Zuma Deluxe

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.