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Review  Zoocube
- By Kevlar Gorilla
Puzzlekings and Acclaim present to you (the puzzle-loving gamer that you are), Zoocube.13 years after the original incident with Dr. Buc Ooze, the bad Doctor has escaped and somehow genetically altered the world’s wildlife into unnatural shapes. It’s your job to use the Zoocube to pair up similar animal shapes and save the many random furry mammals once again.
Gameplay:
The fine people at Puzzlekings have treated us with a promising puzzle concept and polished it enough to present a very tight game indeed. The main objective of the game is to pair up shapes to make them disappear. This is accomplished by rotating the Zoocube on all three of its axises and shuffling the shapes on each side. The game is split up into three modes with seven “worlds” in each (that is, three seas and four oceans).
The main mode of gameplay is Classic, in which blocks come down, take up space on the Zoocube, and wait to be paired with a similar shape that will come later in that level. Most of the game is simply waiting for the matching piece to come and rotating the correct column into place. When you clear a level, a point “goodie” is left behind for every face cleared. If you clear a level perfectly (match up or dispose of all the shapes in a wave) then you’ll be treated to a KO bonus round where columns of shapes of varying sizes (1-4) drop from each direction and collect all of the “goodies” uncovered from the round before it. Then, one each of the shapes that make up the columns will appear and even more points will be rewarded if you clean up the new mess made, just for you. The good news is that you can’t die in the KO bonus levels, you can only not get points, and all the blocks are cleared when the bonus is over. The game ends when more than five shapes are stacked on one side.
The second gameplay mode is KO mode (however, it must be unlocked). This mode plays exactly like the KO bonus round in Classic. Each level is pre-deployed and extra bonus points are given for perfect games. You progress to the next stage if half of the blocks thrust upon you are removed, so it is possible to stack more than 5 on one side, thus ending the round, and still move to the next level. This mode is a bit more fun because it runs smoother.
The third gameplay mode is KO blind; it too must be unlocked. This mode plays just like KO mode, except that the colour in the shapes is missing and the shapes must still be matched. If a shape is hovering above a column with a similar shape in it, both shapes will change to their natural colours.
At first, the game seems simple, which it is, but soon you learn of it’s many quirks and strategies. For example, a main strategy of the game is to line up the pieces and then secure the piece to the Zoocube so you can work on the next one. The first thing to notice is that a dropped block will rotate with the Zoocube, that is, if you rotate the axis around to catch the next piece in a convenient spot, then the dropped block will swing around with it. This is insanely helpful as you no longer have to worry about the first shape anymore. Also, any shape that is dropped will leave a “goodie” behind it that can be collected if another shape touches it before it disappears. The “goodies” come in three varieties. The most common “goodie”is points, which is good because points give you a high score. Mutator “goodies” change the block that touches it directly in a variety of ways, from speeding up the block to slowing it down, to destroying it which can be good or bad depending of the situation. Finally, Cue “goodies” call other types of bonus shapes that can affect the gameplay in general. For example, there are a wide variety of bombs that can explode different numbers of shapes in either direction (ones pointing up need to be shuffled to the bottom). Also, certain bonuses are activated when shuffled beside the Zoocube, such as increasing the rate of fall of dropped blocks, or slowing all blocks everywhere, or limiting what axises the blocks come in at what times.
In the first three seas, the game gets harder by adding more speed, more shapes in a wave, and more variety in the types of shapes that fall (there are 24 different shapes in all, each with their own unique “goodie”). At the first ocean, the game slows down immensely, but your entire strategy will change when you notice shapes coming in from an extra axis (specifically the bottom one), as opposed to only three used in the three seas. The game’s not specifically unforgiving though; they give you three smart bombs at the beginning of the game in case you are in some deep trouble. These bombs will explode all the shapes directly beside the Zoocube. Use them wisely.
If you can survive the maddening twist in game mechanics, you will be rewarded with faster, different, and more shapes. Presumably, some of the last stages will require you to store, juggle, and match all 24 different shapes coming from all six axises simultaneously. This is no easy task, and a real satisfying challenge for anyone up to it.
Aesthetics:
Each of the shapes and the Zoocube is sprite rendered and all scale and rotate cleanly and evenly. The playing field zooms in and out depending on your Zoocube maintenance skills. However, on several occasions I’ve triggered massive amounts of slow-down when I started to panic and all of the available space on the Zoocube was slowly being consumed. I suppose this could be considered convenient, as more response time is always good when you’re in trouble.
Most of the action of the game depends on response time. The “next” display will help a bunch in the earlier levels, but in the later ones, the information comes too fast and can’t be used properly so the puzzle-solving must be done on the fly. Therefore, a piece that is farther from the Zoocube is easier to judge and place properly. This can become problematic with the top and bottom axises of the Zoocube as the GBA screen is wide, therefore not allowing as much time for thinking.
Some shapes look quite similar to others. For example: the green tetrahedron looks very similar to the brown pentahedron and the green bomb-like shape looks very much like the green bomb (go figure?). It’s not a real big deal that no animals are used in the games, most of the shapes are very unique and they get to job done nicely.
All of the heads-up displays and backgrounds shift and move with the player’s movements and all are fully customizable whilst playing so that you can get your puzzle-groove on in an environment of your choice. From orange skies to weaving pipes, the backgrounds add a little something to the game.
Control:
A makes the shapes drop down.
B and R juggles all the shapes in all of the column to produce a nifty visual effect.
The D-pad controls two axises while holding L and pressing Up and Down of the D-pad controls the final axis.
Hitting the L and R buttons at the same time will detonate one of your smart bombs.
There are several different customization modes, and even a simple demo tutorial to get you started.
Sound:
The music is abhorred; that means it’s bad. I’m sure it means well, but it sounds like it might fit in at a Tiger handheld game convention, between a tone-deaf bagpipe player and a microphone sitting directly in front of it’s own speaker. Luckily, the option to turn it off was accessible mid-game, in fact, the game originally comes with it turned off. Kudos for that.
The sound effects, on the other hand, fit the game pretty well. They may sound a bit recycled but they get the job done. From the remote-droid sounds of the Zoocube rotating, to the Camera sound of shuffling the shapes, to the many dings, bonks, and explosions of matching shapes, the effects seem in place.
Multiplayer:
The multiplayer is generally good, except that a second copy of Zoocube is needed. In co-op mode, both players work as a team to get the best cumulative score, while in vs. mode, opponents drop harmful modifiers on the other player’s field to trip him/her up. Good stuff if you can get it.
OVERALL:
I’m very surprised and pleased with the overall package Puzzlekings has produced. This cartridge does have a memory back up, which is very useful for saving high-scores. Before Tariq sent me the game, he played it for a bit, but I beat his high score in no time. Once you get to a certain sea or ocean, you can start a new game from there next time to see how close you can get to the final challenges. Simply unlocking all the stages in all three modes will take up a fair bit of time, not to mention 9 different speed settings for varying challenge (5 of which must be unlocked). However, one game spanning from the first sea to the first ocean (4 worlds, or about 350,000 points) can take up well over an hour. This is good if you really want to kill some time, but the main goal of the game is to beat your high-score, which simply can’t be done in a short time.
The Lowdown on  Zoocube
| Aesthetics: Above Average |
Control: Above Average |
| Gameplay: Very Good |
Multiplayer: Average |
| Sound: Below Average |
Innovation: 5/6 |
| Lasting Appeal: 4/6 |
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Overall: Above Average!
"A Quality Game"
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This game is:
Above Average
Love those shapes
Cashing in for the KO bonus
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INFO |
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Release Date:
05.30.2002
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IN A
NUTSHELL: |
| A very well-done and new puzzle concept that proves Puzzlekings is up to something good. |
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