"A Refreshing Trip to the Zoo"

Ever since the creation of the cult classic videogame Tetris, puzzle gaming has faced an impossible battle for recognition. If a game fits into the puzzle category, it's immediately compared to Tetris in some way. Unfortunately, many puzzle games often have too much in common with Tetris to distinguish themselves as a unique title. In the case of Zoocube, I am pleased to say that this is definitely no Tetris.

Gameplay
After a faceless villain turns all of earth's animals into super deformed cubes, it's up to a troop of generic heroes and their unexplained technology to clean up after him. It's not the most compelling story, and fortunately with only a few seconds worth of cut-scene between each level, the game doesn't dwell on this long. The task of reshaping animals is accomplished with a floating cube that attracts the animal blocks to its every side. The goal is to rotate the cube in order to catch and match up two of the same animal blocks. Once matched up, the blocks are wiped out of the column. Every time a piece is placed onto the cube, an item is launched into ‘orbit' around the cube. These can be picked up with other falling pieces, and are generally only extra points, but can sometimes be a bomb that greatly helps in clearing out an over-stacked leg. It sounds like a simple concept, and indeed it is, but when pieces start flying in from every angle at an ever-increasing speed, it becomes quite a challenge to balance everything out. This is really the beauty of Zoocube. It takes a lot of thought and some extremely quick decision making to be successful. Unlike many puzzle games in which it's almost easier to simply mash buttons, Zoocube takes some serious thought, planning, and decisiveness. It feels great to start up a stream of combos, whipping the cube around to catch the right piece at just the last second. Do well enough, and players are rewarded with a no obligations bonus stage. These stages come pre-stacked, and the goal is to clear the entire cube without making any mistakes. It's a fairly fun challenge, and a nice way to rack up some points, but they can occur almost too often--to the point that they become annoying. Bonus stages become a necessity, however, as they offer a chance to relax. Considering that each stage can last up to thirty minutes, a moment of relaxation is very, very welcome. Length is essentially Zoocube's main failure. The stages are too long, making it all the more frustrating when one is failed. I spent over two hours on just one stage because I had to keep starting over. Overall, though, Zoocube is a very short game. It can easily be beaten in a couple of days, and while there are stronger difficulties, there is really no incentive to play through the game again. Unless striving for the highest score or beating a game one hundred percent is your style, there's little reason to come back to Zoocube once finished.

Controls
Both control sticks are used to rotate the cube, which can be very confusing in the beginning, and sometimes it doesn't react the way it seems it should. After a while it feels more natural, and the more subtle mechanics start to make sense. For example, when a piece is lined up correctly, a quick tap of the A button locks it into place so that it is no longer a worry, and you can continue rotating the cube and locking in other pieces. It's a simple mechanic, but it is a major timesaver, and the key to a successful run. The X and Y buttons shuffle through the all of the pieces, which is great for setting up the next combo, but can also inadvertently cut off a previous one. This adds yet another layer to the insane multitasking that Zoocube requires. If the situation gets too rough, tapping the Z button will blow out the first layer on every leg. This is a limited resource though, and should be saved for only the most extreme circumstances.

Graphics
The pre-rendered cut scenes in Zoocube are painfully bad. The modeling and animation quality is so incredibly awful it's actually kind of sad. The in game graphics, while still nothing spectacular, do get the job done. Some animal pieces look a little too similar, and this can cost you the game, but for the most part it's easy to see and understand what is happening. The time of day also changes as you progress through the stage, causing some interesting effects in the otherwise dull background environments. When an animal is formed, a floating head representation does a short, silly animation that can be rather amusing. The multiplayer mode is spoiled by the screen size being reduced so greatly, which makes it impossible to tell what is going on. Overall, Zoocube is just a very ugly, dull looking game, even for a first generation Gamecube title.

Sound
Zoocube sports an incredible soundtrack. All of the tracks are really laid back, and have some truly awesome beats. The songs are long and varied, which is a welcome addition considering the length of each stage. Sound effects are loud and take away from the great music. They're better off turned down considerably, or as I preferred to play, turned completely off.

Overall
Zoocube is a wildly unique and fun game, there's nothing quite like it in the puzzle genre. The only problem is that there really isn't a whole lot here. The game is over way to quickly, despite the gruelingly long levels. Even still, the amount of thought and quick decision making involved in the game makes it an excellent mental challenge. I highly recommend Zoocube as a budget price title. If you can find this for ten bucks in some random bargain bin, or if you can score it for cheap in an obscure auction, don't hesitate to buy it.

Points
+ Fast, frantic puzzle action
+ Requires serious thought/strategy
+ Excellent soundtrack
-- Levels are upwards of 30 minutes each
-- Over too soon
-- Horrifyingly bad visuals
-- No incentive to beat higher difficulties

Score: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/28/07