Zuma Deluxe
Added February 27th, 2006 by Serenity Now
Zuma Deluxe was originally released a few years back for the PC. It didn’t exactly prove to be a classic, but it picked up a decent sized fan-base during its short-lived glory days. In case you don’t know what Zuma is all about, it’s a puzzler of sorts where you shoot colored balls from a frog’s mouth. Before you click the X on your browser and promptly report Talk Xbox to PETA, let me inform you that no animals (digital or real) were harmed during the playing process of this game.Anyway, back to describing the somewhat bizarre gameplay. The purpose of shooting the balls is to match them with like colors. A combination of three or more identical colors will eliminate the said patch of balls. The concept is to destroy all globes before the moving belt that’s rotating them causes the orbs to arrive at some sort of cavity in the map. Story or reason behind the conception? There’s none that I know of, but as far as I’m concerned, landmarks such as Pac-Man and Tetris didn’t have much of a plot either, and they still rocked.
Connecting these balls isn’t all you have to worry about, at least not if you want to be prevalent. Getting gaps (or shooting through one or more layer of rings to score a combo) will be your key to success. Another aspect that comes into play is the discretely placed bombs. If you bond a combo with one of these puppies, you’ll remove a huge chunk of surrounding objects as well as the colored correlation. Additionally, you can switch the color of the ball you possess prior to firing, making things a little more tactical. There are also special balls that slow down the rotating ring, or completely turn it around.
Sadly, there is no multiplayer incorporated. There are two modes of play, one in a nutshell being the story type mode (adventure), and the other being the survival mode (gauntlet). Gameplay-wise, gauntlet is a great deal similar to adventure mode apart from its diverse name, its timed, survival-like approach, and the ability to select from temples you unlocked in adventure mode. Leaderboards give you a tad of vigor to attain a high score, but cooperative or head-to-head play would have immensely raised the replay factor.
Menus are pretty, colors are vibrant and varied, and the atmosphere is downright groovy. This isn’t the best looking XBLA title available, but it’s most definitely the best visual display for its particular genre. On the flipside, the audio consists of tribe music. Honestly, it fits the theme but you’ll be switching to a custom soundtrack very quickly as the tunes tend to become rather agitating. Sound effects are top-notch. You’ll love the crackling noise that occurs when the objects collide.
Summary:
If you’re tired of Hexic HD and couldn’t really get into Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, Zuma Deluxe may just be the perfect match for your taste. It’s without doubt a unique experience. My only true complaint is the ten dollar price tag, which may be a bit steep for the subtle amount of content provided with the purchase. For the same price you could obtain two XBLA titles. Then again, the best things in life are going to cost you (or wait, is it the other way around?). It all comes down to whatever floats your boat. Personally, I deeply enjoyed Zuma Deluxe, and I highly recommend it for your XBLA library.
Menus are pretty, colors are vibrant and varied, and the atmosphere is downright groovy. This isn’t the best looking XBLA title available, but it’s most definitely the best visual display for its particular genre. On the flipside, the audio consists of tribe music. Honestly, it fits the theme but you’ll be switching to a custom soundtrack very quickly as the tunes tend to become rather agitating. Sound effects are top-notch. You’ll love the crackling noise that occurs when the objects collide.
Summary:
If you’re tired of Hexic HD and couldn’t really get into Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, Zuma Deluxe may just be the perfect match for your taste. It’s without doubt a unique experience. My only true complaint is the ten dollar price tag, which may be a bit steep for the subtle amount of content provided with the purchase. For the same price you could obtain two XBLA titles. Then again, the best things in life are going to cost you (or wait, is it the other way around?). It all comes down to whatever floats your boat. Personally, I deeply enjoyed Zuma Deluxe, and I highly recommend it for your XBLA library.
