Why I think Zuma's Revenge fumbled up

[SA_ChooChoo]

While playing Zuma's Revenge, which is quite fun, but there are some very annoying things I noticed while playing this. The original zuma game somehow feels better than this.

Here are my reasons why I think Zuma's Revenge got some things wrong...



1) The balls do not slow down when approaching the holes.

In every ball shooter game that I have played, whether it be Luxor, Pirate Poppers, and many other clones, when the balls get too close to the hole, the whole line slows down, thus giving you a better chance at fighting them back.

Zuma somewhat did this too, but in Zuma's Revenge, the balls seem like they hardly even slow down as they neared the holes. Too many times I have lost a life after getting a Zuma because of this.

2) Never getting the color I need to save myself.

In every ball shooter I have played, when the balls neared the hole, the shooter would seem to give me more of the colors of balls that were closest to the hole, thus, helping me better to fight back the balls.

In Zuma's Revenge, as the balls were nearing the hole, I proceeded to discard approximately 13+ balls or so before getting a ball of the color I needed. The ball generator I am guessing is completely random regardless of whether you are close to game over or not. Of course, because I didn't get the right colors in time, I once again have lost lives.

3) Some maps block the frog's direct access to the hole.

A lot of them ball shooter games out there, always place the hole close to you, because if the balls get too close, you need a quick way to fight them back.

In some of Zuma's Revenges maps, the hole is placed where easily a line or two of balls can block your line of sight to the hole, thus, trying to not lose a life is incredibly difficult, and when you combine #1 and/or #2 above, it's down right impossible.

As you get to levels 45...50...55+, you begin to rely abit more on luck, than skill. While Zuma's Revenge did do some things right, it did some things wrong.

Here's looking to a Zuma 3 in the future.

[fromthesticks]

1. No comment
2. No matter which balls you take out in the string it will slow down the march of the balls to the hole (except the furtherest from the hole). Just take out any of them to slow the chain down.
3. Sorta reverts back to the 2nd point. Take out any of them to get the lines taken out.



I'm not trying to say you're wrong but that's sorta part of the game, those things make it more difficult and you have to overcome and adapt.

I've beaten the First Zuma deluxe with all 13 Temples (Which I will say is much much harder than this game)

I got this game and beat it the day it came out when it was available i think over a year ago.

I do love the zuma games as I have been playing them for a long time and I appreciate the difficulty that it has over its competitors.

I think zuma 2 was a step backwards as far as it tried to make the game easier to pick up for novices.


To end this, I don't know where I am going for a closing argument other than the Zuma franchise is a great game and stands out for a good reason when being pitted against its clones.

Love the game Popcap


Thanks

Oh yeah, when I bought the steam version it's made my steam client buggy, I've uninstalled it and am just playing the regular store bought version for now.

[Sarkazein70]

1) The balls do not slow down when approaching the holes.
Yes they do, especially in later levels. And, as pointed out earlier, shoot anywhere in the chain to temporarily stop the chain. Also, if you already have Zuma (the bar is filled and no more balls are coming), shooting the last ball in the curve (the one furthest from the hole) will temporarily stop the entire chain.

2) Never getting the color I need to save myself.
The game knows exactly what colors you need. The idea is to never let the balls on the curve get that close in the first place. Usually, it will start feeding you a lot of balls of a specific color if there is only one of that color left and you can't quite get to it. Instead of wasting them, shoot them into the chain and make a hole.

3) Some maps block the frog's direct access to the hole.
Well, of course. That's entirely intentional. Those are the maps where the gap shots really help. In the original Zuma, several maps did this. It's not quite as common here (mainly because the maps don't repeat), but that's part of the challenge. If every single map was really easy, this game would be called Luxor.

You're free to have your own opinions of course, but Zuma's Revenge is actually a little easier than the original game. I only wish there were leaderboards built in as I just hit 1,217,380 in Adventure Mode. :)

~Sark

[CtrlAltDestroy]

There are two reasons I think this game is easier than its predecessor: the tracks are larger, giving you more time to avert death and more choices of where to shoot the ball (It's in HD, whereas Zuma 1 was in SD), and you only have to beat 5 levels at a time rather than 12 or so in the brutal final temples of Zuma 1. Trying to beat 12 levels straight without dying in Heroic Frog mode is just about as hard as it was beating the final three temples in Zuma 1.

Level 60 in this game is just as infuriating as Zumiac Exodus in the original, blocking your access to the skull. Grr.

The reason I think Zuma's Revenge fumbled up is because there's no repercussions for using a continue; your score remains the same, and thus, you could get an infinite score in Adventure mode if you just keep dying on a postcard level!

[stillwater78]

Hmm, you're basically saying:
(1) I want the game to go easy on me, and lend me a helping hand whenever I stuff up by failing to keep the balls far away from the hole.
(2) If I'm in trouble, I want the game to cheat, to help me out.
(3)I want the level design to be less varied and challenging, so that every level is easy.

These aren't design flaws - this is you complaining that the game's too hard. Basically, it sounds like you need to play a bit more and get better at it, and don't get so worried about dying a few times. A game like this is no fun if it doesn't test your skill and make you get a bit sweaty at times! :)

I personally find the game a bit too easy, and playing through Adventure mode felt like a monotonous slog since I almost never lost any lives. Only after playing for many hours do I finally feel satisfyingly challenged: on the latter half of Heroic Frog, Iron Frog Gauntlet, and some of the later Challenge Mode games. Overall though, I think this game is definitely better than the first one. It adds so much that is improved: the graphics, the challenge modes, the boss fights, the new powerups...

[Sarkazein70]

The reason I think Zuma's Revenge fumbled up is because there's no repercussions for using a continue; your score remains the same, and thus, you could get an infinite score in Adventure mode if you just keep dying on a postcard level!

That's a weak way out. Losing on a level kills the bonus, and it also kills the 2000 * "number of frogs left" bonus at the end of a game.

Just like in the original, you need to be able to fly through the whole game (including the harder levels) without dying. That way, you get the most bonus along the way. It's especially true toward the end where the perfect level bonus is 6000 per level, not to mention the time level. There's not a level in the game that should take you over 90 seconds, once you master them.

It's a stupid thing to go for this, yes. It's a time sink. But it's fun. :)

~Sark