![]() The title was extensively marketed by Viacom, who wanted the game to replicate the level of success of Tetris, which can be evidenced by its release on many platforms, as well as the game's slogan, "America's Largest Killer of Time!". ![]() As the levels get harder, the music becomes more tense, adding to the fast-paced atmosphere of the game.Īlong with Dracula Unleashed, Zoop is one of the few original properties that were released by Viacom New Media, who only published games that are based on existing intellectual properties (including Viacom Media Networks' programming) until their closure in 1997. The sound effects have a cartoonish tone to match the vivid colors used through the stages, while the music is smooth jazz and "evolves" with the game. Although the "Opti-Challenge" technique of the game was used as a selling point, very little information exists about the technique itself, and no other game on the market has ever claimed to use "Opti-Challenge" graphics. Background patterns would also become more intricate and would make subtle use of asymmetrical elements. ![]() Early on, this would involve the use of contrasting colors and increasingly intricate color schemes. As the levels progressed, the backgrounds would become increasingly distracting. To make gameplay more difficult, the game also employed what was referred to as "Opti-Challenge" backgrounds. Various special pieces do different things, such as a proximity bomb (shaped like a lightning bolt) that blows up pieces in a 3×3 area centered at the target piece, or a line bomb (often shaped like a gear) that clears a whole target line of pieces. When the quota of "zooped" pieces is met, the game speeds up, and (before level 10) the background changes. This is also what happens when a piece of a different color is encountered after zooping one or more pieces of the same color. ![]() If a piece of a different color from the player's current piece is shot, the player's piece will switch colors with it. The same goes for the next piece, and so on. If the piece behind the target piece is also of the same color, it is also "zooped". If the player shoots a piece of the same color as their triangle, it will be "zooped" (cleared) and points are earned. If a piece falls into the center square, the game is over. Two consecutive pieces will never come in from the same quadrant, and runs of consecutive identical pieces on one row are longer, statistically, than one might expect. Every second (or more often in advanced levels), a piece comes in from the side and possibly pushes other pieces forward. Zoop is a real-time puzzle game, like Plotting, where the player controls a triangle in the center of the screen. Gameplay screenshot of the Sega Genesis version of Zoop showing the fourth stage Shortly after its release, to spark interest in the game, the SNES version was offered as part of a limited "rent one, get one free" promotion by Blockbuster. The game was published for the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, DOS, Macintosh, PlayStation, Game Boy, Sega Saturn, and Atari Jaguar. By pointing at a piece and shooting it, the player can either swap it with the current player color and thus arrange the same color pieces in a row or column, or match the color.Ī month before release, Zoop was one of four games played in the preliminary rounds of the Blockbuster World Video Game Championship II competition, a rare instance of an as-yet-unreleased game being used in a video game competition. Players are tasked with eliminating pieces that spawn from one of the sides of the screen before they reach the center of the playfield. It has similarities to Taito's 1989 arcade game Plotting (known as Flipull in other territories and on other systems) but Zoop runs in real-time instead. Zoop is a puzzle video game originally developed by Hookstone and published by Viacom New Media for many platforms in 1995. Single-player, multiplayer (only on Game Boy)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |