Platypus Zhark Mod - Full Playthrough

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Published on December 5, 2024 8:55:57 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCeo3OwyxVk

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Here it is, the other Platypus mod from the same creator as Platypus X! You can see the mod trailer here:    • PLATYPUS ZHARK ~ Platypus Mod Trailer  
The download link is in its description.

Unlike Platypus X mod which doesn't change actual gameplay and is overall like a 3d remake of the game in a way, this mod is more so its own thing, having a totally different theme and it has actual gameplay changes.
The soundtrack for the mod is once again very nice, and the graphics quite good, fitting very nicely into the mod.

That said, the gameplay is honestly...hard to rate. A lot of the elements look like interesting ideas on paper, but were likely not executed well simply due to limitations of modding. That said, some things really should have been just discarded or adjusted more in order to not sacrifice gameplay in favor of just adding new ideas.

First of all weapons take a while to be introduced compared to the vanilla game. This is honestly a pretty good idea. What holds it back though is the fact some of the weapons are really subpar.

First weapon you are given is the wide shot. Unlike its vanilla counterpart, it it only shoots bullets diagonally. This seems like a cool idea on paper, but when you realize that wide shot by design deals 50% less damage than the default gun on a per-projectile basis, the reality is that wide shot now deals half the damage compared to the default weapon if all shots land for both. So now it's just really bad for single-target damage, and even its viability for smaller enemies is now questionable. But what's even worse is that even frontal bullets from weapon pods are removed with wide shot, and weapon pods multiply projectile damage by x0.65, making wide shot worse with weapon pods than without them, ironically.

Sonic Pulse is also fairly subpar. It has a fire pattern similar to rockets, with a (seemingly) better reach than sonic pulse but even worse consistency and doesn't cover as much area. It especially struggles against missiles as you can see in this video, and I really don't know how you could ever get a 100% overall success in area 4 without just avoiding it and instead spamfiring your default gun.

Until level 3 area 3, you are stuck with wide shot, autofire and sonic pulse (from level 2 area 4 onwards), so 2 out of 3 weapons you get are just not good. I am also a bit confused on why wide shot is given for the first boss fight (well it's not much of a boss fight but that's not much of a problem in itself) if simply carrying autofire from the previous area is so much better. And then in the second boss fight, in level 2, you are forced to use sonic pulse against a boss that spams missiles and fast-moving enemies... Also for whatever reason, the game lags every time the second boss hits its next damage phase, but that's not really a fault of the mod, I just don't know why it happens.

Anyhow the mod definitely feels better the moment you get rockets, which just shows how much areas up until here were lacking in the weapons department.

Sadly the issues don't stop at the weapons. Level 1 is mostly fine but very basic, then level 2 is somehow more difficult than level 3. The first minefield area is actually a bit of a threat, while the second minefield is just really easy. The second minefield area also features chests that you can't actually shoot, so I'm not sure what their purpose is, since normally they give you fruit when you shoot them...otherwise most of the issues just come with the sonic pulse itself, honestly.

Level 3 is mostly okay, though I did get trolled when trying to destroy a ship because I didn't see there was another right behind it...the boss of level 3 isn't really a boss, it's actually the volcano section but redesigned and you can't shoot during it (area 2 doesn't have a volcano anymore). Cool concept, but quite easy for a boss.

Level 4 is where all turns into hell. The mini-boss in area 4 is the original level 2 boss, but MUCH harder because all turrets shoot faster in level 4 by default, and that includes the ones on this boss, which is a recipe for disaster. On top of this though you get 5 rocket stars before the fight and...none during the fight. Die once and you just have to break your finger spamfiring to kill the boss. Then there is area 5, the final boss...starts off with a star that doesn't let you use your weapon if you pick it up (at least iirc, I never actually picked it up, just got told what it does), if you take this, you might as well just die to get rid of the star. And god help you if you had rockets from the previous area, which would extend the duration of this star. The boss itself is incredibly big and it's hard to dodge missiles with so little space.

In general there were quite a few situations where I had to break my finger because power-ups ran out too fast or I died and the game just didn't give any more (or weapons were just not good).

So, overall cool concepts but lots of room for improvement.