Zuma Deluxe

aka: Zuma
Moby ID: 11509
Windows Specs
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Description official descriptions

Zuma Deluxe is an Aztec-themed action puzzler. The goal: eliminate all the balls before they reach the skull. Balls roll down a track towards this skull and the player-controlled frog-shaped idol must shoot balls toward them to stop them, earning points. Using the mouse to rotate the frog and clicking to fire, the player needs to create rows of three or more of the same color balls to eliminate them.

The catch is that each track is shaped differently. Part of the track may block others so that if the track is filled with balls, the ones behind some may be unreachable. Fortunately, the player has up to four lives, a rarity in many puzzle games.

The game offers two different play modes: * Adventure Mode

The player must battle through multiple temples to find the secrets of the Zuma. In this "campaign mode", temples that have been defeated may be skipped by the player when the player continues the game via save game.

  • Gauntlet Mode

The player must work the player's level up from Rabbit to Sun God. Levels used in this mode must first be unlocked from the Adventure Mode. Gauntlet Mode also offers 4 (four) additional play modes: Random, Spesific, Practice, and Survival.

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Credits (Windows version)

27 People (12 developers, 15 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 79% (based on 23 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 72 ratings with 4 reviews)

Addictive even though it does get pretty difficult

The Good
The gameplay. Zuma Deluxe is a clever take on good old Bust-A-Move. You still try to clear large numbers of colored balls by shooting other balls at them and making groups of three or more balls of the same color. However this time the balls don't come down from the ceiling but they roll along a winding track towards a skull-shaped exit and it's your job to prevent them from reaching that exit. Just like Bust-A-Move, Zuma is really easy to get into (but eventually becomes pretty difficult). The controls are simple: use your mouse to spin the frog around to aim, the left mouse-button to shoot and the right mouse-button to switch between the frog's current ball and the next one. I always used to think that the concept of Zuma was original, until reading Scierce's trivia (see trivia section) made me realize it is somewhat of a clone itself. Anyway, for me it was the first time I played such a game and Zuma was the game that made the whole Puzzle Loop idea popular.

Usually I'm not a huge fan of these "match 3" type of games (in which you need to match 3 or more objects of a similar color or shape to make them disappear) but somehow I found Zuma Deluxe incredibly addictive. It's really fast-paced and you're constantly making combo's and scoring bonuses. Games such as this one are often labeled puzzle games but in Zuma you're often shooting multiple balls per second, so it's got plenty of action. Regularly you're forced to act so quickly that you don't really have the time to think about the best slot to place a ball. I frequently wished I was able to ponder about my next move a little bit longer.

It's good that Zuma rewards taking risks. Shooting through gaps, shooting for coins and setting up multiple combo's all give you extra points which let you finish a level faster. The different power-ups (rewind: forces back the stream of balls, explosion: takes out a large group of balls of all colors, slow: decreases the speed with which the balls move towards the exit and accuracy: a laser pointer that helps you aim) are useful and can help you quickly change the odds in your favor (for a couple of seconds that is, cause the balls will be back in no time :P).

Zuma has 21 different boards and some of them have really interesting layouts with tunnels, overpasses or two separate streams of balls that run alongside each other. However, these complex layouts do make the game challenging (see the bad section). You can play each board in multiple modes and on four difficulty levels, so Zuma can keep you occupied for while. But only if you're a completist and want to complete the adventure mode and get a high score & a sun god rating for every board in both the gauntlet's survival and practice modes. After playing the game for quite a while it got a bit too repetitive for me (the gameplay unfortunately doesn't differ much between the various boards & modes) so I didn't do the latter.

The graphics are not spectacular, but for a 6 MB shareware game they're definitely OK. The graphics are colorful and the Aztec-themed artwork is nice too. The sound-effects and music are not bad either. The music fits the jungle theme of the game and gets more intense when the balls close in on the skull. Unfortunately there's only one short piece of music so it does become annoying when you play the game a lot. Fortunately you can turn the music off.

The Bad
For a casual game aimed at a broad audience Zuma does get challenging. It starts off easy but once you reach the Sun God difficulty level (which you need to master to beat the adventure mode) the balls move towards the exit at a very high pace and they're already a long way down the track before you can launch your first ball. Sometimes there are multiple streams of balls that overlap (so part of the stream blocks your access to the rest of the stream) or the balls disappear in a tunnel which makes it hard to shoot a ball to a strategic spot in the stream. Consequently, Zuma is not a relaxing game since you're nearly always under pressure and struggling to fight off your almost inevitable demise. Sometimes you just need luck to survive; getting a ball of the right color or a power-up can make the difference between death and reaching the next level. You don't have any influence on which balls appear in the stream or in the mouth of the frog. Considering the difficulty it is a bummer that, in the adventure mode, your game is only saved after you've completed an entire temple stage. A stage consists of 6 or 7 levels and takes somewhere between 15 and 25 minutes to beat. As a result I got stuck at stage 12, which I've read, is the penultimate one.

The adventure mode felt a bit obligatory. It has become somewhat of a trend for (casual) puzzle games to have a story mode so apparently Zuma needed one to. With only 4 screens of text, Zuma's story mode is really simple and implemented even less convincingly than in some other titles in the genre. You get the impression this mode was added mainly as an excuse for not having to give the player access to all the boards at once. As you might have guessed you'll have to unlock them in the adventure mode (which fortunately doesn't take very much time). Of course it adds some extra content and keeps you busy for a while, but personally I enjoyed the survival mode the most since you can just keep on playing till the balls eventually reach the exit and don't have to clear all the remaining balls after you've scored enough points to fill up the Zuma-bar.

The Bottom Line
Zuma Deluxe is an action/puzzle game based on a clever concept that is accessible but is also challenging enough for experienced gamers. Initially it's really addictive but since the game relies on a single gameplay mechanic it may get a bit too repetitive. However, if you play it in small doses it should keep you entertained for quite a while and the survival mode remains a fun way to kill half an hour.

Windows · by Roedie (5239) · 2008

This is what Snood should have been

The Good
As you may know from the description, you control a frog idol whom you rotate with the mouse and use to shoot balls at a track to eliminate all the balls before they reach the skull. Sound boring? No.

Zuma is extremely addictive, and it's very hard to stop playing (unless you're just making some quick screenshots, but that's sort of an abberation). It starts out innocently enough with a spiral shaped track. Each level gets gradually eviller until you see some of the most outrageous possibilities. One level has the track overlapping itself and then going through tunnels. In fact, many do. One is shaped like a triangle, another has two tracks, and while I haven't played through all the levels yet, I'm pretty sure there's eventually going to be a monkey. Okay, maybe not a monkey, but you get the idea.

As the balls get close to the skull, its mouth begins to open and warning music begins to play. I haven't played straight for five hours, but if you were to, that warning music would probably begin to haunt your dreams. Gameplay does get very tense as the balls near the skull. The only way to stop them is to add more balls, which pushes them closer until you can make a set.

Fortunately, there are lots of ways to earn bonus points. Points are the key to winning - when you have enough points, no more balls will enter the level, leaving you to eliminate the remaining ones. Eliminating a large amount of balls at the same time, eliminating a chain of balls between two chains of the same color so that they are in turn eliminated, eliminating balls by shooting a ball through a gap, and hitting coins that occasionally appear all give you more points. Points are gooooood.

The Bad
The music is well done, but it isn't very varied. That's a minor nitpick, but I have to say it. Playing the game also may drastically hurt your social life.

The Bottom Line
If you don't have anything to do within the next day or so, give Zuma a try. However, if you're not single, have children, and/or have an important job, stay away, because it will probably keep you away from those things for a while.

Windows · by Zack Green (1162) · 2003

Addicting game, but very difficult

The Good
It's a very addicting puzzle game, much better than other games built on the same idea.

The graphics are simple but beautiful.

The levels have very different layouts, even if they repeat from time to time.

Basically in this game you must react quickly but think quickly, too. If you think a little in advance you can blow a lot of balls in a single move. And the bonuses are simple, but efficient. You are well rewarded if you finish a level very quick and if you shoot coins - you get points and that mean supplemental frogs. And a place in the hall of fame !!! You can play also the "Gauntlet", to prove that you are the best for a certain level or to train for difficult layouts. I managed to finish it once, but my wife 3 times !!! I think this can be a very fun game for girls, I know at least three girls that loved this game.

The Bad
Well, it's quite difficult. The worst thing is that the luck is very important. Even if you play one level perfectly it's possible that you can't pass. So you lose a hard-earned "frog" (you get a supplementary "frog" at every 50,000 points).

I think that you don't stand a chance to finish if you didn't accumulate at least 10 "frogs" before level 10. So, you must play without losing any life at least the first 10 levels.

This game doesn't tolerate any mistakes, especially in higher levels. You'll lose a lot of frogs in the difficult layouts because of bad luck.

One more annoying thing: only 3 places in the hall of fame, that's not enough for the effort that you make for getting there.

The Bottom Line
This is a kind a game that if you like it, you'll spend too much time playing it.

Even if the idea is very simple (shoot balls and when you get three of the same color they disappear), Zuma is very well made and can be very addictive. It's fun because you must be very quick but also to think very fast.

You'll get not very far in the game if you don't hunt for coins and bonuses and don't take risks to shoot between rows of balls.

Windows · by Robinet (41) · 2007

[ View all 4 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Zuma appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Lawsuit

The Zuma concept is not new. Popcap borrowed it from Mitchell Corp.'s 1998 arcade game Puzz Loop/Ballistic. In 2004, President Roy Ozaki intended to file a lawsuit against Popcap for IP infringement. The outcome is not known. Mitchell did however rework the game concept in the 2006 Nintendo DS game Magnetica.

References

If you scroll over the Main Menu selections from top to bottom, the notes played are the same 5-note motif from Close Encounters of the Third Kind Information also contributed by Sciere

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Zack Green.

Xbox One added by Kennyannydenny. PlayStation 3 added by Sciere. BREW, DoJa, J2ME added by Kabushi. Windows Mobile, iPod Classic, Palm OS added by Xoleras. Macintosh added by gamewarrior. Xbox 360 added by Stratege. Xbox added by IgorD.

Additional contributors: Chris Martin, Sciere, Talos, Starbuck the Third, FatherJack.

Game added December 31, 2003. Last modified March 15, 2024.