The graphics in Rez are also something else. They are by no means run of the mill, they remind of a Virtual Boy game; lots of vectors and wire-frames flying around at incredible speed. Cel shading also makes an appearance here, giving a unique look to Rez. The graphics are not groundbreaking in any way, it’s all been done before (granted, it’s all been done before separately, but not together), however they are very stylish, I don’t think that there is any other games out there that looks like this. It’s more art than a game.

The enemies in Rez are your pretty standard multi-legged, many gunned ugly aliens or strange ships and motorcycle styled ‘bots. They all look pretty cool and act pretty mean but they are all easily dispatched by Rez’s laser. It’s the bosses that make waves. They remind me of R-Type bosses or even those out of Nights (another Saturn game), they are huge hulking behemoths that fill the screen and spew laser death at you. Nice. They all have a weak point though, and if you are to succeed you must exploit it fully, they may seem nasty but they are big softies once you find their Achilles’ Heel.

There is also plenty to do once you have completed Rez, which you could do rather quickly, as there is not a great many levels to complete. Tasks such as trying to gain 100% analysis rating, so that you get the best possible are worth undertaking as the results are as good as any club DJ can muster. There are other ‘secret’ modes but I will leave them for you to discover, need I say how good they are? No. They are quite fun and add at least another couple of nights to the game’s life. Just a shame that there is no real depth… a freestyle music generator mode or something similar could have made this a true winner. Oh well.

So then, Rez is an incredibly original piece of software, it lies somewhere between being a game and a piece of functional art. You should avoid this game if you are looking for a standard shoot ‘em up, there are better examples of the genre out there. Everyone else should give it a go if they want a bit of trippy fun. The lack of true depth knocks the score a tiny bit, but it is still a little gem.

A funky, trippy...

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By Ben Jackson