Zoo Keeper
For: Nintendo DS
1-2 players (two DS systems and one cart)
Rated E for Everyone
(reviewer’s note: This review is based on the new price of $19.99 and not the original MSRP of $39.99)
Orange Lions, pink rabbits, purple hippos and blue elephants. No I’m not describing the marshmallow bits in Lucky Charms cereal, but animals you line up in rows of three or more in the game Zoo Keeper.
Here is how the game works. A bunch of animals filled to the top on your screen appear. Your job is to switch them around so they line up in rows of three or more. The only way you can do this is by switching two blocks vertically or horizontally with your stylus (or with the system’s main controls which sucks). If the blocks you switched do not make a row then they go back the to the way they were: it is kind of a rip-off of the free internet game Bejeweled. Not a straight up rip-off, mind you, more like a more fleshed out version. There are four different modes. The first is zoo keeper mode. This mode has you clear three of each animal to clear the level. As the game goes on, the quota goes up and the timer goes down faster.
How does the timer work? Think of it as a bucket of water with a hole in it and you keep adding water to keep it full. Each row you clear, you’re putting more water in the bucket. If the bucket is empty then it is game over. A lot of times the puzzles end up with only one row left you can clear which is like finding a needle in a haystack. However you can press a binoculars icon and the row(s) you can clear reveal themselves for a few seconds. You are only given a few so use them carefully. You can score another by getting a certain number of points.
The next mode entitled “tokoton” has you clear 100 of an animal to get to the next level. It counts each animal so once one of the animal types gets to 100 you will soon fly by levels until they are all back to low numbers again. Quest mode has you doing certain tasks. For example one goal has you try to get only lions while another has you only trying to clear for vertical rows. Your points go up and down depending on how well you do. Do great and you get 70 percent increase, do bad and you could get a 50 percent decrease. The last is just like Zoo Keeper mode except the game ends after six minutes no matter what.
The problem with this game is there is not much to it. Your only real goal is to get a high score which this day and age is not enough. That and the graphics are not going to wow anyone. It could have been made for the NES 15 years ago if it was thought of back then. And let us not forget you can play Bejeweled for free. So if you’re looking for a good puzzle game for the DS, to get by, this is the game for you.
7.0 out of 10
For: Nintendo DS
1-2 players (two DS systems and one cart)
Rated E for Everyone
(reviewer’s note: This review is based on the new price of $19.99 and not the original MSRP of $39.99)
Orange Lions, pink rabbits, purple hippos and blue elephants. No I’m not describing the marshmallow bits in Lucky Charms cereal, but animals you line up in rows of three or more in the game Zoo Keeper.
Here is how the game works. A bunch of animals filled to the top on your screen appear. Your job is to switch them around so they line up in rows of three or more. The only way you can do this is by switching two blocks vertically or horizontally with your stylus (or with the system’s main controls which sucks). If the blocks you switched do not make a row then they go back the to the way they were: it is kind of a rip-off of the free internet game Bejeweled. Not a straight up rip-off, mind you, more like a more fleshed out version. There are four different modes. The first is zoo keeper mode. This mode has you clear three of each animal to clear the level. As the game goes on, the quota goes up and the timer goes down faster.
How does the timer work? Think of it as a bucket of water with a hole in it and you keep adding water to keep it full. Each row you clear, you’re putting more water in the bucket. If the bucket is empty then it is game over. A lot of times the puzzles end up with only one row left you can clear which is like finding a needle in a haystack. However you can press a binoculars icon and the row(s) you can clear reveal themselves for a few seconds. You are only given a few so use them carefully. You can score another by getting a certain number of points.
The next mode entitled “tokoton” has you clear 100 of an animal to get to the next level. It counts each animal so once one of the animal types gets to 100 you will soon fly by levels until they are all back to low numbers again. Quest mode has you doing certain tasks. For example one goal has you try to get only lions while another has you only trying to clear for vertical rows. Your points go up and down depending on how well you do. Do great and you get 70 percent increase, do bad and you could get a 50 percent decrease. The last is just like Zoo Keeper mode except the game ends after six minutes no matter what.
The problem with this game is there is not much to it. Your only real goal is to get a high score which this day and age is not enough. That and the graphics are not going to wow anyone. It could have been made for the NES 15 years ago if it was thought of back then. And let us not forget you can play Bejeweled for free. So if you’re looking for a good puzzle game for the DS, to get by, this is the game for you.
7.0 out of 10
