Zenji (ColecoVision)

(Review archived from November 22, 2014)

Ultimately, Zenji would be the last game selected as part of the Random Gaming Review Project, and as such it will be the last “archived content” review I’ll be posting for a while. Next time I go on vacation, I’ll actually need to have fresh articles written in advance if I intend to keep the blog active during that time. That just sounds like a fundamental threat to my laziness though, so … we’ll see how it goes. At any rate, the idea behind the “Random Gaming Review Project” came from an old online friend of mine named Spruitje. Basically how it worked was that a handful of volunteers would all play the same randomly chosen game and write reviews. Once the review period wrapped up, forum members would vote to pick their favorite. Here’s a brief summary of the project in Spruitje’s own words:

Spruitje was in charge of the random game selection process, as well as organizing the review thread, tallying the votes, and announcing the winner. But during the review cycle for Zenji, Spruitje went missing from the forum and hasn’t been seen in the intervening 11 years since that time (as of this writing). My hope has always been that he simply left the forum for his own reasons. It’s not terribly uncommon in online communities and, much to my shame, I’ve certainly ghosted out of a small handful myself. My concern has always been that something may have happened to him in IRL, and I certainly hope that’s not the case. Such is the nature of online friendships; crossing briefly in the vastness of the internet, only to be lost in a sea of bits and bytes. Spruitje, if you’re out there somewhere, I hope you’re still happily sailing those seas wherever the strange winds may stir! And with that bit of philosophical fluff, let’s dive into this odd little ColecoVision title, imbued a sense of philosophical aspirations all its own.

Zenji is the sound of one hand clapping …

Here’s a fun fact that you may or may not know about Coleco.  The name is actually a portmanteau of both their location and their original line of business, ie. the Connecticut Leather Company.  That’s right.  So the advent of the ColecoVision meant that for the first time in history you could actually buy a game console manufactured by the same folks who made your bondage gear (Nintendo’s love hotels notwithstanding) … which I suppose could come in handy, depending on what circles you ran with back then (I won’t tell if you won’t).

So!  Let’s talk about today’s game Zenji!  Will it be dominant in the world of ColecoVision games or will it be submissive in the face of much better games for the console?  Will it be torture or ecstasy?  OK, enough with the Connecticut Leather bondage jokes!  I hope you remember your safe word because we’re diving into this game now (Seriously, that’s the last one I promise).

So at first glance Zenji appears to be about an anthropomorphic American football who also happens to be a master electrician.  He is tasked with completing various electrical circuits all while avoiding dangerously high currents and deadly shocks; a working class hero if you will. 

But that’s only at first glance.  A quick flip through the game manual reveals this tasty tidbit regarding the game’s higher aspirations:

Seek the Source

Connect all maze elements, creating an unbroken, green path to the pulsating source.  Avoid desires and illusions, and carefully watch the time.

The Zenji Manual

Wow … so this game isn’t just about sentient sports equipment with a rewarding career as an electrician; it’s also about his path to spiritual enlightenment.  Upon making this connection, I further realized that the game is probably named after that Zenji, i.e. Dōgen Zenji the 13th century Zen Buddhist monk from Japan, who is famous for saying stuff like this:

Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken. Take heed, do not squander your life.

Dōgen Zenji

I’m not sure that truer words of wisdom have ever been uttered … about gaming.  So here we have this game with beautiful aspirations towards spiritual enlightenment, as reflected by its legendary namesake, and all I can do is make corny bondage jokes in the intro.  Desires and illusions indeed.  Way to to keep it classy null, nice job.

Well I suppose all that’s left is to play this neo-spiritual treatise on seeking enlightenment in the digital age.

It took just a bit to configure my controls in such a way as to optimize the experience for modern controllers.  Luckily enough the control scheme in this game is relatively straight forward, so despite the cumbersome nature of the original ColecoVision controller, this game actually only requires a couple of buttons.  So once I had my controls dialed in, I discovered that this game plays smooth, and further it’s an absolute joy to play.

In practice it plays a bit like Pipe Dream for the NES, and also a bit like the vending machine hacking puzzles found in Bioshock.  But to make comparative statements like that actually does this game a bit of a disservice.  This really is a uniquely enjoyable experience, and I can say with confidence that I’ve never played anything else exactly like it.  It’s one of those games that’s deceptively simple; it’s easy to play but difficult to master.  It starts off easily enough with small puzzles, and a generous amount of time.  As you progress through the levels the challenge ramps up to fiendish levels.  Soon you find yourself manipulating maze pieces in order to trap your devilish opponents (or your own illusions and desires if the game manual is to be trusted) in one section of the maze, while you complete other critical parts of the maze unimpeded all while racing against the clock. 

Make no mistake, you will fail at times, but at no point did I find myself gnashing teeth in frustration.  If I can find fault with any aspect of the game, it’s that the enemy AI is very aggressive at times.  Couple this aspect with rapidly diminishing time allowances as you progress through the game, and it becomes quite challenging relatively quickly.  Really though I find it a bit shortsighted to strongly criticize a game for being difficult, after all, “old school difficulty” is often billed as a marketable quality in games these days.  The game’s strength lies in it’s well executed simple premise, and to my mind the development team accomplished exactly what they set out to achieve.

Zenji is addictive in the same way that many of the great games coming from this particular generation are.  “If I just play one more game, I’ll get a bit further, and net that high score”.   It’s interesting, but in some ways I could see this game translated brilliantly as a mobile game, being that all the essential elements are there.  It’s a simple premise translated to easily mastered controls which is then applied to charmingly addictive gameplay.  What’s old is new again!

I’m am extremely pleased to say that I would have no problem declaring this game a hidden gem of the ColecoVision library.  If you enjoy addictive puzzle games with a rapidly increasing degree of difficulty, this game is an absolute winner.  It may take a while to master, but if it’s any solace, I leave you with the words from the old Zen master himself:

A zen master’s life is one continuous mistake.

Dōgen Zenji

Final Verdict (adjusted for blog scale): 8 paths to enlightenment out of 10

Epilogue: And thus ends this little walk down memory lane, retracing my contributions to the Random Gaming Review Project. As of this writing, voting for the best Zenji review still remains “open”, although “in permanent stasis” would likely be a more apt description. With Spruitje no longer serving as the gravitational center of the project, it just sort of drifted apart. No one wanted to surreptitiously assume control of the project while there was still some chance of Spruitje’s eminent return, and by the time it was apparent he wasn’t coming back, the project had lost its momentum. That said, the idea behind the project is incredibly solid. In gaming, as in life, it’s all too easy to get stuck in your “comfort zone”. The random nature of the game selection process was a fun way to break out of that rut. I was fully unaware of the very existence of the Arcadia 2001 platform before playing Horse Racing. Based on that game, I can’t say that I’m chomping at the bit to return the Arcadia console any time soon (horse pun!), but it undoubtedly helped broaden my horizons as a gamer. There’s a lot of content to be mined from this idea of “breaking out of your comfort zone” (and indeed, an entire milieu of self-help books devoted to the topic), but rather than turn this epilogue into an entire thesis, I’ll leave you with this, dear gamer: get out there and play a randomly selected game. Play a genre you’ve never tried before. Play a game that’s far older or more recent than what you might typically play. Sample a different platform. It might suck! Heck, there’s a good chance it will suck! But I promise you, you’ll come away with a deeper understanding and appreciation for this hobby of ours. Do it for Spruitje!