Review: Zuma’s Revenge (XBLA)

Review: Zuma’s Revenge (XBLA)

PopCap has a natural knack for developing games that make me lose track of time. Take this review, for example. I gave myself an hour to write the review for Zuma’s Revenge before recording a late night podcast, and decided to take a few minutes to capture some gameplay. Before I knew it, those few minutes had turned into over half an hour. Luckily our podcast started late. This is the strength of PopCap, and one of the reasons that I find myself buying the same games across multiple platforms. Plants vs. Zombies? I own it on four different platforms. Bejeweled (and other various forms of it)? At least three, that I can remember. Zuma (and other various forms)? No less than two. I have yet to be disappointed by any of them, and Zuma’s Revenge is no exception to that rule.

For the most part, if you’ve played another iteration of the Zuma series, then you’ll be intimately familiar with how Zuma’s Revenge is built. You fire orbs of varying colors into a long string of…orbs of varying colors. Forming a combo of three or more orbs of the same color will cause all of the connected orbs of that color to disappear. If one of the orbs has a special modifier on it, you earn it. By destroying the string of orbs piece by piece, you are preventing it from completing its path and reaching the end of its static route. Making the best shots with the available string of orbs can be vital to successfully completing a level.

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Zuma’s Revenge offers four gameplay modes: Adventure, Weekly Challenge, Iron Frog, and Boss Rush. Adventure mode takes you through levels with boss battles endcapping each area. Weekly Challenge features one of the game’s levels each week for you and your friends to vie for leaderboard standings. Iron Frog presents you with ten high difficulty levels and one life. Boss Rush…well, it’s a boss rush mode. Along with multiple modes, Zuma’s Revenge offers you the benefit of various Spirit Animals. These Spirit Animals grant you different bonuses, and can be leveled up using the Spirit Tokens that you earn as you play.

Zuma’s Revenge is available on XBLA for 800MSP. If you’ve played the game on iOS or PC, you’ll find that the mechanics have translated very well to the Xbox 360 controller, resulting in smooth, accurate shooting. The Spirit Animals let you develop your gameplay around different strengths as you progress through the game, and the multiple gameplay modes provide you with different experiences to keep you entertained for a long time to come. Be warned, if you didn’t like this game on other platforms, or this type of game is not your style, then Zuma’s Revenge isn’t really going to do anything to change your mind. That being said, you wouldn’t be the target audience for the game anyway, so I’m sure you’re not terribly disappointed.

Review

ProsCons
Multiple gameplay modes to keep you drawn in
Gameplay mechanic translates well to controller
Spirit Animals provide strategic gameplay development
A quick pick-up game can make you
late for work, school, or an important event.
Rating
80 out of 100
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