The sequel to Vradark’s Sphere on the ZX Spectrum, Vradark’s Revenge is another fantasy-based Roguelike from the same development team, SaNchez, only this time it has been created specifically for the ZX Spectrum Next, which is an enhanced, modern ZX Spectrum remake/variant that first came out in 2017.

Vradark’s Revenge was initially released in 2022 and an emulated version, that runs in Windows, was later released on Steam in 2023 through publisher “Drunk Fly Oy” (which is a bizarre company name if ever there was one).

While its predecessor was a turn-based game, Vradark’s Revenge features real-time action and is primarily a 360-degree shooter, which should make it more appealing to casual players.

You control a wizard who must blast his way through a variety of scrolling levels using WSAD and a mouse. The mouse moves a cursor around the screen which indicates where the wizard is aiming and will fire his magic bolts and spells. You collect money from defeated enemies and treasure chests; upgrade the wizard’s powers at shops, and generally avoid being damaged – or killed – by waves of attacking monsters, or the boss battles that you have to face at the end of each level. As you progress through the levels the monsters get tougher and more numerous, and survival becomes more challenging.

If you die, you can at least start again from the level you’re on, so the “permadeath” feature is not too draconian. And if you quit out of a game you can also continue from the level you were on when you return, which is also good. Plus: there’s also a “choose your fate” minigame that will resurrect you if you manage to stop the cursor in the right place after expiry.

Graphically, Vradark’s Revenge is very good, with vividly colourful pixel artwork and nice details like burning villages, stonework bridges, and humorous enemy sprites. The music in the game is pretty good too, and is recognisably “AY” chip-based, which gives it a comforting retro sound. It can also be switched off if it gets on your nerves.

I enjoyed playing Vradark’s Revenge, but I do have one criticism of it, and that is that the controls are not as redefinable as I would have liked. The game limits which keys you can use, and it also doesn’t seem to allow you to change the mouse button controls, which I would’ve liked.

Overall, though, I’d say that Vradark’s Revenge is definitely worth buying and playing because it’s fun to play, and also that it gives you a glimpse of what the ZX Spectrum Next is capable of, without having to own one. The Steam instructions actually say that – if you dig down into the game’s files – you’ll find a “.nex” file that is the game’s ROM and this can be used on actual ZX Spectrum Next hardware, so this is obviously running under emulation. Which is great in my opinion, because I’d like to play more ZX Spectrum Next games without having to buy real hardware, and that at least is possible.

More: Vradark’s Revenge on zxonline.net
More: ZX Spectrum Next on Wikipedia
Steam: Vradark’s Revenge on Steam