Zoop

"Underrated - Underloved"

Zoop is a rather unique puzzle game for the Super Nes and Genesis - I have played both versions, but I prefer the SNES one. This review will explain the reasons why I enjoy and would recommend this game.

In a Nutshell:
In Zoop, the screen is a giant grid. You control a small triangle in the center of the board on a four-by-four section of this grid. You can move freely to any of the sixteen points in the grid, and may face any of the four sides of the screen. Your goal is to score as many points as possible while eliminating the columns of colored shapes which advance on your central grid. There are four colors, each with a distinct shape for ease of recognition. When you press a button, your triangle flies across the screen and into the column it is aimed at. The triangle interacts with the pieces depending on what color the triangle is, what color the pointers are, and how many consecutive pieces of the same color are in the column. It's actually pretty tough to explain, but play for about two minutes, and it will make perfect sense. You eliminate the columns by matching the colors in them to the triangle. It will eliminate anything that matches it, and will ''swap'' colors if it hits a piece that is a different color. The more pieces in a row you get, the more points it is worth. If your triangle was blue, and you fire it at a single green piece, the triangle becomes blue and the piece in the column turns green. If you then fire at a row of three greens and one purple, the three greens go away, the purple piece at the end becomes green, and the triangle turns purple. Like I said, on paper it's confusing, but in practice it's beautifully simple.

First, what this game does NOT offer:
GRAPHICS: The graphics are passable. They are simple, effective, colorful and perfectly suited to a puzzle game. Anything more would have been distracting. Think of Tetris - old NES or Gameboy Tetris. Did they need fancy graphics? Certainly not. Puzzle games need only enough to get the point across, and Zoop does just this.

STORY: Something many reviewers give ratings on - it's a puzzle game. There is no story. There is only gameplay. Cope.

Now, what DOES Zoop offer?
SOUND: Personally, I think Zoop has some of the best music to come out of a Super NES. It's got a sort of Jazzy, lounge Swing feel to it, and it just works. The sound effects are good, and not annoying. They give a sense of urgency, especially the warning buzzer when you are about to lose.

GAMEPLAY: This is where the big money is. Puzzle games have to have this in spades, and Zoop delivers. It's very tough - not to play but to put down. Like any good puzzler, you should be seeing the shapes dance before your eyes after a couple of play sessions.

The final thing to be said is to pick this game up if you like puzzles. It has LOADS of challenge (read: ''It's really, REALLY hard''), but it's incredibly fun and addictive. Give it a try, especially since you can probably get it for less than five dollars US.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/19/02, Updated 08/19/02