Excellent review! :OK:

Now write a couple more pls! Abandonia needs you! Think of all the lovely pieces of eight you'll get! *strokes white fluffy cat*

[marko river]

Excellent job Akago :OK:

[novous]

Were there MORE GAMES made by them?

Because I played a game I CANNOT FIND that was netherlands / swedish / ish (to an English-only speaker, one of the Nordish looking languages).

It was like Test Drive 3-D. Except... with drinking. You picked what beverages you wanted to drink, and I think it showed you a map of your party or bar and your home, and then went into 3-D mode. You had to drive home, drunk, without getting caught or crashing.

You could choose what drinks you wanted. The more you drank, the longer it took before your physical keyboard inputs registered.

Early to mid 90's graphics. I'm certain it was DOS, but it might not have been.

Normally, I'd throw that in it's own thread but... the description sounds so much like it. Like, maybe it was produced by the same funding, or same studio.