Zuma’s Revenge review
Developer PopCap is on a roll, continuously chugging out bite-sized casual games that’ll addict even hardcore gamers. That’s especially true for Zuma, one of PopCap’s most popular games ever. Originally released in 2003, the game has since sold more than 17 million copies on platforms ranging from PC and OS X, to DS and PSP, to mobile phones of every kind. We’re finally getting the sequel, Zuma’s Revenge.
While the gameplay in Zuma’s Revenge remains unchanged — for a good reason — the game does add a few new features, revamped and prettier graphics (including a widescreen mode), as well as a ton of new levels. In case you’re not familiar with the gameplay in Zuma, it’s relatively simple: you control a frog that fires colored marbles though its mouth, at several balls rolling along a path, headed towards a pit. If they reach the pit, you lose. In order to win you must knock out the balls as they roll towards the pit, but can only knock them out if you pair colors in three or more balls. And so it goes. In Zuma’s Revenge, once you complete the campaign, you unlock several challenged modes, where you have to score a certain amount of points before time runs out.
While there are a few new features, none change the gameplay in a radical way, if you played Zuma before, you won’t be disappointed. One inclusion in Zuma’s Revenge, are boss battles. At the end of each level you must fight a boss, who’s hiding between chains of balls rolling between you and him. You must aim and fire a precise shot to take him out. The boss fights aren’t challenging, but it’s nice to break up the regular gameplay, especially since it hasn’t changed noticeably.
Zuma’s Revenge features power-ups just as the predecessor, and new ones have been added, like a cannon and a laser, among others. Technically, the game certainly looks better than the predecessor, is should, after all, it’s been 6 years. The music, sound effects, and especially the good ol’ PopCap humor is as present as ever before, and it’s nice to see that they still have the touch. While we would have loved to see a bit more innovation, Zuma’s Revenge can be recommended to anyone who’s played and enjoyed Zuma, actually, it can be recommended to any casual gamer out there.
The Good:
Updated visuals.
Fun as ever.
Great value.
The Bad:
New features aren’t compelling.
No changes in the gameplay.
Overall score: 8/10