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Zubo Hands-On Impressions
Posted by Brian Crecente at 3:00 AM on June 24, 2008
Zubo, due out later this year, has DS gamers adventuring around the cartoon world of Zubalon helping and collecting the bullet-headed, mini-fig like Zubos through rhythm-base combat.
The game, created for 7 to 11-year-olds, may sound childish, but it looks to have the right mix of art-style, sense of fun and graphic muscle power to be a potential hit on the portable.
I sat down with the game for a short demonstration last week with UK's EA Bright Light studio. The devs told me that the game will push the DS to it's technical limits with scenes that boast a minimum of 2,000 polygons.
The stylus-driven game is broken down into a number of themed-worlds, each with it's own team of Zubo that you can befriend through tasks and mini-games to add to your team of three. All said there will be 55 different Zubo in the game and all of them will have unique attacks during combat.
Combat is performed through an elite-beat-esque rhythm game that has you first choosing your attack and then either carrying it out or failing by tapping the sliding across the screen with the stylus.
The demo I saw, while fun to look at, was in a setting to loud to really hear the music, and it's the music and how it syncs up with the on-screen action that can make or break this sort of game. The art-style, though, will certainly play with the age group, and even adult fans of plastic figures.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
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karasu is my homeboy
Posted 3:38 AM 24/6/08
@imikedaman: I never said that's what I thought. That's not even how it works with me (I pretty much never touch my DS ever, prefer PSP or 360 with my time) but this is atleast interesting.
karasu is my homeboy
imikedaman
Posted 3:30 AM 24/6/08
Wait, there are still people who think sales for DS titles are in any way correlated with the quality of the game? How sweet.
Here's a more likely scenario: unless the game is made by Nintendo or is released during the Holiday season with eye-bleedingly bad but ultimately kid-friendly packaging, we'll be here mourning the failure of yet another game that aspired to be the best but ultimately failed to realize that the market doesn't look for the best.
Here's to hoping I'm horribly, horribly wrong.
imikedaman
goomba478
Posted 3:12 AM 24/6/08
I have vaguely heard about this game but had no idea what it was about. I'm hoping it's sort of somewhere between: Ouendan meets the Lego games with a dash of Boom Blox thrown in for good measure. Looks promising, and I too am intrigued by any game that is pushing the DS' technical limits. Might be one to look out for :)
goomba478
homernoy
Posted 3:06 AM 24/6/08
I have an eight year old daughter, and she loves her DS. This game looks like something she would love. Boy there are so many DS games, the costs of them seems to really add up over time (much more so than I originally expected).
homernoy
karasu is my homeboy
Posted 3:05 AM 24/6/08
I've never heard of Zubo before, but "rhythm" and "technical limits" have me intrigued.
karasu is my homeboy
Arsenicberyllium
Posted 3:03 AM 24/6/08
Oh, by the way. When I say dedicated, I meant dedicated to work, not your vacation. Because there's no way I would be able to focus and keep doing work doing my vacation.
Arsenicberyllium
Arsenicberyllium
Posted 3:02 AM 24/6/08
Meanwhile, five minutes into his break, Crecente comes back to give a hands on impression of a bizarre kids game.
Props to being so dedicated!
Arsenicberyllium
HikariOblivion
Posted 5:08 AM 24/6/08
interesting, sounds like a game i'd like to try
HikariOblivion
pikachumariachi
Posted 4:18 AM 24/6/08
interested
pikachumariachi
imikedaman
Posted 4:11 AM 24/6/08
@karasu is my homeboy: I wasn't talking to you, obviously...
I was responding to this by Crecente:
"it looks to have the right mix of art-style, sense of fun and graphic muscle power to be a potential hit on the portable."
Potential hits on the DS aren't determined by things like sense of fun and graphical muscle power; they're determined by timing, box art, and luck. Bonus points for games that look like Nintendo products but are actually crappy 3rd-party knockoffs.
imikedaman
elronathon
Posted 8:54 PM 24/6/08
the words "elite-beat-esque" and the art-direction has me very interested in this indeed - incidentally I'm soooo close to clearing the last song on Hardcore of Ouendan2...so very close (is it just me or is it crazy hard?)
elronathon