Software:Zuma's Revenge!

Short description: 2009 video game

Zuma's Revenge!
Steam storefront header
Developer(s)	PopCap Games
Publisher(s)	PopCap Games Electronic Arts
Series	Zuma
Engine	PopCap Games Framework
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows Xbox 360 Windows Phone OS X Nintendo DS iOS Java Xbox Live Arcade PlayStation Network
Release	September 15, 2009
Genre(s)	Puzzle
Mode(s)	Single-player

Zuma's Revenge! is a 2009 tile-matching puzzle video game developed and published by PopCap Games. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X, as a sequel to the earlier 2003 video game, Zuma, and was later ported to Windows Phone.

Compared to its predecessor, Zuma's Revenge! features high-definition graphics, new levels and 'power-ups,' several new features, as well as boss battles. A Nintendo DS version was introduced in February 2011 which features daily challenges, versus mode and achievements. The physical copy for the Xbox 360 includes two bonus titles: Bejeweled 3 and Feeding Frenzy 2.

Upon release, the game received mostly positive reviews from critics, with many citing the boss battles and gags as the game's highlights. However, the game did receive minor criticism for its similarity to the previous game.

Gameplay

As in Zuma, the main objective of Zuma's Revenge! is to clear strings of rolling balls, or 'stones', by matching balls of the same color. Players move a ball-shooting frog which always points in the direction of the mouse to aim and fire balls at these strings. When three or more balls of the same color match together, they are cleared from the playfield. This clearing creates gaps through which a player may shoot more balls at nearby strings, target bonus fruit, and 'power-up' stones. Gaps automatically close if the balls at either end of the gap are (or become) the same color, potentially creating chain reaction matching and clearing as new sets of three or more are formed.

The strings of balls constantly roll along their tracks toward a skull emblem at the end. Should they reach the emblem, the player gets eaten by the skull emblem and loses a life, and the game ends when the player runs out of lives. However, unlike in the original Zuma in which regardless of stage, they are allowed to play stage one of the temple again, when the player gets a game over, they will start again at the checkpoint (stage one of an area if the player loses before the mid-level and stage six if the same situation happens in stages six to ten). The strings are always "pushed" by the last ball in the string, so any balls not connected to the rearmost string do not move on their own.

Periodically, random balls display power-ups which the player may collect by destroying the ball. These include a visual guide to show where a ball will land when shot, power-ups that slow down or reverse the direction of the string, a three-way cannon that blasts through all layers of balls, a laser that can destroy single balls, a bomb, and a lightning power-up which destroys all balls of a specific color.

Zuma's Revenge! introduces three types of levels that are new to the series. Some levels feature two lily pads that the frog can jump between, while other levels set the frog on a horizontal or vertical track and enable it to slide side-to-side or up-and-down rather than rotate to aim. There are also boss levels where the player has to shoot balls toward the enemies to reduce their hit points while simultaneously preventing the ball string(s) from reaching the skull emblem. The enemies in turn shoot projectiles that will induce a certain gimmick if they hit the player. These levels have an unlimited number of lives, so if any single ball reaches the emblem, the player will simply restart the level, since there is no game over in boss levels.

Game modes

The game features four game modes. In Adventure mode, the player progresses through a Polynesian-style island ruled by the angry god Zhaka Mu. There are six island areas that consist of ten levels each. At the end of each island area, the player encounters a tiki god and must face the god in a boss battle. As the player progresses in the Adventure mode, Iron Frog and Challenge modes are unlocked. (Boss Rush is unlocked as well in versions that have this feature) In Iron Frog, the player has to progress through ten completely new, difficult levels with only one life. In Boss Rush, the player fights all eight bosses from the Adventure mode consecutively and tries to get the fastest time.

In each mode except Boss Rush mode, the player must reach a general point goal to achieve "Zuma", at which point the level stops adding balls to the string(s) and the string(s) temporarily move(s) backwards. The player must then clear all of the remaining balls from the playfield to move on to the next level.

Reception

Zuma's Revenge! reception
Aggregate scores Publication Score DS iOS PC Xbox 360 GameRankings 77% 90% 79.47% 76.23% Metacritic 75 N/A 78 76

Zuma's Revenge! received fairly positive reviews from critics on Metacritic and GameRankings. On Metacritic, the game holds mostly positive reviews, and is currently ranked the 87th best-reviewed game of 2012 for the Xbox 360. IGN gave the game an 8 out of 10, complementing the game's boss battles, graphics, and "lighthearted" humor, but criticized its similarity to the original. Dale North for Destructoid also gave the game an 8 out of 10, who praised the differences from the original game, writing: "The stages are now vibrant and visually varied, and some new visual effects add polish. The new stages look great, and there’s even an underwater stage in the mix. While its predecessor looked fine, it’s visually bland in comparison to Revenge."

External links

• Zuma's Revenge Online
• MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms. Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers". This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months. The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing. A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school. Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information. In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount. This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign. A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art). Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel, and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million. The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager. Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface. This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue. Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.

See also

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions