PopCap has finally announced a sequel to one of their biggest hits and a casual classic, Zuma, entitled Zuma’s Revenge.
Zuma launched in 2003, and was one of my first encounters with the casual game crack that PopCap has earned such success producing. You’ve likely come across games built in the model of Zuma (which was built from the model of 1998’s Puzz Loop, apparently): there’s a frog in the middle of the screen which spits out colored stones to match other colored stones and remove them from the screen before they reach the frog.
It’s a simple but addictive game, and captured the PopCap spirit of detail-centric design (the satisfying sound of the gems clacking into each other is particularly memorable). But while PopCap saw fit to lay down sequels for its other franchises like Bewejeled, Peggle and Bookworm Adventures, Zuma has gone without a second entry…until now.
Zuma’s Revenge is essentially the same concept done up with new features…like most sequels. There are new power-ups in the game, like laser frog eyes for pinpoint shots, a shot that destroys all stones of
the same color, and a Tri-Shot that fires three cannonballs which will pass through whatever they come into contact with. The graphics also get a nice upgrade with high resolution and widescreen support, and there are some new modes as well, like boss battles.
“Boss battles against evil Tiki spirits punctuate the regular Adventure game, and advanced players can have their skills tested by the all-new Heroic Frog and Iron Frog modes,” PopCap co-founder Jason Kapalka told MTV Multiplayer. “In addition there’s the Challenge mode…where players compete to get a top score in a limited time, much like our Bejeweled Blitz game on Facebook.”
Zuma’s Revenge launches September 15 on PC, with a Mac version following afterward.
