Zuma is a tile-matchingpuzzle video game published by PopCap Games. It can be played for free online at several websites, and was released for a number of platforms, including PDAs, mobile phones, and the iPod.^[1]

In the sequel to the original ball-blasting classic, shoot colored balls from your stone frog idol's mouth to make sets of three, but don't let the balls reach the golden skull! Puzzle Games Zuma. Zuma revenge is the sequel of the famous online game of the same name, published by Popcap, which popularized the style and resulted in many variations. This official version of Zuma Revenge online is still effective and will delight all fans of the genre.

An enhanced version, called Zuma Deluxe, was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X as well as an Xbox Live Arcade download for the Xbox 360 and a PlayStation Network download for the PlayStation 3.^[2]

Zuma received the 2004 'Game of the Year' award from RealArcade.^[3]

Gameplay[edit]

The objective of Zuma is to eliminate all of the balls rolling around the screen along a given path (the path is clearly visible in all of the levels except for the last level) with other balls before these balls reach the yellow skull structure, which will open to varying degrees as a warning of oncoming balls. The player can carry two balls at a time and can switch at any time. As soon as one ball reaches the skull, the rest follow and the player loses a life. To prevent the balls from reaching the skull, the player can eliminate the balls by firing a colored ball from the stone frog idol's mouth towards the chain of balls that will continue to push forward until the player fills the yellow bar, which is when the balls will stop producing off-screen. When three or more of the same color come in contact, they explode, possibly triggering other explosions as part of a chain reaction. The level is completed when after the bar is filled, the player eliminates all of the balls on the screen.

There are bonuses for collecting coins (usually through gaps), for causing explosions through gaps of other balls, and chains for having a streak of always causing an explosion with each consecutive ball (coins and chain bonuses are a quick way to fill the bar). Time bonuses are also awarded if a player completes the level within ace time - ranging from thirty seconds to four minutes depending on the level.

Four different types of power-ups show up in the balls, which can be activated by exploding the ball with the power-up. The backwards ball pushes the furthest-out chain (depending on if all of the balls are connected) backwards for a short length of time. The slow-down ball slows the speed of the chain of balls for a short length of time. The accuracy ball allows quicker shots and points an arrow at where the ball will be shot (this stays active for about the same amount of time as the slow-down ball; however, the size of the balls must be considered). The explosion ball explodes all of the balls within a small radius of the ball at the spot and time of its explosion. If not exploded quickly, power-up balls will return to their regular state after some time.

Adventure mode[edit]

Each regular adventure begins with three lives (represented by frogs in the upper-left hand corner of the screen), but extra lives are earned with every 50,000 points. Shooting a coin with a ball, making multiple groups of balls explode with a single shot, earning chain bonuses, shooting through gaps in the balls, or finishing a level within a certain period of time (called ace time) will give extra points.

The levels are organized into temples, and the initial temple consists of three 'worlds' of five levels each (the fifth level in each stage is unique in having two tracks of balls instead of the usual one). No level in the first world contains tunnels, and the first level of each world is tunnelless.Worlds one to three have four colors of balls: red, blue, green, and yellow, worlds four to six add purple, and from world seven on, white is added in the variety. Levels are eventually added to worlds: The second temple, which contains worlds four to six, has six levels, while the third temple, which contains worlds seven to nine, has seven levels. The fourth and final temple (which is hidden until a player unlocks world ten for the first time) contains worlds ten to twelve, which also consists of seven levels each. Worlds ten to twelve are essentially the same as seven to nine, but for each level, 5,000 points must be scored to completely fill the Zuma bar. Also, the balls come out further at the start of the level, and the chain of balls moves along slightly faster. If the player loses all of their lives, the game ends, and they must start again at the beginning of the last stage they advanced up. However, if the player is able to beat all 12 worlds, they are taken to the 'Space' level, which is longer than all previous levels, has less color-grouping among the balls, and has no visible path for the balls to follow. This level cannot be accessed without first completing world twelve. Upon beating this level, the player wins the game (if a player fails to beat the Space level, they must beat all of world twelve again before getting another chance to win). All the remaining lives at the end of a game are each worth 50,000 additional points to add on to the final score.

Gauntlet mode[edit]

Zuma also offers the gauntlet mode, where a player can choose to play in a level they have already reached in adventure mode, and either practice to beat the level, or play in survival mode, where the difficulty in colors and speed of balls will gradually increase. The level classifications of the gauntlet mode, in order, are Rabbit, Eagle, Jaguar, and Sun God. A player is required to fill seven stages in practice mode or seven yellow bars in survival mode before advancing to the next level. Upon reaching Sun God, in which the balls move in constant speed even when nearing the skull, a player can continue endlessly, since the level classification has no limit in both stages and bars.

Plagiarism controversy[edit]

The Japanese developer Mitchell Corporation claims Zuma infringes on the intellectual property of their 1998 arcade game, Puzz Loop, which was released as Ballistic outside Japan.^[4][5][6] Mitchell re-released the design in 2006 as the Nintendo DS game Magnetica. PopCap asserted that Zuma was 'not an exact clone', with founder Jason Kapalka saying that he was 'happy' with the idea of games being cloned by other developers, so long as the new version added to the gameplay of the game it had copied.^[7]

Reception[edit]

The editors of Computer Gaming World nominated Zuma Deluxe as their 2004 'Arcade Classic of the Year', although it lost to Sid Meier's Pirates!.^[8]

The editors of Computer Gaming World nominated Zuma for their 2003 'Puzzle Game of the Year' award, which ultimately went to Bookworm. They wrote, 'From Bejeweled to Rocket Mania to Zuma, PopCap has constantly found new ways to spell 'addiction.' '^[9]

Legacy[edit]

A sequel, Zuma's Revenge!, was launched on September 15, 2009 for Windows and Mac.^[10]Zuma Blitz went live on Facebook on December 14, 2010, and was described by PopCap as 'the social adaptation' providing players with 'the first competitive and cooperative iteration of Zuma in the game's history.'^[11]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Zuma'. PopCap.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2007. Retrieved March 21, 2007.
2. ^'Xbox Live Arcade on Xbox 360'. Xbox.com. Archived from the original on January 6, 2007. Retrieved January 6, 2007.
3. ^'Zuma'. PopCap.com. Archived from the original on May 24, 2007. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
4. ^'feature | shokkingu hitofude |'. insert credit. Archived from the original on June 15, 2006. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
5. ^'Zuma Deluxe online'.
6. ^'Zuma Deluxe'.
7. ^'Newsletter'. Digital Artist Management. January 23, 2007. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved February 21, 2010.
8. ^Editors of CGW (March 2005). '2004 Games of the Year'. Computer Gaming World (249): 56–67.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
9. ^Editors of CGW (March 2004). 'Computer Gaming World's 2003 Games of the Year'. Computer Gaming World (236): 57–60, 62–69.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
10. ^'EXCLUSIVE: Zuma's Revenge Revealed'. August 18, 2009.
11. ^'PopCap Launches Zuma Blitz on Facebook Platform'. December 14, 2010.

Casual games are great little time wasters really that everyone can enjoy. These types of games appeal to everybody really, and most of them would be considered family type games so there’s a very large fan base for them out there. Pop Cap games is a company that specializes in casual types of games, and they’re well know for their excellent games. Today for review I’ve got the newest game from Pop Cap called Zuma’s Revenge!, it’s the sequel to the original Zuma. In this second game Pop Cap has brought high definition graphics, many, many more levels for literally many hours of game play, and really they’ve created a game that is fun for everyone. The basis of the game is matching colored balls, it sounds simple but it can get hectic as the game progresses and you move through the levels. At the end of each level you’ll even encounter a boss to fight as well. In addition to the main game Pop Cap has added several other game mode and a challenge mode. If you like casual games, then this one is one that you’ll certainly want to take a look at, I had a lot of fun playing and so did my family…

This is a download game so there are no box shots for you.

Once you load the game you’ll be greeted with the title screen and then you’ll move tot he menu screen.

On the menu screen you’ll find several choices for game play: Adventure, Challenge, Heroic Frog and Iron Frog. Some of these won’t be available though until you complete the Adventure Mode.

The options setting offer the familiar game settings like sound, Fullscreen, Custom Cursors, 3-D Acceleration, Target Indicator, High Resolution and even a Colorblind Mode.

In the Tiki Temple you can take a look at your scores and progress:

Specifications:

Zuma’s Revenge!

The ribbeting sequel to the ball-blasting classic!

Enter an all-new world of Zuma where evil tiki bosses rule the land! Conquer over 60 levels by firing stone spheres to make matches and destroy the deadly stream of balls, then take on six tiki boss battles and guide your agile amphibian to victory!

Leap into action in four game modes with explosive new features and amazing new gameplay: Slide and hop for smarter shots, hit targets for exotic bonuses, and detonate new power-up balls! Will you succumb to the perilous pitfalls, or can you tame the jungle in this PopCap ball-blasting challenge?

More About the Game
* Take on the tikis in four game modes: Adventure, Challenge, Iron Frog and Heroic Frog
* Score explosive power-ups including three new shots
* Explore new gameplay like lily-pad hopping, slide-aiming, and more
* Enjoy amazing graphics and effects and save your stats in the Tiki Temple!

Price: $19.95

Just so you know I did play this in HD mode at full 1920×1200. My gaming system has an ATI Radeon 4870 and it had no problems playing Zuma’s Revenge.
As I mentioned earlier the basic idea of the game is to match the colored balls, three of more make a match. You’re a frog that spits the balls out of your mouth. The levels will vary, sometimes you can be in the middle of the screen spinning around, or you may be at the bottom of the screen moving back and forth, or you might be able to jump from place to place on the screen, so things get mixed up a bit.

There are bonuses in the game as well, some of the balls will have special characters on them. You can have exploding balls, ones that slow everything down, ones that make everything move backwards, ones that let you shoot three balls and destroy many at once, and several others as well. You’ll also have bonuses for getting matches without missing, fruit will appear that you can shoot for a bonus and other bonuses as well.<

Each part of the island has 10 levels, if you die in the first few levels you’ll go back to the beginning, but once you get half way through you’ll have a save point and you can start there instead of all the way back at the beginning.

After each level you’ll get a screen letting you know how you did with a progress bar at the top. As you complete the area modes will be unlocked, each are has its own challenge mode so when you complete the are its challenge mode is unlocked.

At the end of the areas you’ll get to fight a boss, one of the island gods or idols.

Once you beat the boss the next area will be unlocked for you:

I’ve spent many hours playing Zuma’s Revenge already and still have not yet played all of it, you’re getting a whole lot of game for the price really.

Through the game you’ll find the comical stylings that we’re accustomed to from Pop Cap.

Zuma’s Revenge isn’t a violent game, so it’s one that’s great for the whole family.

I like this game quite a bit, I’ve found myself going back and playing it for a few minutes or an hour at a time just to get away for a bit, it’s great little casual game.

The only issue I have with this game is that it’s very repetitive, you’ll go through level after level of shooting colored balls and it will get boring after a while. On the other hand, one thing nice about a casual games though is that you can leave and come back to it later, so it’s not one of those games that you’ll sit and try to finish all in one day. I’ve palyed for many, many hours and still have not completed it, I go back from time to time and get a little more progress in the game. It’s a big game really that will take a long time to truly finish.

To finish this off I’ve got two game play videos for you:

Conclusion:
Zuma’s Revenge is truly a great little game. For about $20 you’ll get many, many hours of game play that will have you coming back for more and more.

In the realm of casual games, Pop Cap is a company that knows what its doing, it knows how to design a great game and it knows haw to give great value to the end user.

Download Zuma Game For Tecno T528

Pros:
+Many levels
+Lots of game modes and bonuses
+Lots of fun
+Great graphics
+Fairly easy to play
+Fun for the entire family
+Hours and hours of game play

Cons:
-Same stuff over and over again really

Zuma Game For Tecnologico

Download Zuma Game For Tecno Phone

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