Zeta Wing 2 (C64)
A downloadable game
Zeta Wing 2 is a fun vertical shoot-em-up for the Commodore 64, sequel to Zeta Wing, itself winner of both the RGN Gamers' Choice Award 2020 for the Commodore 64, and Indie Retro News Budget Game Of The Year 2020.
Story:
The strange mutant creatures have returned! Only this time they are tougher than ever!
Earth once again needs a hero to stop them... one like you!
So strap into your fighter and blast off to end this infestation one and for all!
Features:
- 7 challenging stages, each with their own graphic style.
- 3 difficulty settings: Easy, Normal, Hard.
- Lots of parallax scrolling.
- 12 player weapon upgrades.
- 7 end of stage bosses.
- PAL and NTSC compatible.
- Simultaneous music and sound effects.
- Supports C64GS joysticks with 2nd button.
- Save/load settings and high score table to cartridge (.crt version) or disk; settings will auto-load on startup.
Controls:
Joystick in port 2, or Keyboard:
- S - Up.
- X - Down.
- < - Left.
- > - Right.
- SPACE - Fire!
- Left Arrow - Smart Bomb.
- P - Pause.
Pause key can be configured in the Options screen to be one of the following:
- [P]
- [Spacebar]
- [Run Stop]
- [F7]
Smart Bomb key can be configured in the Options screen to be one of the following:
- [Left Arrow]
- [Spacebar]
- [Run Stop]
- [F7]
NB: if Smart Bomb key is configured as [Spacebar], keyboard Fire changes to [A] key.
NB: if the 2nd joystick fire button reader is causing problems, use [F3] key to disable it.
Helpful tips:
- Destroy entire enemy attack waves to drop a Star symbol.
- Collect 9 Stars to power up your weapons.
- A bar above the lives display shows your power-up progress.
- Losing a life degrades your weapons by one level, but doesn't reset the power-up bar.
- Watch out for the Smart Bomb pickup! Use it when needed. Can also be set to trigger automatically. An icon next to the power-up bar shows if you have a smart bomb or not.
- Shoot the "Z" and "W" symbols for 500 extra points.
- Shoot the "B" symbols for 200 extra points.
- Extra life awarded every 50,000 points scored.
Credits:
All programming, graphics, and sound by Sarah Jane Avory.
(C) 2023 Witchsoft.
PLEASE NOTE:
SALES TAX or VAT will be added to your order at checkout.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $4.99 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- Zeta Wing v1.03 released.May 01, 2023
- Zeta Wing v1.02 released.Apr 30, 2023
- Zeta Wing v1.01 released.Apr 29, 2023
- Zeta Wing 2 is released!Apr 28, 2023
Comments
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Why not a physical copy like Zeta Wing? I'd love to have both in my collection
I just picked this game up as well as Strikeback. Both are great fun! :) I wanted to ask if it is possible to get copies that automatically save high scores and then load them automatically the next time the game is loaded. This way I won't have to manually load the score files each time. Either way, great work and I hope you release more games in the future.
I finally have some time off work! So, I just updated my MiSTer and felt like something new to play. It felt right to finally pick up a copy of Zeta Wing 2 (while downloading the new Briley Witch updates). Merry Christmas Sarah... I speak for everyone when I say that we're all hoping for even more of your special contribution to retro gaming in 2024! Stay amazing
Finally I had some time and finished it. I hope there will be a 3rd one :)
I'm thinking about it...
the final chapter :)
That would be superb. And for this third part, a selectable 2-player-simultan play-mode would be very cool.
I see it in the C64-game "SWIV", such a simultan-mode is big fun, especially when the rest of the game is very good and you don't have to worry about that, with the "Zeta Wing" series.
The game has now made it to the world's largest game fair as one of the best C64 games of the last 12 months! We showed it to an enthusiastic audience on the Retro Stage of the Retro Area at Gamescom 2023 in Cologne. You can watch the video here starting at 00:43:14. English subtitles should be available here. 🙂
Advice : You should share a demo file for letting more your game to gamers that could be increase your profits.
Awesome and technical very impressive but hard game. For sure one of the best C64 shooter ever! Especially the multiple parallax scrolling is a real feast for the eyes. Our German-language review can be found in our recorded livestream starting at 02:49:37. There is also a longplay starting at 07:01:35. Automatic subtitles should be available soon (switch on, if necessary). Subscription to our YouTube or Twitch channel is welcome. 🙂
You've done it again! This is incredible! I featured your game in our round-up of recent Retro Indie Games!
Love your games. Zetawing2 is wonderful.
We included it on our podcast:
Superb shooter. Already the first part of "Zeta Wing" was great, but part two is even better. Very good programming-work, nice graphics, good gameplay and especially the places, where these opponents come from the depths and this 3D-effect occurs, are great to see. The music is also nice, although there are also other shooters on the C64, where the songs fascinate me even more. But nevertheless, you can't complain about the music in "Zeta Wing 2" either, it sounds good. And i also have a question for Sarah, namely the following.
If i set the Smartbomb to "automatic", what causes it to be triggered then? Is it, "when there is a lot going on, around the player on the screen", or is it "when the player threatens to lose a life, for example because an opponent has already come very close to him and the game-logic then assumes, that the player can probably no longer avoid a collision"? Or is it something completely different? In this regard, i haven't quite figured out the automatic release-mechanism of the smartbombs yet, so it would be interesting to know, what exactly activates it's release?
In general I have to say that, you've already delivered a few really good shooter gems, Sarah and that's one of my favorite game-genre, so I think, it's really great, that someone is always making sure, there is a good supply of new C64-games in this genre. *lol* :) For a possible part 3 of the "Zeta Wing" series in the future, a selectable teamplay function (two players simultaneously), could be a great experience. Only a suggestion, that came to my mind today.
Yes, it detonates as a "shield" should you get hit.
Thanks for the info, then this is clear. I think i prefer to use the smartbombs manually, but i will see, when playing the game more often in next weeks.
Made it to Stage 7 today on Normal mode. Certainly one of the top 5 shmups on the C64 (again). Super responsive controls, excellent graphics (better than in Soul Force and Zeta Wing 1) and great entertaining level bosses. Especially liked the wasp boss in Level 6, though that one was a bit too easy to beat compared to the previous stage bosses. But I liked the bio theme, seems inspired by Thunder Force IV Stage 8 boss. Music has also been improved somewhat in here compared to Sarah's previous games, although I still think it could be better. But overall this is an absolutely gorgeous title for the humble 8-bit platform. Must have!
You did it again, another great game! Thank you!
Always excellent games, this one is very fun. You are a great programmer !
Works well on the CMD FD-2000 drive using JiffyDOS V6.01
What a great game.
Ein toller zweiter Teil des Shooters von Sarah Jane Avory. Das Spiel ist richtig schön bunt und macht eine Menge Spaß. 🕹
Auf meinem YouTube Kanal habe ich es im Rahmen der C64 Spielzeit vorgestellt. Schaut doch mal vorbei:
Absolutely Incredible game! Congrats! Rooting for you to hit the 1000 purchased mark.
The best shootemup on C64.
Another gem :)
Cool game!! its amazing that great programmers are still writing and publishing excellent games for the Commodore 64 in 2023. The game is really good fun and well polished. I wrote C64 games for a living in the 80’s and appreciate how much effort goes into just 64k memory
LITTLE BUG: The JOYSTICK when put on port 1 of the C64, crashes the machine directly when you go backwards. Although the game is designed to work on port 2, it allows you to enter the game with the Botton and as soon as you move the machine FREEZE.
Tested Config: C64C + Ultamte II & Mister with Dolphin
I play the game daily, I feel like I got an AAA release for my c64! :D
Will it be possible to save the high scores on the kung fu flash?
If not never mind, I am more than happy playing on my pi1541 :
It auto-saves to an EasyFlash cart, so should also work on King Fu Flash. You just need to save the cartridge image if swapping games, and I'm pretty sure KFF prompts you to save the file when you swap.
Hooray!
This is perfection :D
Will try it tomorrow, thanks :)
Dear Sarah Jane,
this game represents a major step forward in c64 programming and exploitation.
Witchsoft's sorcery. Wow! Obligatory, here's my playthrough video.
Those boss fights are second to none!
Metamorphosis, new patterns, just...
Incredible, just incredible.
This is a lot more fun than the original Zeta Wing, this feels like the Soul Force of Zeta Wing. Works great on my Kung Fu Flash/NTSC system
BUENISIMO!
The game looks excellent, & the music suits it very well, & has that old school arcade machine vibe about it, love it!! Those parallax layers as well, wow, it almost feels like I can reach right in there & pull one of those enemy ships out with my bare hands :-D Looks amazing!!
I'm buying right now!! Congrats on another splendid release Sarah!! :)
Does it matter what key smartbomb is set to for it to work on joystick button 2? Not sure I've quite got that working yet......
I tested on my MISTER/FPGA with the ps/4 joypad in usb which works with the games which are in two botton mode with success
Smartbomb is assignable in settings. Is it button 2 + any keyboard assign. Or one of the keyboard assigns *is* button 2?
You can use either button 2 on a GS64 compatible joystick, or press the assigned key. Alternatively, just use auto-smart bomb which will auto-trigger if your ship gets hit by an enemy or a bullet.
Thanks! Love it, but you know that already....♥️
Thank you Sarah Jane,
I'm a big fan of your games, keep playing on the machine of my heart.
I look forward to seeing your next masterpiece.
Excellent work, well done. It's amazing to see these high quality releases for the good old Commodore 64.
Congrats, it's excellent; let me know you know if you fancy doing an Amiga version. I'd be happy to help out with the artwork. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonnysevern/?originalSubdomain=uk
Really excited to try out this game but can't get it to run on VICE 3.6.1. The game gets stuck in a black screen after selecting the Start option.
Are there any particular settings that I need to configure please? Perhaps publishing some hardware specs for the game might help. Thanks and keep up the amazing work!
Is this cart or disk? I have a newer disk version I probably need to upload.
I tried both, and also the 1.01 cart.
Update: I downloaded the latest stable version of Vice (3.7.1) and managed to get it to run on the C128 emulator.
It's really a polished product! I love the parallax effects in particular! I assume they are made with animated tiles?
Wooohooo!
Just bought it, yesterday I was busy with pizza night but my head was all on it!
So happy you made it with the usual, joy, amazing artistic and technical capabilites.
Deeply thanks for what you do for the c64 community :)
Love how the music changes when you get to the end of level bosses
I Bought it now! Thank you Sarah
Fantastic. I bought this game now
This is fantastic, Sarah. Congrats on the release!
Great game
Is there a demo file playable ? I hope so. Greetings.
Amazing, both similar and different from Zeta Wing. Very nice enemies, enjoyable and challenging.
BTW my wife asked why there are flying penis in the game, and now I can no longer look at missiles as missiles ROTFL :D
Awesome game! I like how the difficulty was ramped up from the first one. The enemies coming up through the holes is epic! Great job Sarah!