Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
If you thought the revenge would stop at your computer screen, you thought wrong. Ready
the stylus and prepare to vomit tiny multicolored balls...on the Nintendo DS.
Itís Zumaís Revenge! for the...thing I just said.
Developed and published by those productivity killers at PopCap Games, Zumaís Revenge!
is a beast of a puzzle game. Itís a sequel to the original Zuma, which was originally
released in December of 2003. Of course, that game went on to become a huge hit, and now,
finallyóalmost a decade lateróZuma is back.
And it seeks revenge.
Although one wonders why. I mean, youíd think Zuma would be content, what with its massively
successful product and all. I guess one should never question a Zuma or its thirst for revenge...revenge
for what, who freaking knows.
Now of course, with all due respect to the greatness that is Zuma, itís not exactly
the most original game in the world. If youíve played the game Puzz Loop, which predates
the first Zuma by about five years, youíve basically played Zuma. If not, the concept
is simple. You control a frog in the center of the screen, a frog with a disgustingóif
life savingóhabit...of coughing up balls.
Like marbles (slowly get louder). Grow up, Peter Pan. Count Chocula.
And as you can see, his balls are colorful. Which is fortunate, because a string of the
same kind of balls is steadily approaching, and the last thing you want is for the frog
to be confronted with something like that. Thatís...thatís traumatic stuff. So you
aim those balls at the approaching balls. Match colors, and they disappear. Do chain
reactions, reap the bonuses, beat the level, save the frog from ball-induced trauma.
Zumaís Revenge! offers a few new twists to this familiar formula. Some levels require
the frog to jump back and forth between two lily pads, while your chain of balls weaves
between them. So instead of being locked in the center of the screen, you can move your
frog for better positioning.
In fact, this sequel really plays with the idea of positioning. There are other levels
in which your frog is actually on a slider, which you can move from left to right across
the screen. So you might have to slide to the left to get a clear shot at a target group,
which adds a pretty interesting new element to the traditional Zuma gameplay.
And although the DS version is coming more than two years after the original release,
PopCap has added some new features exclusive to Nintendoís platform. Multiplayer is included,
both local and online, and you also get daily Zuma challenges. Of course, itís also controlled
with the stylus, and for a game like this, touch works brilliantly.
Tapping to shoot is fast, easy and accurate to the pixel.
Thereís a whole lot of gameplay packed into this tiny little DS cartridge, and although
this version doesnít have the same presentational flair, itís still the same Zumaósimple,
fun and frankly, dangerously addictive. Iím not certain what Zuma is upset about, but
as long as its search for revenge results in games this good, I hope it never finds
it.
Besides, revenge...thatís so much negativity. Master Shredder once sought revenge, and he
ended up beneath, like, a million pounds of wood. Seek wisely, oh Zuma!