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IGN Review of ZUBO
When it comes to DS games, "rhythm-game" is the new "mini-game collection." Seems like every game has some sort of beat tapping element to it. So while a rhythm game/role playing game sounds like it could be a toe-tapping train wreck, Electronic Arts managed to pull it off. Zubo is another entry into their cutesy original character library of games, but it's actually a pretty fun kids title full of humor and the basic RPG rules that any good gamer kid should learn from a young age.
Zubo is hard to pin down to one genre. It's an adventure game, with RPG elements, and some rhythm game for good measure. It's definitely unique, but not because it really adds anything new. It's taken a lot of different gameplay elements and mashed them together.
They plot stays pretty simple. The player has to help save Zubalon from an evil entity trying to take over with an army of zombies. Players wander the area, finding the inhabitants, Zubos, and recruiting them to help fight off their zombie doppelgangers.
The controls are all touch screen based, and are kept very simple. There's no platforming to be found, so most of the time players just guide their player through pathways. The unmovable camera and the sensitive collision detection do make for some wonky maneuvering, but most of the time the game stays pretty smooth and simple, if not a bit dull.
It's the battles where the game really shines. Along the journey players encounter Zombos, and get sucked into a turn-based battle. It's set up like a pretty standard RPG. Each character has four moves that use a different amount of power pills that are earned each turn. There are also three different classes a character or enemy can be, resulting in a rock-paper-scissor circle of strength and weakness.
When the chosen Zubo goes to attack, that's where the game switches it up. As the battle animation plays out, yellow rings in the outline of the Zubo come down. Players tap anywhere on the touch screen when the outlines close in on the right spot. This is all done in beat to the music playing during the fight. Each successful tap fills a meter that determines attack strength. Players have to perform well to make their move as strong as possible, and also earn more power pills.
There isn't a lot of major strategy involved with Zubo. Sure there are shield moves, and healing moves, and different attacks do different things, but ultimately you're just beating the snot out of each other. It's fun though. The attacks are all bizarre, over the top cartoon moves. A character will use an enemy as a basketball, or trick him into dancing, and occasionally will turn into a huge monster and smash the enemy into a pancake. Most of the enjoyment of the game is switching the characters in the team around and exploring all the different move animations.
The game is pretty lengthy too, though a lot of that is due to the fact that players have to constantly backtrack around the overworld to get to each new unlocked area. It can get a bit tedious and a little boring and the whole experience is very linear. Still, when I thought the game was ending I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had only completed the first map and was not even halfway through the title. And despite the almost caged in feeling of the world, I did manage to explore my way into a few secret areas, usually with a hidden character inside.
©2009-04-02, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Zubo is hard to pin down to one genre. It's an adventure game, with RPG elements, and some rhythm game for good measure. It's definitely unique, but not because it really adds anything new. It's taken a lot of different gameplay elements and mashed them together.
They plot stays pretty simple. The player has to help save Zubalon from an evil entity trying to take over with an army of zombies. Players wander the area, finding the inhabitants, Zubos, and recruiting them to help fight off their zombie doppelgangers.
The controls are all touch screen based, and are kept very simple. There's no platforming to be found, so most of the time players just guide their player through pathways. The unmovable camera and the sensitive collision detection do make for some wonky maneuvering, but most of the time the game stays pretty smooth and simple, if not a bit dull.
It's the battles where the game really shines. Along the journey players encounter Zombos, and get sucked into a turn-based battle. It's set up like a pretty standard RPG. Each character has four moves that use a different amount of power pills that are earned each turn. There are also three different classes a character or enemy can be, resulting in a rock-paper-scissor circle of strength and weakness.
When the chosen Zubo goes to attack, that's where the game switches it up. As the battle animation plays out, yellow rings in the outline of the Zubo come down. Players tap anywhere on the touch screen when the outlines close in on the right spot. This is all done in beat to the music playing during the fight. Each successful tap fills a meter that determines attack strength. Players have to perform well to make their move as strong as possible, and also earn more power pills.
There isn't a lot of major strategy involved with Zubo. Sure there are shield moves, and healing moves, and different attacks do different things, but ultimately you're just beating the snot out of each other. It's fun though. The attacks are all bizarre, over the top cartoon moves. A character will use an enemy as a basketball, or trick him into dancing, and occasionally will turn into a huge monster and smash the enemy into a pancake. Most of the enjoyment of the game is switching the characters in the team around and exploring all the different move animations.
The game is pretty lengthy too, though a lot of that is due to the fact that players have to constantly backtrack around the overworld to get to each new unlocked area. It can get a bit tedious and a little boring and the whole experience is very linear. Still, when I thought the game was ending I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had only completed the first map and was not even halfway through the title. And despite the almost caged in feeling of the world, I did manage to explore my way into a few secret areas, usually with a hidden character inside.
©2009-04-02, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved