Zuma's Revenge with Peggle

ZUMA is back! And if you can believe IT IS EVEN BETTER!

PopCap Games introduced the original ZUMA in 2003 and brought to the foreground a genre that was, up to then, oriented exclusively towards kids. ZUMA created a new school of games: from the excellent LUXOR Series to the recent INCA BALL, the playful BEETLE BOMP and (my favorite!) ATLANTIS: SKY PATROL: Zuma-clones came in all shapes and forms. Some introduced new ideas and some of them improved the original concept. And the new ZUMA has incorporated most of them.

If you have already enjoyed the original game, let me tell you what is new. First off, yes, the graphics and sounds are much improved. Also, your frog does not have to simply rotate all the time. As with LUXOR, in some stages you can slide across a predefined path (not always horizontal) whereas, in others, you can hop between multiple Lily Pads.
Moreover, there are now three new special abilities: the Laser beam, the Lightening and the TriShot. With the Laser you can target specific balls (advisable to aim at the bonuses!); the Lightening will remove all balls of the same color as the one you targeted; and with the TriShot, well, it is pretty much self-explanatory: you fire off three metal canon-balls that wipe out everything in their path.
Finally, every 10 stages there are now bosses you cannot harm until their henchmen get smashed (an idea from ATLANTIS: SKY PATROL) or their specific weakness is figured out - and of course you will be fighting the color-stream at the same time.

If you are not familiar with the game this is the gist of it: a series of colored balls (with the number of different colors increasing every few levels) streams in and you have to shot and match them in sets of three or more in order to remove them - and prevent them from reaching the end zone. There are now numerous different modes (ADVENTURE, various CHALLENGES, IRON FROG) - and all are exceptional addictive!! So take care not to have any deadlines or immovable obligations looming!

This is a perfect example of what has come to be known as Casual Gaming. It would be a good idea to download the limited-time free trial version from a casual gaming site (such as POPCAP GAMES or REFLEXIVE - you can Google them) and decide for yourself whether this is indeed your cup of tea. It comes to about 100MB so a fast connection will be needed for that.

Everybody can make a good game that will run only on a super-computer. This is an example of pure programming genius!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Oh the hours I played the original version of Zuma! I could have been working on more intellectual pursuits, but no - I was addicted to Zuma. But then after much time had passed it lost it's appeal from over-use and slipped into the background, once again I had time for all the old hobbies that I had loved. I only played occasionally- and I was in control. Things were good.

Then, Zuma's Revenge came out. My husband brought it to my attention. I tried to seem disinterested. But we ended up buying less than a week later. When it arrived I tried to be coy. I didn't even look at the box, and gave it to my husband to load on his computer and play.

The familiar Zuma sounds, mixed with new ones kept seeping into my ears... The new graphics... they seemed intriguing. And new levels... and sort of a story line... and new types of 'power' balls... It was too much for me. I loaded it and began playing. That old familiar feeling was back again, compelling me to play for hours on end until my eyes dry out from staring at the colored balls.

Game play is similar to the old version, the idea is hitting colored balls to make matches and eliminate them before your time runs out. But this version has new levels and new configurations- in several you can hop your zuma frog to a new lily pad or in some he slides along a track at the bottom. I also appreciated the Tiki area where you can see your stats for game play. For someone like me who fancies herself a champion Zuma player, it's cool to have the data although I miss the old version where you could see if you had beaten your top score and it also let you see other user's scores if they happened to be higher than yours on each level.

I also liked the new way they configured the challenge area, and the extra iron frog challenge is nice.

I'd say it's worth the 19.99, but you can download a free trial at [...] if you still aren't sure.

I hate it when I purchase a game and have it beat in two weeks. This game keeps the challenge up. And, I love the fact that it has "adventure" mode and "challenge" mode. When the adventure gets too tough, you can play in challenge mode for a while and challenge your own score. I still haven't beat the game, but it's not frustrating me, it's keeping the game fun. Really am enjoying it.