Legit one of the most addicting games you can ever get your hands on. Casual game otherwise until the end. This is "Mom's first Game" and it makes sense because its gameplay can appeal to anyone. Incredibly nostalgic, as well.

It starts out feeling perfect, but the difficulty spike towards the end is a little too insane. Yes, you have to master the mechanics, but despite an entire defeat quote saying "luck should never be included in a person's plans," having just enough luck is integral to defeat the final stages if you aren't either A, an expert who can set up super combos with immense speed and perfect accuracy, or B, cheating using a Zuma Deluxe Tool, which is easy to do because this game incredibly old. And no, I didn't cheat. After multiple retries and with a lot of practice, I completed the Adventure Mode as intended, though I could never quite do super knockback combos beyond two-three different colors.

I adore the numerous ways Zuma allows the player to score points. Gap shots, bonus coins, matching balls back to back, and most famously, knockback combos which are the hardest but most rewarding to pull off. Speaking of points, which are usually useless in almost every other game (say, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, for example. Super Paper Mario has a similar point system in leveling, which is neat!), Zuma Deluxe makes scoring enough points mandatory to prevent balls from spawning, and putting you into a lategame phase where you must destroy the final snake. Luck dependence aside, it's a pure masterpiece - I wonder if it's possible for Zuma to get a third game...