The Armchair Empire - GameCube Reviews: Zapper


<MAP NAME="boxmap-p8"><AREA SHAPE="RECT" COORDS="14, 200, 103, 207" HREF="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" ><AREA COORDS="0,0,10000,10000" HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/thearmchairem-20" ></MAP><img src="http://rcm-images.amazon.com/images/G/01/rcm/120x240.gif" width="120" height="240" border="0" usemap="#boxmap-p8" alt="Shop at Amazon.com">	Platform GameCube Genre Puzzle / Jumping Publisher Infogrames Developer Blitz Games ESRB E (Everyone) Released Q4 2002

- Good kids game - Big and bright graphics

- Anyone over 12 will be able to blow through this in a few hours and be bored silly

Review: Zapper (Playstation 2)
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Zapper

Score for Kids: 8.0 / 10

Score for Gamers: 3.7 / 10

DISCLAIMER: If Frogger didn’t entertain you or you’re part of the teen crowd (or older) don’t bother with Zapper. You’ll be bored in a matter of minutes. However, if you’re a parent looking for a kid friendly game, consider Zapper.

Zapper is a rare game that I can play with my three-year old son and enjoy watching him manipulate the controls, laugh out loud at Zapper’s antics (or drowning sequence) and cheer when he hits a checkpoint. And I’m always there to lend a hand to get past any tricky parts. It’ll only take an experienced gamer a short while to finish Zapper, but for the average small kid it’s weeks of portioned entertainment. (Good news for parents with no videogame skills – even you should be able to master Zapper and you'll have to if you want to compete during multiplayer.)

You assume the role of one wicked cricket, Zapper, who can shoot bursts of lightning from his antennae, in his quest to save his kidnapped brother, Zipper. Being a cricket, Zapper hops everywhere, creating a Frogger experience for a whole other generation.

The action boils down to timing hops to avoid death and zapping bad guys (slugs and snails being the main culprits – c’mon you always knew they were evil.) There are secret paths to find and plenty of different items to collect. Getting Zapper

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from one point to another is easy thanks to the control mechanics, which kids should have no problem grasping.

The environments are big and bright (and linear) enough that no one should have any problems with being able to see what’s going on. Some of the levels look suitably dark but it’s still cartoony almost to the point of being cute.

The oddest thing about Zapper is the strangely compelling theme

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music. As of this writing, I’m also playing Splinter Cell – which is about as far away from Zapper as you can get – but I’ll be damned if I couldn’t get Zapper’s theme music out of my ears while sneaking into government buildings and otherwise exercising Sam Fisher’s 5^th Freedom. The other sounds aren’t quite as catchy – thankfully – and I didn’t hear any complaints from the youngsters I’ve watched play Zapper.

Finding a solid game for young kids can be very tricky, but Zapper is one that should rank high with its target group. It’s gameplay is simplistic while still offering challenges and rewards that will keep kids interested beyond the Story mode.

- Omni

(January 25, 2003)