Zoom into Zuma - Highly Addictive!!

Introduction
Amongst the various puzzle games, my favorite has been Tetris. I have spent hours and hours on my old Samurai video game playing Tetris. My constant companion in these games has been my brother, so when he suggested that I should try out Zuma for a change, I decided to try it.

Game - Overview
The aim of the game is very simple. There is a maze around which various colored balls keep moving. Their target is to reach a skull placed somewhere near the center of maze. The user controls a frog which shoots various colored balls, whenever three or more colored balls come together they burst and make way. So the task of the user is to finish off all the balls before they reach the skull.

Game - Modes
The game comes in three modes:
1) Adventure: In this there are nine temples each with 5-7 different levels. You need to clear all these levels to complete a level. The nine temples are grouped into three groups and only when you finish one group the other is exposed. Each level increases in complexity by either the speeding of the balls, the decrease in the distance that the balls need to travel to the skull or double sources of balls.

2) Gauntlet Practice: In this mode, the user can select any one level and keep practicing on that level. If you are stuck in any particular level, you can change to this mode and practice the level till you master it and return back to the adventure mode of the Gauntlet Survival mode.

3) Gauntlet Survival: In this mode, the user is challenged to an endless stream of levels. The idea here is to find the survival instincts of the user.

Game - Rules
1) If three or more balls get accumulated in the same row, then they would get cleared.
2) When they get cleared if the balls on both sides are of the same color, then they get attracted, thus dragging the balls from the skull briefly.
3) There are bonus points on offer in the form of coins. If the ball hits these coins you get bonus points as well as it reduces the number of balls that would come out for the level.
4) If a ball is shot between the gap between two balls that also adds to points and reduces the balls coming out.
5) If you use a mouse, then right click swaps the current ball with the next ball available.

That's all the rules for the game. So simple.

Critic's Viewpoint
For starters, I found it better than the plain old Tetris because there are more challenges available in the forms of various levels. The underlying concept though is more or less similar between the two. Of course, this game is equally if not more addictive than Tetris.

The game can be played with both the Mouse and the Keyboard. If played with the keyboard the game is much more difficult compared with the mouse which allows for free movement of the frog. Also, I was unable to figure out a way for swapping of balls using the keyboard. But, even with the mouse it was slightly difficult to pause the game in between as everytime to pass, I had to move the mouse all the way to top corner to pause.

Another drawback is that everytime you start from the beginning of the temple. I would have loved if they had provided for some checkpoints where in if you hit a flag or something like that, the game would begin from that point. This feature is sorely missed in the latter stages where the ball speedens up considerably and the going gets really tough.

Apart from these minor problems, the game has been well designed and the modes and levels give enough variety to keep you engaged for a long, long time. Of course, playing on the computer for a long time has a effect on your eyes and I found that the concentration levels invariable dipped after every 1 hour or so and the eyes started to either pain or water.

I also loved the music that plays in the background which is basically drums and vocals for most part. It gives a feel of an South American adventure all along.

Summary
All in all after a long time a very simplistic, yet addictive game. Zuma has replaced Tetris for me, at least for now.

I would give this game a 4 star rating.

Disclaimer: Playing this game can be addictive and get your spouse so mad that you might need to attend some counselling. So be prepared for this.