Nintendo DS
1 Player, 2 Player Wireless
Rated E (Everyone)
Release Date 2005/01/31 (US)
Retail Price $19.95 Buy at Amazon

Play
Zookeeper is a Bejeweled clone, so if you have ever played a Bejeweled type game then you’ll know exactly what this one is like. Picture an 8×8 grid of objects (animals in this instance) that are all mixed up. The objective is to swap adjacent animals in order to get 3 animals in a row, creating a match. When you get a match the “matched” animals disappear and more animals drop into their places. Sometimes the drop causes more matches and more animals disappear. This is called chaining.

ESRB Rating

Zookeeper deserves the E rating listed on the box.  There isn’t anything that could offend anyone.  Although, every once in a while some of the animals will make an angry face.  But, as an animal expert, I can tell you that this just means they want to be petted.

Modes

• Normal Mode – The generic Bejeweled game. Match animals up and you’ll go up levels when you reach certain goals. As the levels go up so does the speed of the timer and the point value of matches.

• Tokoton Mode – To "level up" you must get 100 matches of any animal. This causes a long first level followed by many quick levels which can be fun. This mode makes for long games.

• Quest Mode – This mode has 10 phases and makes you do certain things to finish each phase. You’ll have to do things like only get matches of one kind of animal and no others, and get 30 “chains”. This mode also makes for long games. Long and frustrating games.
• Time Attack Mode – This mode is exactly like the Normal Mode with the exception that there is a time limit of 6 minutes. Get the most points in that 6 minutes to get on the high score board. Good for a short game.
• Two Player Mode – Wireless 2 player goodness. This mode is what differentiates this Bejeweled clone from it’s brothers.

Sound/Music (2 out of 10)
If you are someone that has an ear for fine music and can’t stand games with poor music and sound then don’t buy this game. Don’t even be around someone who has it. The sound effects are poor and the musicis worse. However, if you like very dull and very repetitive music, buy the soundtrack… you’ll love it.

Controls (9 out of 10)
Using the touchscreen is one great feature of this title. Being able to move the animals around with the stylus far surpasses what could be done with an analog stick on any other console and (in my opinion) is even easier than using a mouse on computer versions. Unfortunately, the developers force you to use the buttons to scroll through some dialog and to get descriptions of the game types on the initial menu.

DS Capabilities (7 out of 10)

• Touchscreen – This is one feature that works fantastic here. The game wouldn’t be the same without it.

• Dual screens – This is one feature that is completely worthless in Zookeeper. It is one of those games where you wish you had the option to turn off the top screen to conserve batteries because it is that useless. A picture of a dancing animal is all you get most of the time. And it isn’t even dancing the Macarena.

• Wireless – 2 player wireless is nice, but more players would be nicer.

Fun Factor (9 out of 10)
This game is fun and addicting. If you like Tetris, you’ll probably like this. This is a game that you will probably come back to when your other games get old and boring. The replay value is high, especially if you have someone else to play with. This game is fun for non-gamers as well as gamers.

Innovation (6 out of 10)
Other than the use of the touchscreen as a controller and the two player wireless mode there is really nothing innovative here. Sometimes that isn’t a bad thing. Why ruin a good formula?

Summary (7 out of 10)
The developers could have really spent some more time on this and really made it a great game, especially in the audio area. However, Zookeeper is still a must buy for any puzzle fanatic or Bejeweled fan who needs to get their fix on the road. This is a game that will help keep you tied over until some real games come out for the DS.

Tags: Nintendo DS · Platforms · Reviews