| Introduction
Those who've been around the Gameboy scene for any
length of time are well aware that Nintendo got its
first foothold in dominating the handheld market on
the strength of a single puzzle game--Tetris. That mighty
Soviet puzzler was recently released on the GBA, but
received a less than enthusiastic welcome.
So far, the best puzzler currently on the market
is undoubtedly Rage Software's Denki Blocks, but Acclaim
want to change all that with their latest, original
puzzle concept (it says so on the press release). Puzzlers
demand two very important ingredients though, which
have eluded many developers over the years--simplicity
and addictiveness. Have Acclaim got it right? I'm sure
they're banking on it.
GamePlay
The back-story to ZooCube involves you, the player,
aiding the survival of animals by pairing them and placing
them in the safety of the Ark. This is less than obvious
in the GBA version so most of this information comes
directly from the manual rather than via the on-screen
visuals.
The actual gameplay revolves around a fully rotating
hub, or the ZooCube, and it's your job to pair various
colors and shapes (animals) in order to clear the Cube
while avoiding a build-up of more than five shapes in
each section. This sounds incredibly simple, and it
is initially, but as you progress in the game you sometimes
actually start with two different shapes on each section,
and the other shapes are delivered at a much faster
rate.
There are some aids in your quest but some are very
limited and utilizing them too early may cause major
problems later on in the levels. First, there's the
ability to juggle the various shapes, which is a useful
feature, but while it can occasionally help you, misuse
can place you in a very tight corner with nowhere to
go and then it's game over. Even more useful than this
is the smart bomb, which simply removes the series of
shapes nearest the ZooCube. However, there are only
three of these and absolutely no way to collect more,
so careful judgement on their use is essential.
The multiplayer options allow you to go head-to-head
with a friend in a number of different game modes with
only a single copy of the game. These include a knockout
tournament, which places you in direct competition with
your opponent and a co-operative mode where you must
work together to return the animals to the ark. The
save option is the best I've seen in a long time and
everything is backed up automatically, keeping your
game position and high scores safe and sound until your
next session.
Controls
Considering the complex 3D nature of ZooCube, it's
still reasonably intuitive, so by the time the game
reaches a frantic pace you should know the right direction
in which to rotate the hub. It's quite a confusing concept
during the start, but a simple in-game tutorial is provided,
which can be visited anytime via the options menu.
Graphics
Visually, the GBA version is obviously not up to
the GameCube standard and the graphics can best be described
as functional. This however, is THE most important aspect
of any puzzler and it's obvious from the initial screens
that the developers were aware of this. Owners of the
GameCube version will notice one thing straight away,
and that's the complete absence of animals. So rather
than the advertised ZooCube, the GBA version is more
like... well, just a plain Cube actually. It's all still
very pleasing, but it's by no means pushing the technology
and not even close to what the GBA is capable of.
Sound & Music
Just like in most puzzle games, the audio is kept
to a minimum. Rather than using sound to create atmosphere,
it's simply there as an indication that something has
happened. ZooCube follows this general rule and as a
result, everything's here in a very functional role,
so the background soundtrack really is just that, allowing
you to focus on the gaming with no distractions.
Final Comments
As with all puzzle-based games, you're going to either
love ZooCube or hate it. Don't get me wrong; this has
nothing to do with the actual GBA version, which not
only looks good but also plays rather well. ZooCube
offers a fair bit of variety as well--the general game
concept can be tackled in a number of different ways
before you even start on the multiplayer mode.
One problem though is that it's not a true puzzler,
as the gameplay lends itself more to Columns or Tetris,
relying more on fast reactions rather than any logic
or puzzle-solving skills. Overall, it's a very polished
and original GBA title though, which undoubtedly has
the addictive qualities that made Tetris such a huge
hit. Check it out at your local store today; it could
be just what you're looking for.
|
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