KAZ strongly reminds one of classic games like Whack-a-Mole and Dance Dance Revolution with its high-octane action and simple controls. These high-dexterity titles have become increasingly rare in the modern market, which has focused more on adding new features and cerebral challenges. While they have their charm, KAZ brings back a simpler, more physical era of gaming, and is a pleasant throwback to old arcade titles from the 70s and 80s.
KAZ captures the feel of a high-dexterity game in a way few modern titles do, thanks to its simple controls and objective. The goal is simple: destroy enough enemies on a grid that changes from level to level to reach a certain score before time runs out. While simple in theory, anyone who has played old-school games that were more heavily focused on high dexterity than planning out careful strategies will not be surprised by how addictive this gameplay loop is.
To enhance that addictive nature, KAZ has also implemented roguelike elements, with more power-ups and themes unlocked over time for a constantly fresh experience that makes every game feel unique. It is a match made in heaven, creating a title that feels highly addictive and keeps pushing the player to do “one more run”.
One curious thing that became apparent while playing through KAZ is that, while most modern games of this nature leave visual images in the mind, this one left motor images. After playing for an extended period and relaxing, it was not unusual for the hands and fingers to make the motions used in the high-level execution of this game. It was a peculiar experience, further reminding this reviewer of times mostly long gone.
While there is much praise to give KAZ for its exceptional dexterity-based gameplay, it is not without its flaws. The biggest issue was mostly encountered when playing at a very high level. While KAZ is an addictive game, it is unfortunately not recommended for extended play. This holds true for many more physically demanding old-school arcade games, but players more used to gaming from home might be surprised by how painful deeper runs can be.
The hand movements required even give the infamous Mario Party a run for its money. At the time of writing, this reviewer has hand aches very reminiscent of the days when they were actually speedrunning Mario Party titles for 4-8 hours per day – and this is just due to a couple of days of playing.
The issue is that the optimal movement patterns in KAZ often require very uncomfortable hand movements and positions to maintain the high-control APM needed to progress. It isn’t something that really holds KAZ down, but it’s more of a warning to people looking to play this game that they should probably not play it for an extended period – at least not in its main mode.
For tired hands, KAZ offers a game mode in which, instead of time, the player is limited by the number of moves they can take. It is a pleasant mode to relax with after a deep run in one of the game’s more hectic modes. However, there are some issues with it. The most notable is that many of the upgrades offered in between rounds do not work at all and end up being dead picks. Many upgrades affecting time or speed do nothing, even though it would be fair for a player to, for example, assume that a power-up affecting the time remaining would increase the moves left in this mode.
Meanwhile, certain items become much stronger. As a rule of thumb, anything affecting score is a necessity to get somewhat early in case one wants their run to go anywhere in this mode. At times, it makes the mode feel more like a slot machine than a test of skill. As a relaxing side mode, it works wonderfully, though it doesn’t stand well on its own as it is currently implemented.
At the end of the day, KAZ is a throwback to the early arcade days, for better and for worse. Mostly for the better, though, and it is a title that is strongly recommended for anyone who wants to experience the pure energy of high dexterity-based gaming in an industry where feature creep has become the norm.
