Zooo - GBA

Got packs, screens, info?
Zooo (GBA)
Also for: PSP
Viewed: 2D Static screen Genre:
Puzzle: Falling Blocks
Arcade origin:No
Developer: Success Soft. Co.: Success
Publishers: Ignition Entertainment (GB)
Released: 26 Aug 2005 (GB)
Unknown (JP)
Ratings: PEGI 3+
No Accessories: No Accessories

Summary

Why should DS owners have all the fun? The most notable members of the new handheld’s launch line-up were some spiffing new puzzle games – Polarium, Zoo Keeper and Mr Driller. But given the graphical simplicity of these great games, is there any reason why GBA owners shouldn’t enjoy them too?

Of course not, and they shouldn’t have to wait long, either. Our Japanese cousins are already enjoying a version of Polarium on their GBAs in the east. Now specialist Jap games publishers Ignition bring us Zooo, Success Corps.’ 16 bit rendition of their enjoyable and idiosyncratic Zoo Keeper DS title.

Just like its stylus wielding predecessor, Zooo is all about the recapture and re-organisation of a load of pesky animals that have rioted and escaped from your zoo. Monkeys, pandas, giraffes, hippos, elephants, alligators and lions all mingle shoulder to shoulder with no regard for the niceties of biological classification – it’s absolute bedlam. As it would be for any conscientious zoo keeper, it’s more than your ordered brain can take and it’s time to put the scrambled species back in their correct cages. You’ll be familiar with the puzzle mechanic used by this game – get three like things together and they’ll disappear. The tricky bit is that each animal can only be moved one square.

Just like the DS version, there are a variety of game modes to test your skills at rounding up the beasties. Normal mode gives you quotas that you must meet, while Tokoton gives you a level up target for every 100 inmates you can muster. There’s also a quest mode where 8 special challenges await you, as well as time attack and score attack modes. In fact, the only thing the DS original has over this more modest version – aside from stylus control – is a two player mode. That’s a bit of a shame, but the title offers solo GBA owners a chance to impose their own order on the natural world.

News & Editorial