Zuma's Revenge! is a puzzle video game developed and published by PopCap Games. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X on September 15, 2009. It is the sequel to the earlier game Zuma, and features high-definition graphics, new levels and power-ups, several new features, and boss battles.
Gameplay[ | ]
As in Zuma, the main objective of Zuma's Revenge! is to clear strings of rolling balls by matching balls of the same color. The player controls a frog that shoots colored balls at the strings. The frog always points in the direction of the mouse. When three or more balls of the same color are matched together, they are cleared from the playfield. Gaps can be formed through which the player can shoot more balls or collect fruit. Gaps are automatically closed if the balls at both ends of the gaps are (or become) the same color, potentially leading to chain reactions.
The strings of balls constantly roll along their tracks toward a skull emblem at the end. If they reach the emblem, the player loses a life, and the game is over when the player has lost all of his or her lives. The strings are always "pushed" by the last ball in the string, so any balls that are not connected to the rearmost string do not move on their own.
In each mode except Challenge mode, the player must reach a general point goal to achieve "Zuma", at which point the game stops adding balls to the string(s). The player must then clear all of the remaining balls from the playfield to move on to the next level. In Challenge mode, the player has three minutes to score as many points as possible, collecting powerups that increase his or her score multiplier along the way.
Periodically, random balls will display power-ups that the player can collect by destroying the ball. These include a visual guide to show where a ball will land when shot, powerups that slow down or reverse the direction of the string, a three-way cannon, a laser that destroys single balls, a bomb, and a lightning powerup that destroys all balls of a specific color.
Zuma's Revenge! introduces two types of levels that are new to the series. Some levels feature two lily pads that the frog can jump between, while other levels set the frog on a horizontal or vertical track and have it slide side-to-side rather than rotating to aim.
In the game's Adventure and Heroic Frog modes, the player progresses through a Polynesian-style island ruled by the angry god Zhaka Mu. Every five levels, the player is awarded a checkpoint at which he or she can restart the game if all lives are lost. At the end of each island area, the player encounters a tiki god and must face the god in a boss battle.