Post by Gilvan Blight on Feb 29, 2008 14:39:13 GMT -5
Okay thought I would put up a quick note about one my my latest addictions.
Zuma is a game originally released on Pop Cap Games as a free flash version, with a downloadable deluxe version available. It's now available on Xbox Live Arcade for 400 or 800 points (sorry I can't remember which it was a few weeks ago I did the DL).
Zuma is an odd puzzle/dex game where you play a frog statue that shoots colored marbles out of it's mouth. You are put on a playing field that consists of a geometric track, that winds around you starting off screen and ending at an Inca mouth statue thing. Coloured marbles come down this track in a random order. Your goal is to fire the marbles in your mouth so that they join the marbles on the track and eliminate them. Marbles are eliminated by matching 3 or more of the same colour.
You win the level by eliminating enough marbles so that the 'Zuma' gage is filled. Once filled no new marbles come and you just have to eliminate the ones currently on the board. You fill the gage by making matches, filling the gage quicker if you score combos, hit special coins or make matches through gaps in the marble line. You loose if even one marble gets eaten/goes down the hole where the Inca mouth thing is.
Thats pretty much the basics. In addition to this there are power ups that you can get by matching special marbles that appear and disappear randomly. There are coins you can shoot for extra points and to speed up the Zuma gage. You can see what colour your next marble will be and can swap with the one currently in your mouth. When you eliminate a chain or marbles it makes a gap in the line which will take some time to fill, also the marbles are like magnets, where if there are two of the same colour on each end of a gap they will automatically fill the gap running backwards (giving you much needed time to make more combos).
Trust me it makes a lot more sense if you play it. Maybe a screen shot will help:
One thing is for sure the game is a lot harder to play then to explain. At first it starts out deceptively simple. Just hard enough and fun enough to get you addicted. It took about 3 tries before I beat the Trial Game and then was forced with the decision whether or not to DL the full game. By then I was hooked. Little did I know that the next level is at least twice as hard as the first. By the time you get to the third it starts to feel like exponential growth. But it's still a ton of fun, and a real challenge. This is a game where when I beat a level and get my achievement I feel like I actually had to work for it.
Overall I suggest a DL for anyone that likes a good puzzle game like Tetris or Columns. If yer on Xbox, I'd love to compare scores on the Leaderboard.
Zuma is a game originally released on Pop Cap Games as a free flash version, with a downloadable deluxe version available. It's now available on Xbox Live Arcade for 400 or 800 points (sorry I can't remember which it was a few weeks ago I did the DL).
Zuma is an odd puzzle/dex game where you play a frog statue that shoots colored marbles out of it's mouth. You are put on a playing field that consists of a geometric track, that winds around you starting off screen and ending at an Inca mouth statue thing. Coloured marbles come down this track in a random order. Your goal is to fire the marbles in your mouth so that they join the marbles on the track and eliminate them. Marbles are eliminated by matching 3 or more of the same colour.
You win the level by eliminating enough marbles so that the 'Zuma' gage is filled. Once filled no new marbles come and you just have to eliminate the ones currently on the board. You fill the gage by making matches, filling the gage quicker if you score combos, hit special coins or make matches through gaps in the marble line. You loose if even one marble gets eaten/goes down the hole where the Inca mouth thing is.
Thats pretty much the basics. In addition to this there are power ups that you can get by matching special marbles that appear and disappear randomly. There are coins you can shoot for extra points and to speed up the Zuma gage. You can see what colour your next marble will be and can swap with the one currently in your mouth. When you eliminate a chain or marbles it makes a gap in the line which will take some time to fill, also the marbles are like magnets, where if there are two of the same colour on each end of a gap they will automatically fill the gap running backwards (giving you much needed time to make more combos).
Trust me it makes a lot more sense if you play it. Maybe a screen shot will help:
One thing is for sure the game is a lot harder to play then to explain. At first it starts out deceptively simple. Just hard enough and fun enough to get you addicted. It took about 3 tries before I beat the Trial Game and then was forced with the decision whether or not to DL the full game. By then I was hooked. Little did I know that the next level is at least twice as hard as the first. By the time you get to the third it starts to feel like exponential growth. But it's still a ton of fun, and a real challenge. This is a game where when I beat a level and get my achievement I feel like I actually had to work for it.
Overall I suggest a DL for anyone that likes a good puzzle game like Tetris or Columns. If yer on Xbox, I'd love to compare scores on the Leaderboard.