Zuma Deluxe XBLA Review
Zuma Deluxe for the Xbox 360 is an enhanced port of the 2004 PC game Zuma. The Xbox 360 version was released on November 22nd, 2005. The game was released at the 800 MS point price point ($10) but has subsequently been repriced at a much more reasonable 400 MS points, which amounts to a very fair $5.
The goal of Zuma, which is set in the Aztec, is to eliminate a large number of balls which are found rolling along a given path before these balls reach the a certain point, namely a yellow skull structure. This is tantamount to a time limit, essentially. The player eliminates the balls by firing a coloured ball into the chain of balls, more specifically, by firing the randomly coloured ball into balls of the same colour, which results in the grouping of like coloured balls (which must be 3 in quantity or greater) being eliminated from the playing field. A yellow bar is slowly filled as more and more balls are eliminated, and the filling of this bar results in level completion.
The basic gameplay in Zuma feels a lot like the classic puzzler Puzzle Bobble, as both games feature a cannon like propulsion device which must be properly aimed in order to shoot coloured balls into balls of the same colour, thereby clearing out any adjacent same coloured balls. And, similar to Puzzle Bobble, two keys to success in Zuma are speed and accuracy. You are working with a playing field that is always moving towards an end that will result in your failure if allowed to reach it, and any missed shots due to improper aim will impede your progress and set you back. Both games work to slowly amp up the pressure put on the player as the levels get progressively harder.
The player is awarded a numerical score, which is tallied throughout a given level. There are bonuses for collecting coins, which appear behind gaps that are created when you destroy balls. These gaps close when the balls on either side come together, reforming the chain, which means you have but seconds to hit these coins when the opening occurs. The other method through which one attains bonus points is the ever ubiquitous time bonus. Each level has a predetermined, so called ''Ace Time.'' Completing any given level in a time that matches or bests the Ace time results in the player being rewarded with some fairly hefty bonus points.
Powerups, a puzzle genre standard, make an appearance in this game. There are four different types of power-ups available, which can be activated by exploding the ball within which the power-up appears. The powerups include the backwards ball, which pushes the balls back, effectively granting the player extra time in which to complete the level. The accuracy ball grants the player an arrow which shows where the ball will be shot, making precise shots much easier to make. The explosion ball explodes all of the balls within a small radius. Lastly, the slow-down ball slows the movement speed of the ball chain for a set period of time, granting the player more time, and also the ability to more easily make planned and accurate shots.
Aiming is done via the left analog stick, and while this works quite well, it is definitely less precise and harder to use than a mouse, which was the input device this game was originally developed for. Aiming with the stick can feel a bit loose and......floaty, at times, meaning you will often miss due to accidentally skipping past your desired shot trajectory. This is more evident the faster you try to aim and shoot. If you take your time, your accuracy will be much higher, and lower when moving faster. In other words, accuracy and speed are inversely related, to a much higher degree than as seen on the PC.
While the aforementioned effect can be mitigated somewhat by practice and individual player skill, it's a fact that the game functions better with a mouse. It's playable, and quite well at that, for the most part, but it's inevitable that you will find yourself making errors that you feel were directly caused by the loose nature of the control. Playing this back to back on the PC and the console highlights this issue quite well.
There are two gameplay modes present in the game: Adventure mode and Gauntlet mode. The Adventure mode grants the player three lives, with extra lives being earned with every 50,000 points attained. The levels are organized into temples, which are broken down into smaller levels. Each temple gets progressively harder, and while the game starts out quite easy, it ends at a fairly hefty level of challenge, which will keep many gamers trying again and again to conquer the last few levels. The game ends when the player runs out of lives; if they choose to continue, they are sent back to the last completed level. The Adventure mode ends when all of the temples are bested (well, that and when one last condition is met, but that will not be spoiled here).
The Gauntlet mode is a survival mode, in which you start playing, and keep playing until you get overwhelmed and lose your one and only life. The mode starts out easy enough, but soon elevates to quite a level of challenge. If good, the player can survive long enough to see a level of challenge that bests even the last Adventure mode levels. This mode has no end. You go until you die, simple as that. It's a trial of endurance as much as it is of skill.
Zuma Deluxe features no multiplayer, which, is the only other real flaw, apart from the aforementioned slight but real control issue.
The presentation elements are fairly simplistic, but the tribal music, chants, and sound effects fit the Aztec theme quite well, and the graphics, while simple, look clean and fairly colourful, although the charge of blandness could be levied against the game, and this would not be without merit. The sound design is the better of the two elements here.
Zuma Deluxe is a fun and challenging game. The control in the console version is somewhat inferior to that of its PC brother, although this does not break the game in any way, and can mostly be overcome by skilled play or sound strategy. If you have the option to get the game on the PC, it might be wise to do so, but the console version certainly will suffice in the absence of the ability to acquire the PC version of the game. The lack of multiplayer is a bit of a detriment, although not nearly as much as it was at the older price point. The gameplay doesn't offer much variety, and the gameplay modes on offer are slim, but the core gameplay is fun, there's a good level of challenge on offer, and the price is now excellent. Definitely worth checking out, although it's not the best of the genre on the platform.