ZUMA...INSTANT ADRENALINE RUSH!!!

If you have never played this game, you are in for quite a treat! From the moment it starts until you stop (if you can put it down), the adrenaline is pumping!! I am not sure if it is the music, the graphics or a combination of both along with the well thought out levels of play but this is a MUST HAVE game!!

Astraware's ZUMA, features all that is found on the PopCap online version except that I think the PPC version is better! They bring you to an ancient South American civilization and the panpipe music soundtrack gives you an adrenaline rush that is incredible.

Essentially, if you match three or more colored balls, they will explode and you slow or stop the advancing line. The mythical stone frog holds a colored ball in its mouth and when you tap a group of balls in the advancing line, the frog fires the ball where you tapped. Match the balls with three or more, and they explode. If you find a bonus ball and are able to have it explode, you will get major explosions, line reversal, and slow-downs to help you achieve ZUMA and complete the level you are on.

The ultimate goal: remove the balls before they reach the skull pit. If you remove the balls from the middle of a line, the advance will stop but you need to be quick to get the balls because they catch up very quickly!! As you match balls, a yellow progress bar at the top of the screen advances. When it has reached capacity, no more balls will be generated. Now you just have to stop the advancing balls before they fall into the pit.

Occasionally a coin appears. If you are able to hit it with a ball, you get extra points. There are special balls that when hit will slow the progression, explode the balls surrounding it, or reverse the movement. Every once in a while you acquire a special ability to aim the ball. A blue laser appears from the frog's mouth allowing you to have greater accuracy.

With a total of 13 stages to play, each stage has multiple levels (so far, I have had 5 levels in each stage I have completed) with some having as many as 7. You need to complete each level within a stage to get to the next stage and if you lose all your lives, you drop back to the beginning of the stage you are currently working on.

A track appears as you play each level, each different, each winding about the screen eventually leading to the skull pit. You will be impressed with the graphics showing these colored balls roll visibly along the tracks!