This review originally appeared within iLounge’s iOS Gems series within the compilation article, iPhone Gems: Twitch Action Games, Crazy, Cool, or Kusoge. Additional details may be found in the original article.
Ah, Puzzloop. We knew you on Click Wheel iPods as Zuma, after PopCap Games took this game—originally developed by Mitchell—gave it a different coat of paint, and released it with Apple for $5.
The concept was interesting: a cannon’s in the center of a spiraling collection of variously colored balls, and you have to shoot balls from the cannon to match up colors before the spiral reaches you. Now the game’s being sold for $8 for the iPhone and iPod touch by Hudson Soft.
The good news: Hudson and Mitchell’s version is a lot more colorful than was Zuma, and this game is a bit more challenging thanks to additional on-screen obstacles, such as flying bats that can block your shots. The bad news: instead of using the comparatively intuitive Click Wheel for control, iPhone and iPod touch users need to touch the screen to rotate the cannon around, which can be a challenge given both the size of the spiral and the way that Hudson has designed the controls to fire a ball when you release your finger from the screen.
Simply trying to move the cannon to make color matches can be a problem since your finger may be overlapping the balls you’re trying to shoot; lifting your finger to check results in a ball being fired anyway. While this port would have been great for the iPhone at a lower price and with different controls, it’s on par with the older iPod version as-is, just for different reasons. iLounge Rating: B-.
Our Rating
Company and Price
Company: Hudson Soft
Website: www.dothehudson.net
Title: Puzzloop
Price: $8
Compatible: iPhones, iPod touches
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