Z is for....

Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’

Wii

Zack and Wiki was an early launch game for the Wii and as per usual when Capcom try something new and different it ended up not selling very well which is a shame as it is a fun game.

The game genre is a point and click/puzzle game and does have some really good challenges throughout its levels. You control both Zack and Wiki but in different ways. Zack is the main character who you have to point and click where you want him to walk and what you want him to pick up and use and Wiki is a golden flying monkey who you use to change living creature into inanimate objects to use to fulfil your objective, and example being the first level where you need to chop down a tree to cross a chasm to escape a falling boulder. You shake the tree to reveal a centipede which when shaking Wiki at it turns into a saw to chop down said tree. It is a really interesting concept an on later levels it can be a challenge finding the creatures and figuring out which one is best for which job.

There are also a fair few things to do in the game like complete music challenges to earn upgrades to Wiki or to receive maps to find hidden treasure which moves Zack up the pirate rankings. Each level also has a HirameQ ranking to determine the difficulty of the stage and to determine how many points you will earn throughout the level to for completing objectives, again to improve your pirate rankings and reputation. The puzzles can be quite challenging and can take rather a lot of thinking for how to complete them which surely can only be a good thing as you know that you are going to get your moneys’ worth with the game. Despite the kiddie look that the game has I really would recommend giving the game a go.

Within the 15 minutes: Stage two.

Will I play it again? Yes. Like Wario World I continued playing afterwards.

Zoocube

GameCube

Zoocube is a 3D puzzle game where you have to pair up two halves of an animal by catching them on a rotating Cube.

Of course it’s not really that simple as by now you should know that puzzle games never are. With it being a cube you get six sides with which to attach your pieces with only a maximum of five pieces being attached before the game ends. Obviously the more pieces you have attached to a side the harder it will be to spin the cube around without it latching on to where you don’t want it. One handy thing with the pieces is the ability to speed up the current piece which gives you extra points and will also release power-ups like bombs.

As well as the single player mode there is also a ‘blind’ mode where the colours of the pieces are removed meaning that you have to rely on shape alone as all of the pieces are the same grey colour and some of the shapes do look very similar. It does add a new element to the game if you fancy a change from the normal mode and in the long run can extend the life of the game. As mentioned previously it does hark back to the days of puzzle games being very simple but having quite a depth to it and being quite addictive.

Within the 15 minutes: Level two, stage six.

Will I play it again? I will in short bursts.

Zoop

Game Boy

Zoop is yet another puzzle game from the good old days that is very simple yet very addictive in its game play.

Simple premise, you control a little box inside a square and which is being surrounded by little rectangle shaped pieces. The catch is that the pieces are different colours and you can only dispatch of them when your square is of the same colour. The only way your square can change colour is by hitting against a piece of a different colour, still with me? It really is a lot easier than it sounds such as puzzle games were and it really is quite addictive, again such as puzzle games were.

Obviously as you progress the pieces appear on the screen faster and faster and as that happens it can sometimes get a bit tough trying to remember which piece turns you which colour, which can happen as early as the third level, they really don’t mess around with whacking the difficulty level up on this game. Overall there isn’t really much more I can say about the game but it is worth giving it at least one go.

Within the 15 minutes: Level three.

Will I play it again? Like Zoocube I will in short bursts.