Windows Phone Thoughts: South American Idol: Zuma by Astraware Reviewed

How does it compare with the original?
As with many of these online games, there is a free version of Zuma (the online one) and a Deluxe version that you can buy and download to play on your desktop PC. The online game has levels that consist of 4 screens… the next level has the same 4 screens, but the balls advance at a faster rate. As you get further into the game, additional colors of balls are added, and everything gets faster.

The Deluxe version for the desktop has many more screens, so it offers much more variety. It also features some lively background music that sounds like it was inspired by the theme for Survivor. The online version features a limited number of sound effects only, with no music.

I got hooked on the online version a few months ago, and then decided to pop for the Deluxe version. For several weeks the Deluxe version took up a good portion of my free time… it's one of those games where you keep saying to yourself "just one more game" over and over again, and before you know it it's 2 AM.

When I heard that AstraWare was going to create a version of Zuma for PDAs, I was intrigued, but also a bit skeptical. How faithful would it be to the desktop playing experience? Would it be more like the basic online game or more like the Deluxe game on the desktop PC?

Now that I've had a chance to try it out, I'm pleased to see that the Pocket PC version is very similar to the Deluxe desktop version. It has the variety of screens, the lively music, almost all of the sound effects, and all of the power balls. The graphics are colorful and very faithful to the desktop original… the screens have been made longer and narrower to accommodate the Pocket PC's screen.

One complaint about the graphics, though... Astraware has just released Bejeweled 2 with native VGA graphics, and the graphics are eye-popping. Zuma's more detailed graphics could benefit even more from a native VGA version, but none is available at this time.

Play-wise, it seems pretty accurate. With the Pocket PC's smaller screen, I found that my aim was off a bit more often than with the desktop version, but the frog was very responsive to my screen taps. Also, on the desktop version, the difficulty ramps up very smoothly. On the Pocket PC version, the earlier levels are almost too easy. Then the levels begin getting quite a bit harder very quickly.

Aside from those observations, Astraware did an impressive job of shrinking this desktop game down to a PDA size. It's quite faithful to the desktop version and should satisfy any Zuma fan.

Conclusions
Astraware has a reputation for creating some of the most addictive games that you can find on a PDA, and Zuma is no exception. It's easy to learn, but challenging. And it can keep you entertained for hours at a time or for a few minutes while you're waiting to board your flight. This game is so good that even Simon Cowell would be hard pressed to make a snarky comment about it. But if you decide to buy Zuma, I take no responsibility for the amount of free time that slips away while you get lost in it.

Now, how about Zuma VGA? :wink: