Zapped! by eMobile
Software, Price: $6.95
Reviewed September 2003 by Tony Peak
Zapped! is a bit of a change from the standard
puzzle genre on the Pocket PC. Described as a “puzzle
type game that requires fast thinking and reflexes”,
the only comparison that comes to mind is the classic console
game Zoop. Zapped! is a fundamentally different game however,
sharing only the basic shape-swapping zapper concept.
Played on a vertical grid like field, the
goal is to eliminate the falling shapes by swapping them
using the base piece at the bottom of the screen. You’ll
always have a current shape, which when fired from your zapper
will travel upward at the falling shapes. If it hits a shape
of the same type, it will destroy it and keep traveling until
it either hits the top or a different shape. If it meets
another shape along the way, your current piece will become
the shape it hits and that shape will be replaced by the
one you launched. The game ends if the pieces reach your
base.
The game is broken up in 10 stages, 4 speeds
per stage. Each new stage adds a new shape, and each stage
has 4 increases in the falling speed. The falling speed restarts
on each stage though, so stage 2-1 is slower than 1-4 for
example. Rather counter intuitive to the puzzle genre is
that the stages seem to be time set, independent of the actual
gameplay. For example, stage 1-1 always seems to advance
to stage 1-2 about in three and half or four minutes, no
matter how I play. Personally, this is a bit of a turn-off
as stage 1-1 is rather slow paced even on the Insane difficulty
level, and thus makes the game rather hard to pick up and
play during small breaks. On the other hand, some will enjoy
this feeling of progression. The good news for both is that
the game features a quit/resume button, so you may quit at
any time and continue playing later. Zapped! also features
a “random” mode that will scatter some shapes
randomly at the start, but I would much preferred simply
being able to set the starting stage and speed.
Played entirely using the hardware controls, Zapped! feels almost like
a puzzle shooter. The D-Pad is used to move your zapper left or right
along the base of the screen, hardware A shoots the shape, and hardware
B shoots a super zapper that can clear an entire row without fail if
enabled and acquired. Unfortunately, I don’t believe the controls
can be customized in game… This leaves me moving with my right
hand and firing with my left, and feels quite unnatural to me.
The graphics are very bright and colorful,
with well-defined shapes that are in good sizes. Even when
the screen is crowded with shapes and colors, it’s
still quite easy to scan the field at a glance. The menus
are all very high quality, colorful, and look very professional.
I especially like the added touch of an optional clock and
battery meter below the playing field, a small detail that
goes a long way. What I don’t particularly care for
however, is how the shapes seem to move in ticks instead
of fluidly. The shapes in general and especially the shots
fired upward move in a static grid like fashion. A little
more fluidity in the shape movement would have been nicer.
The sound is definitely not something you’ll
want to enable if you’re playing this one in public.
While the menu’s sounds are enjoyable, especially the
rather upbeat menu background music, the in game music and
sound effects are your typical arcade fare. The background
music has a repeating “ping” like sound, each
and every block drop (about once a second) is accompanied
by a rapid “wark-wark-wark-wark”, and every single
shot you fired makes the standard “pzzzzt!” laser
zap. When the blocks are near your base and things are in
danger, oddly enough this is signaled by a constant “Boiiing!” Basically,
it all got on my nerves enough times to reach for the mute
button more than once.
All in all, your enjoyment of Zapped!
will come down to personal tastes. I’m personally
a fan of this type of gameplay, so I came into this game
with high hopes. While things like grid based movement,
time based linear stage increases, and questionable sound
effect choices may be a bit of a put off, I still enjoy
playing the game. The resume feature makes it easy enough
to pick up and play, I usually have the sound muted anyway,
and the animation certainly isn’t a deal breaker,
considering how good everything looks to begin with. For
people looking for something a little different from the
normal cookie cutter puzzles, Zapped! may well be just
the ticket.
Playing Hints and Tips
Earn higher scores by making consecutive
zaps of the same shape. Try swapping shapes to make combos.
Don’t be too careless on the early falling speeds or
the later speeds might be too much to handle.
|
|
