Mazera

[Tixx]

http://www.astraware.com/palm/featured/mazera/

I am downloading now just for a peek. I have no idea how good it could actually be especially since I have to compare it to Legacy.

[gyffes]

Well, it ain' Legacy, that's for sure. But it beats the HECK outta that inane insaniquarium.

[Tixx]

Well, it ain' Legacy, that's for sure. But it beats the HECK outta that inane insaniquarium.


It was ok. The demo didn't go very far. Nothing to jump up and down over that's for sure.

[yorrick]

From the demo game - I am not sure whether it is worth the USD$29.95 price tag.
I agree with Tixx ... the demo was too short

Though you may be able to get the discounted version until 12 November for $19.95 ... I am still not convinced.

[gyffes]

Ditto. I wrote my comment after a few screens -- once the demo was done, I closed the game and went back to Legacy..

[manolan]

You're right, the demo is far too short.

But there's no point in comparing it to Legacy. It is a completely different game. Reminded me of something, though. Little Big Adventure, perhaps or something else similar.

[timrs2001]

Hello folks. I hope you don't mind I add my 2 cents to this one.
As soon as manolan was thinking of what to compare this game to I thought of the original Legend of Zelda for my very first NES.
Sorry if you are all too young to remember this but as soon as I ran into my first wooded area in the game I was hit by the similarity in layout, scene design etc.
It's just that Mazera is nice and clear where Zelda was a little rough back then.
I won't be buying the full version of this any time soon.
I WILL be checking out Legacy that you are all referring to however. I haven't tried it yet.

Tim

[gyffes]

Tim, if you've not Legacy'd, you've not Lived!

[squeff]

And, yet, Shaun at PDA247, seems to think this is one of the best (his word) games he's played. Talk about mixed reviews.

I downloaded the demo and tried to run it in the Palm Simulator. I'm hope that what I saw was not what the game is really like. It was aweful. Slow. B&W graphics.

[timrs2001]

No Squeff, there's something wrong there. It's kind of slow but not horrendous. It's not B&W either. The colours are quite nice really.
I'm running it on my Clie TH-55.
And Gyffes thanks for the response. I'll be Legacy'ing in no time.
Take care folks
Tim

[Zork]

This game is simply awesome. Best ActionAdventure/RPG mix avail for the Palm. OR as Timrs mentioned : "Its Zelda". But without the sword and the shield ;) . Everything else is simply Zelda. Perhaps its a little smarter then Zelda, cause there are lots of puzzles avail and the action isnt the mainpart of the game (but there still is way too much action, as you will experience in the higher levels ;) .
You simply cant stop playing it. Its the one fo the first Palm games, indeed beside Bejeweled, where you think : K, just the next challenge and then i stop ;) .
This surely becomes one of the classics of PDA gaming. It doesnt include any level system like ordinary RPGs, but beside that i will compare it to classics like Golden Sun for the GBA (mainly cause of the gaming atmosphere !).
And you surely will contact the Astraware forums for help sooner or later :) .

[terpkristin]

Oooh, so you're comparing it to the Golden Sun games. Is there "fighting"?
What does the game consist of? I mean, if it's not like the original Zelda (which I also have for my gba) with sword in front of you, how do you fight?

~tk

[ptc]

I played through the demo. It was fun, but not interesting enough to shell out $19.95. Maybe I'll change my mind and give it a chance if I become dreadfully bored....

The game reminds me of Kyle's Quest, but without inventory or anything and even less of a story. Just a bunch of puzzles to solve. The origianl Kyle's Quest with all the free add on adventures is a better game IMHO.

[Zork]

terpkristin, theres a lot of fighting. Usually you use tools to kill your opponents (stones, switches, etc.). And its real time action. So much for the comparision ptc made to Kyles Quest. Its not "only" puzzles. Its action + puzzles (it even includes a Arkanoid and a Space Invaders mini game :) . And some sort of Pac Man and Memory). Its simply fun and as it seems the demo mainly shows the puzzle part of the game. Thats not what the game is about. The only "problem" with this game will be your PDA. PDA DPads arent made for gaming. And you have to react damned fast at the higher levels (so much ... again ;) ... bout the "puzzle only" claim ;) ). But you become even familiar in time with your horrible DPad, cause this game is too addicting. IMHO the first PDA (!!!) game classic since Bejeweled.

[ptc]

Zork - all my 'claims' were based on the demo. Sounds like the higher levels have more to offer. I'm looking forward to reading some real reviews and seeing if others agree that this is one of the best PDA games out there...

[Zork]

ptc, for Zelda (therefor ActionAdventure/RPG) fans its one of the best PDA games out there and simply a must have. But if you prefer either turn based stuff or first person shooter then Mazera surely is not your game. Its simply a perfect action/thinking mixture (the only prob is our sh*tty PDA DPad. But you get used sooner or later to it). IMHO in some areas its even a little better then Zelda itself (for example the maps are way better organized). Not to mention the kewlest hidden end level (already played the game through) since Onimusha for the PS2 :) .

Bout other reviews : There arent too many ActionAdventure reviewers out there still. Most reviewers today think that games must either be a boring FPS or a even more boring turn based or RT strategy game. Games which offers pure fun, challenges and at least a basic story never get good ratings this days ;) . Take a look at the Tomb Raider Angel Of Darkness reviews. One of the best ActionAdventures (the music alone was one of the best game musics ever) and the highest ratings were 80 % . And Dumb III on the other side ... 90+ % . Not to mention the hype for one of the most boring games ever ... Halo 2. If I like to play Unreal Tournament in slow motion I dont have to buy a new game ;) . Not to mention the horrible lores textures on surface objects. And the ratings for this desaster .... 92+ % .

[strider_mt2k]

I tried Mazera, and while I was impressed with the graphics and music on my TH55, the character seem to move slowly, and the overall gameplay wasn't what I was looking for.

[yorrick]

Interesting about the comparisons we make on games. But the consensus is clear, the game is not "value for money". If it was around $15 - then I may consider it. But at the moment - I'll pass...

[Zork]

yorrick, the game is clearly value for money. Play the real game and you will see that there is no other game avail for the Palm which is nearly as unique as this one. You got half a dozen games with that one. So $ 29 is not the cheapest Palm game out there, but one of the most addicting and one of the best out there.
And BTW : Character is moving slowly is now some con for a game ????????? Some old quote means "If you dont got any smart to tell, its better to tell nothing at all" ;) . "Character is so slow, therefor game bad" .... still cant believe it.
Bout the gameplay : Try to get some look at the full game. Its nothing like the demo which is almost pure puzzling. Compare it with Zelda combined with half a dozen mini games and you got the real feeling of this game.

[tovarish]

i think its like chips challenge

[gyffes]

Zork, you wouldn' happen to be shillin' for the company that made Mazera, now, would you? How 'bout a bit of full disclosure...

[Zork]

Gyffes, im simply fascinated by this game. Every now and then you play a game which is really outstanding. There are dozens of games like Legacy (which doesnt make it a bad game, but it isnt unique at all). But every now and then you play real software jewels like for example Ico or Tomb Raider-Angel Of Darkness for the PS2, Starfox Adventure or Zelda Wind Waker for the Gamecube or Mazera for the Palm. Bejeweled for the Palm were awesome too. But it were more a fast reacting and thinking game in the mood of the fast paced games of the 80s - like Burnout 3 for the PS2 which I play often online. Mazera on the other side had some magic (even enough magic that I didnt destroyed my Palm and its ugly DPad ;) ). Some magic only ActionAdventures could offer.

[gyffes]

Fair cop: I have the same relationship with Legacy.

In fact, my wife's been commenting on my 'lectronic mistress...

However, as several of us have played the demo and come away less than inspired, what prompted you to fork over the rather high price for the game to discover it's magic? 'Cause the demo looks like any nearly NES 'move-through-the-maze/solve a few puzzles/avoid the crab (Hello, Mario?)' game, hardly worth the rhapsodies you've espoused.

[Zork]

gyffes, the demo doesnt matter. Get the real game or take a look at it at some friend. Then you know why its one of the best Palm games out there (and you could read tons of such statements on the Mazera tech support forum).
Its simply a complete new game. Play it and you will realize it too.

[timrs2001]

Wow, I was away for a couple of days and have to read pages to catch up. Impressive crowd.
I haven't bought Legacy yet but I'm going to due to the reviews you lads gave it. To be truthful, I'm trying to finish Warfare Inc. at the moment and like to only do 1 long game at a time.
I was looking into Mazera further the other day and if the price drops a bit I'm going for it. I think there is far more to it than we all see on the demo.
As for it's speed, I don't seem to have any problems. It may be a bit but nothing that irks me. I agree with Zork's thoughts about that. There may be far more positive points of a game so why dwell on a bit of speed?
I take my little "'lectronic mistress" everywhere with me and play a bit whenever I have a few minutes to kill. My wife has commented a few times that it's always with me. She used to get really ticked in the old days when I did the original Zelda until the sun came up next morning. Alas, age and kids stop me from being able to do marathons like that now.
Hey gyffes, I promise I'm not shillin' for anyone but when I like something I'll almost bleed getting the word out.
I'll catch up again with you all later. I HAVE to finish this Warfare Inc. so I can move on.

Tim

"I ain't got time to bleed!"
Jesse Ventura - Predator

[gyffes]

Tim, my solution: I bought m'self an NX80 and gave her the NX70, loaded with Bejeweled and a few others that she'd discovered she liked. And now that they're disco'd, they're Muy Cheap.

[timrs2001]

Great thought my friend but listen to this story. When I first upgraded to a Palm IIIC I gave her my old palm whatever-it-was. She didn't use it at all.
I bought my SJ-22 and gave the Palm IIIc to her thinking that neat colour and games would get her interested. Nope.
Finally when my TH-55 came home I gave my SJ-22 to her. She doesn't even use it for a phone directory! She still likes her hand written phone book.
My father loves the hand-me-downs though so get what he's getting at Christmas this year? SJ-22

Thanks for the thought though gyffes.
Maybe it has something to do with us having 6 year old twin boys? There is little down time.

Tim

[gyffes]

I can see that -- s'why we have just the one! Actually, she got hooked on bejeweled on her own. Up 'til then, she had ZERO interest in "Fred." I can NOT get her to use it as a calendar-keeper, though. Whenever she forgets something, however, I do nudge her, saying, "y'know, if you'd been using Fred..." esp with the link to Outlook AND our My.Yahoo calendars..

ah, well. At least now she won' play bejeweled on the NEW Fred..

[darhorn]

I always push the old devices down to my wife from the V, 505, TT, and now I am using a T3... my wife uses the TT for games, but I cannot get her to use it for anything else. Even when she knows that it is extremely helpful that I keep everything in my palm... she just prefers to call and ask me for the info.

I get her hooked on the games, but then I have to switch them out for her and basically manage the palm.

[Zork]

K, heres a $ 10 saving for Mazera. Usin that link Mazera will cost only $ 19,95 til November 30th :

http://www.astraware.com/palm/featured/mazera/?promo=NEWS200411

Got that from some other PDA site. For me it was too late :( .

[timrs2001]

Zork, you are one heck of a team player. You took the bullet for the crew by paying the full price for the game and then pass on this discount information to the rest of us. I'm choked up, pal. Let's tip our hats.
I did buy it and have just fiddled with it for a while. I haven't had much time to do anything else really (plus I am still trying to beat Warfare Inc., darn it!)
The site has a bunch of screen shots which look pretty cool. I hope I reach those levels some day.
Thanks again Zork. I hope I will have more to report soon on my experiences.

Tim

[Zork]

timrs2001, np ;) . Just thought that many users here were complaining bout the not usual PDA game price. And $ 19.95 is IMHO k for a real good and unique PDA game. The game itself shouldnt took too long. I played it wtihin 11-15 hours (including complete examination of every level (including the hidden one).

Bout Warfare : Try Galactic Realms from Crimson when you are done with Warfare. Its another realtime strategy game for the Palm (there arent that many beside thos two ;) ).

If you got any questions bout Mazeras puzzles either check Astrawares Mazera forum or post them here.

[timrs2001]

Guess what Zork? I have Galactic Realms and played it all about 6 months ago. I loved it! I will likely wait a few months before playing it again when I have a chance. I really enjoy these types of games.
With Warfare I was blown away by the great graphics and I still can't believe how many levels there are so far. I have always been a HUGE fan of the Command and Conquer series and to get Warfare which is so similar it feels great to be able to carry it with me.
Mazera is going to be a challenge for me as well. For me 11 to 12 hours will likely be broken up over a month. I'll be talking to you though as I get farther along for tips if that's okay.
I always like help. To me it's not really cheating.

Bye again superheroes,
Tim

"I get by with a little help from my friends"
Beatles

[ptc]

A nice review of Mazera by David Eaton over at Palm24. He seems to like it as much as Zork does (read: a lot!). He calls it one of the best astraware titles since the original bejeweled...

http://www.clieuk.co.uk/mazera.shtml

[gbol]

Anyone out there found the compass needle? That's all I need to finish the game and get to the secret level.

[ptc]

Just discovered this site from the Mazera developers. Previosuly, I'd only seen Mazera info on Astraware's site (astraware just distibutes this game).

Anyway, worth a look for Mazera fans:

http://www.mazeragame.com/

[timrs2001]

Tim, if you've not Legacy'd, you've not Lived!
Ted, my friend. After you told me about Legacy I got it and have been at it ever since when I have some time. I haven't touched Mazera in weeks.
This is going to take a while.
Hope all is well.
Tim

[ackmondual]

I've got Mazera only b/c of the -$10 off. I would've hesitated at $30 even tho i liked the demo. It's a fun game. I've played it the whole way thrue getting all the map pieces and stuff and checking out secret level. It's a fun and unique experience. I've played games like this before, and unfortunately, I'll probably only play through it one more time to see if i can use less lives and faster time doing so, and then retire it. Once u found everything, there isn't much else to do, unless Astraware sets up the high score board and ppl can compete for time and lives used, but then THAT would only appeal to ppl into the high score thing.

For those of u into games like Mazera (adventure games and I'll say it again after alr done so on Astraware and PDArcade forums,.... NOT AN RPG.... exploring, looking for secrets, puzzle solving or obstacles to overcome) then I'd recommend SP by N.I. Games and Mulg II.
SP has ALOT of secrets and obstacles to overcome, based on Spellunker for NES.
Mulg II.. like Warfare Inc has multiple level packs and even more user created levels as well. It's got obstacles, puzzles like socoban, memory, etc.
Both are freeware and can be found below.

http://www.palmgamingworld.com/action/sp.shtml
http://www.harbaum.org/till/palm/mulg/

Zork, you wouldn' happen to be shillin' for the company that made Mazera, now, would you? How 'bout a bit of full disclosure...

I've seen Zork on PDArcade and some other Palm forum which i can't recall at the moment. Zork just likes to promote and recommend games that he really likes. He REALLY LIKES to promote and recommend games that he really likes, and even defend them :p


K, heres a $ 10 saving for Mazera. Usin that link Mazera will cost only $ 19,95 til November 30th :

http://www.astraware.com/palm/featured/mazera/?promo=NEWS200411

Got that from some other PDA site. For me it was too late :( .

If you bought the game w/o knowing about the discount, u can try emailing Astraware and see if they can offer the difference in refund or some other way to make it up to you.... especially if you're alr one of their customers bef that purchase. They're quite nice about these things :cool:


Anyone out there found the compass needle? That's all I need to finish the game and get to the secret level.

We need more info than that. First of all, u don't need all 5 compass parts to beat the game, it's only needed for the secret level, but I'm guessing u kne that. As for the question, we need more info. The compass needle is ALWAYS going to be the last compass piece u pick up, so it will be different for 2 ppl who found the last compass piece in different places. e.g. if i found my last compass piece on the first world, then that's where i'd get the needle for my game. If the last place u didn't find compass piece yet is world 2, then THAT's where u would need to look. Tell us which world and which map piece you're still looking for (e.g. world #4 SouthEast part of the map with the Clouds. etc.) and we can go from there

[eric2002]

Mazera based on the demo gets my vote. I really like this game. The graphics in my opinion are stunning and I love the puzzles.

$30 is too steep in my opinion. Warfare was the only $30 game I've purchased, and the only one worth the price in... oh and Legacy... don't remember how much that one cost though.

I'd like to know from someone who has played Mazara and finished the game, how many levels are in the full version? Is it just that one world/map in the demo? or are there more worlds/maps?

[ackmondual]

there's a total of 5 big maps in the game, + 1 secret map. A map is essentially what u see when you're at the view map screen (from choosing "View Map"). The demo lets u play through some of the first map, as at some early point, you're stuck when they make u register the game so u can obtain and use more keys to advance.

Kinda like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, where its 2 big maps (light world dark world +10 dungeon, +many caves), the 5 worlds are intertwined with each other in some way. You'll need to leave certain unexplored areas of some map for later on when u can get there by some other means. You'll also pass through certain locations several times to to progress just b/c that location is a crossroad.

They're big, but u will eventually conquer them one by one, in which case they don't seem THAT big anymore and u finish the gmae.

[eric2002]

I really want to purchase this game, but $30 is just too steep. It's not that I don't have the money, but $30 for a pda game is too much. I can get a Playstation game for just a little more! $19 is the most i'd spend for any pda game.
I guess as much as I love this game I'll have to wait til it goes on sale or something better comes out that's less $$.

[ackmondual]

^^
I hear ya. Again, i only got it b/c it was only $20 for me. It is truly hours of fun, but once u beat, it you're pretty much done there, unless Astraware impelmements a High Score or Fastest Time table. Unfortunately, posting internet scores just isn't the same as real replayability.

U may wanna consider subscribing to Astraware's newsletter. While Mazera is a new game that won't be discounted again for quite a while, they do have some neat promos here and there that are worth considering. They currently have a "Hogmanay Sale". At least 2 diff titles each day at discount prices. Goes all the way until the 15th or 16th. Good chance to get some of their games for up to half off.

[eric2002]

thanks, i am on their newsletter (as I've purchased other games from Astraware), i'll have to check it out.

I remember when mazara came out and there was the $20 deal. However, I was busy playing Tot's n Tog's and didn't bother trying out mazara. my loss! :)

[ackmondual]

hey eric2002 Mazera is on sale for $20 due to the Hogmanay Sale at Astraware!! Pick it up today (1/7/05 Friday)!! Last I checked, they don't change the daily offerings until 3a the next day, but better to be on the safe side and buy it before 11a59.

[eric2002]

holy, sh--!!!
thanks for the update,
iam headed over to Astraware to check out the deal...

i'll be purchasing if i can get it for $20 or under!
:D

[eric2002]

sweeet... only $19!!! I just registered it!!

[timrs2001]

Man am I ever eating crow! (It's quite nice barbecued acually.)
Way, way back I said in this forum that I wasn't impressed with this game. I have gotten back to it and am having a blast now! There are many spots that snagged me for ages but I'm working through them.
I love this game.

Tim