Zoop

"A very fun puzzle game yet its very unpopular."

Zoop is a puzzle game made by Viacom Newmedia. A lot of people don't like Zoop but I don't no why. The object of Zoop is to get as many points as you can like any other puzzle game. In Zoop you control a ball that changes color in a square in the middle of the screen. Other balls will come from four sides. You shoot yourself to other balls to change color. There are many stages in this game but in order to advance to the next stage you must eliminate the number of balls the stage assigns you. Lets say there are four balls that are blue and you are blue. Blue-Blue-Blue-Blue, if you shoot yourself down the column full of blue balls you will ''eliminate'' all the Blue balls. There are two modes in this game and that is Continual and Level. In Continual, once you clear a stage you go to the next stage with the same balls you left off in the stage before. For example, if you beat a stage with a blue ball below your square it will appear in the same place (which is below your square) where it was last stage in the next stage. In Level, you just have to eliminate the number balls the stage assigns you and when you begin the next stage you will start fresh and no balls will appear on the stage. In both these modes you can choose to start in level 1 to 9 or choose difficulty level 1 to 4. In options you can choose to turn off the sound or music. Lets get on to the review.

Graphics 8/10

The graphics in Zoop isn't bad. In fact its great. The colors are done fine and the stage background (the background is just a color such as blue or red) changes every stage.

Sound 7/10

The music in this game is horrible. Its very annoying. But the sound is excellent. The missile shooting and the sounds during the main menu are super. Basically the music is bad, the sound is great.

Control 10/10

The control in this game is very simple. You control your ball in the square using the direction pad and you press A to shoot your ball.

Challenge 10/10

This game is very hard. You might also get frustrated. In the first 2 stages the difficulty level will be medium but in the 3rd and above stages it will be incredibly hard and you will panic. The challenge of this game is what makes it so great.

Replay Value 10/10

The replay value in Zoop is superior. You will always want to try to beat your high score and get to the higher stages. The challenge part is what keeps the replay value high. If Zoop had an easy challenge you wouldn't probably play it as much.

Goods
-Very good challenge
-Control and graphics are great
-It doesn't take long to learn how to play
-The replay value is high
-Its very cheap! (I bought mine for $1.99!)
-You can turn off the music and keep the sound in options!

Bads
-Horrible and very annoying music
-Can't save high scores on to cartridge

Buy, Rent, or Don't Bother?

Its very cheap and also very good. I suggest that you get it.

Overall 9/10

This is a marvelous game but its music problems keep it from getting a 10.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/25/02, Updated 03/26/02