ZaciSa’s Last Stand

Game Info

Tower defense games have become increasingly popular over the past 5 years.  Even Nintendo has dabbled their hand in the genre with Dillion’s Rolling Western.  ZeNfa Productions first game for the Wii U eShop ZaciSa’s Last Stand brings a simple yet deep approach to the genre.

ZaciSa’s Last Stand doesn’t have a story mode or certain missions to follow, but instead gives you six different maps to challenge gamers to defend your base.  The layout changes on each map to make the strategy completely different from map to map.

The controls are simple.  You tap on the touchscreen to choose the orb in which you want to place a unit on.  After you place your defending unit it will give you a circle around the orb in which is the attack radius.  There are different units which you can purchase that will either deal more damage or shoot more rounds per minute.  All of the stats are upgradable by using the cash earned from destroying incoming enemy ships.  As you upgrade the more expensive it becomes to strengthen your bots.  This makes strategically planning on how you spend your money a must.

There are bonuses that can be earned and used after completing waves.  You can get a score multiplier, cash multiplier, atomic bomb (instantly clears the screen) and health boosts.  Also you can have friends pick up a Wii Remote and help you with a bot that flies around in a co-op type role.

There are three main modes in the game Easy, Hard (Which is ridiculously hard) and Endless.  They are all really endless, but in Endless mode there aren’t different waves, just an endless run of enemies.  It would have been nice to have a definitive end to each map, but it works out just as well for hi-scoring.  A patch later on is suppose to add online leaderboards which will add to the replayability.

Graphically the game is a simple 2D tower defense game.  The art style is pretty unique.  It looks like someone colored on construction paper with a crayon. I think it looks awesome, but it may not be for everyone.  The soundtrack is pretty sweet with some nice techno/electronic beats jamming while you try to defend your base.

The Recommendation

While being a simple game in terms of graphics and gameplay, there is actually a surprising amount of depth that goes into strategizing your placement of your bots and the method in how you upgrade.  For $2.99, fans of tower defense games should pick up this title, as it is very addicting and a great value, plus there is promise of more levels to come which is always a great thing.