Review #295: Vitamin Z

 Not to be confused with the Japanese dating sim.

 Vitamin Z on Playstation Vita is a free to play game I've been playing on and off since last year, and I think it deserves me talking about it, seeing how much time I've spent on it.

 You play as this cutesy scientist girl, who must defend herself from wave after wave of mutant vegetables. This is a 'Defense game', in this case your character is firmly stuck to the center of the screen, and you use the analog sticks to direct her firing. Normal shots are done automatically, but the more enemies you kill, the more Heat you generate which allows you to use your special shots. There's also a Stomp attack that pushes all surrounding enemies back, but this is governed by some kind of invisible cooldown period. I say 'invisible', because sometimes the game won't let me use the stomp, even though I haven't even used it yet on a playthrough. It always bugged me, since I just can't figure out when I can or can't use it, I used to think that it had to do with the color of the platform, or that it reloaded when steam came up, but... doesn't seem to be that way.

 The more enemies you kill before dying, the more money you'll earn which you can then spend on all types of upgrades. From health upgrades, to damage upgrades, to unlocking possible power ups like Spread Shot or Ice beam. Frankly, I thought the differences these upgrades did was negligible, I never really felt much stronger or sturdier than before. Also, scrolling through the store is done with the touchscreen, but sometimes it seems to get stuck, which makes it annoying to go through. If you can't be arsed to earn the money, you could always buy the microtransactions. Seeing how the game is free to play, and everything can be earned in-game, I don't really have any complaints about them.

 The review would've ended there and then, but I just booted out the game(To check out what the Microtransactions offered) and... it turns out it didn't save my progress from the last time I played. I don't know why it didn't save, but it's mighty annoying, since I'm missing the last two fire power upgrades!

 Vitamin Z is not a very good game, but damn if it isn't addictive. I've played this game more than I like to admit, and hey, it's completely free!
 4.5 out of 10