Sabrina: Zapped!

Sabrina: Zapped is one of the unsung great GBC games, so it is nice to see it get another chance to brighten up a few more lives.

It is made by Wayforward, today well known for their Shantae Series. This game feels like it was made with the same visual fidelty skills. It looks very impressive for a GBC game with a big, nicely animated heroine, a colorful world and fun enemies to fight.

Sabrina the Witch is a character from the Archie Comics, one that got so popular that she got her own comics, a live-action-show and finally multiple animated series. This is inspired by the first one.

The story is this: After messing up a spell, Sabrina has to go around to fix all her fellow students back into their true selves after she accidently turned them all into animals.

The gameplay starts out simple but quickly the puzzle nature of the game becomes clear. You have to defeat and uncurse all the students in a level before the exit to the next level opens. You can't just go around to get them but also have to find certain items that will give you special abilities like breaking blocks or floating within a bubble.

One of the items is also her cat, Salem, who is fully playable. He can sneak through tight spaces and break certain blocks to reach more enemies. The levels quickly turn into fun but relaxing puzzle boxes. The difficulty is chill so you can just enjoy the experience. It is like the mirror counterpart to Metroid II. Here you need to just jump onto the enemies to knock them…

This was the first title I purchased with the Chromatic, and I think it was a solid choice. I saw it was made by WayForward (creators of Shantae) and figured it would have to be good as they're masters of 2d side scrollers. It didn't disappoint. No level overstays it's welcome (of which there are many) and every progressive level is the perfect amount more difficult than the previous. The basis of the game is, each level you have a certain number of animals you need to find and turn back into people due to a spell gone awry, this could require new powers to reach high or smash blocks, or your cat to clear a path for you. As you get better at solving puzzles and finding your way around the map to hidden areas, they get harder to find, and the puzzles more difficult. The graphics are whimsical and immediately nostalgic. The music, although very catchy, only changes every 4-5 levels which can make it get a bit dull and repetitive after a while. Overall fantastic game, highly recommend.