2016 is the year hybrid toy/video games, originally championed by Skylanders, really exploded in the marketplace. Anki, AirHogs and now Galaxy Zega have all produced vehicle oriented toysets that blur the lines between electronic and real-world gaming.
Galaxy Zega is reminicent of the old BattleZone arcade game, a favorite of mine back in the days when gaming meant having a roll of quarters in hand. In an age of 2D scrollers, BattleZone experimented with 3D modelling. Whether by design or limitation of the hardware of the day, or both, the tanks had a lumbering motion that felt "realistic". You couldn't zoom around corners, like you could with a race car. They were big and heavy, despite being drawn with nothing but outlines of glowing green. You had to line up your shots carefully, because there was always a lag between them as your tank reloaded.
Galaxy Zega brings the tanks to real life. You get two with charging stands, and in contrast to the Anki OverDrive cars, these are big and heavy, but still quite fast. You control and upgrade them with an app on your smartdevice.
The tanks are essentially remote controlled vehicles, not unlike the ones that have been on the market for years. They differ because they have sensors and emitters that can be used to record virtual weapon hits and because they are controlled by a smart device like your phone rather than a dedicated device.
The connection to the app means that, in addition to being able to be controlled, they can be virtually upgraded, and there can be different types of games, much as you would find in a video game like Overwatch.
Galaxy Zega's tanks don't require a track. Indeed, they can be purchased and operated without one, but the real fun comes from duking it out inside battle arenas you build with magnetic snap-together pieces. Walls block line-of-sight to make combat more challenging. The walls are braced together at the top by plastic parts that bridge them; oddly, the basic set doesn't come with enough of these extra pieces to reinforce all the walls in the illustrative examples in the manual. Nevertheless, the walls seem to hold together well. All these extra parts, however, do make for a somewhat more complicated setup and longer clean-up than Anki's wall-less racetrack design.
Beyond the basic set, there are optional add-in tracks that can make play more fun. Special Bluetooth track sections are programmable through the app to act as power-ups or traps. Unfortunately, the directions for how to enable these were poor, and we had to write for technical support.
Gameplay is fast; the tanks are fairly twitchy. I would have liked an option to slow things down, to have movement closer to BattleZone where the vehicles lack of speed and precision had to be accounted for in your strategy.
The game's biggest weaknes vis-a-vis the competition is the lack of a single player mode. Unlike BattleZone, and Anki OverDrive, you need two players to have a game. There is no AI opponent. Presumably this is because there is no closed track, and hence no way for the opponent to know where you are or where it should be looking.
Also, because the tracks are not flexible, the arenas are all flat. I suspect this may change in future expansions because many of the pieces have pop-out centers that would be big enough for the tanks to fall through if that part of the track was elevated. Ramps and risers would make for more interesting play.
Parents should know that there are in-game purchases available with this set, and they can get quite expensive. Tokens can be earned or paid for in bulk. These can be used to buy upgrades, a device used in many video games, but new to the toy world. I think when you buy a game set for $150 you shouldn't be then challenged to buy virtual upgrades. This may be of less concern if you're a teen or adult, but it has no place in a game that is played by children. Instead, charge what you need to make a reasonable profit, and then leave the kids alone!
Older users looking to play together in the real world enjoyed Galaxy Zega. It offers competitive combat play and a certain amount of strategy. I like the open-ended creative possibility that come from the design of the arenas and the ability to mix in blocks and other toys in the scene. However, the lack of a single player mode limits the opportunities to practice and for play when no friends are around.
Disclaimer: Anki OverDrive mentioned in this review, is a sponsor of some broadcast segments of JamesGames.com. It has no editorial control over our content.
