Ziggurat

Ziggurat is a short but fast-paced roguelike shooter with only a few minor hang-ups.

Tower of Guns mixes up its shooting with platforming and freedom of movement, but Ziggurat battles its way to the top of the pile by scratching my Isaac and Serious Sam itches simultaneously.

There's no school like old-school, and Ziggurat serves as a reminder that there's still fun to be had in 2015 with what's essentially an 'arena' shooter. Whether the shooting is good enough to stand on its own without the rest of the package is up for debate, however the smartly implemented Roguelite trappings, as well as the well pitched difficulty, help to cast a spell that'll have you heading back into Ziggurat time and time again.

Ziggurat for Wii U is pretty much a bare-bones conversion of the original game with no extra features or clever use of the GamePad (although off-tv play is supported). It's possible to run through all five floors in little over an hour, but you'll want to keep playing to unlock all the extra characters and access the different perks as it's a whole bunch of fun to do so - especially as no two floors are ever the same. Ziggurat is pure, unabashed pick-up-and-play fun and it's also fairly unique an experience in the Wii U library. It's recommended then - just take note of the slight technical issues which drag our overall score down a touch.

For the past week we've been delving through the dungeon on a nightly basis, and we anticipate our interest in monster slaying won't cease upon completion of this review. That may be a bigger compliment than you realize.

Ziggurat finally arrives on Nintendo Switch and does not disappoint. Its quality was already contrasted, but the formula still feels fresh despite the fact that the game has been on the market for 5 years. It will catch us in its frenetic and direct gameplay, and soon we will see ourselves repeating levels to unlock more cards and other extras. Also the daily challenges are a good incentive that give variety to the main game mode.

Ziggurat is another recent port from a Wii U game, which itself is a port from releases to other rival systems. The game is a fantasy rich dungeon-crawling RPG with procedurally generated levels that keep things fresh and interesting. The premise of the game is as straightforward as they come.

So if you are after a dungeon crawler (or more correctly here a Tower climber) and you get your kicks from Serious Sam style play… then prepare to test your mettle as a Wizard to be, enter the Ziggurat and show them whose boss. If you are like me and find perma-death more a nuisance than a challenge then perhaps steer clear.

Being a short and intense game, Ziggurat gives many incentives to be played again and again and only suffers from some technical flaws in its Wii U incarnation which nevertheless don't stand in the way of an addictive game.

Ziggurat is not perfect by any means, but it does its job well and provides one hell of a time.