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Zoo Keeper Review
Written by Modojo Staff on Friday, February 11, 2005
Simple, quick, and clean puzzle action with a presentation and style that services it well.
Not enough depth or strategy.
If you have any prior video game history or knowledge bottled up inside of you, then Zoo Keeper will remind you of more than a few different puzzle games from your past. Depending on your internet prowess, it may also remind you of some popular, free Flash games. What you may not know, however, is how much the notion of simplicity and clarity in game design can make a lasting impression. In Zoo Keeper's case, this is especially true because of its confident, streamlined package.
If you wanted to boil the game down to the actions demanded of the player, then Zoo Keeper requires only slight physical coordination with the DS stylus. The option to use the directional pad and buttons exists, but the liberation of getting to pinpoint your next move instead of dragging the cursor to it is far superior.
In the opening moments of play, a grid of animal heads appears on the touch-sensitive screen just begging for you to pair them up. The cursor at your pen-tip is limited to swapping pieces left to right and up to down (never diagonally), and all the while you will fight a time-based gauge on the side of the screen. The goal is to string together congruent combinations of three or more animal icons. When achieved successfully, the stacked heads will dissolve and the gravity-ruled pieces above will slide down into play. Thus, the cycle begins anew.
In the world of white on black, I'm sure that sounds quite plain. But funnily enough the game does an incredible thing to prevent this from happening: It relies on its production value and clean presentation to heighten how drawn-in the player becomes. The graphics are saccharine thick, vivid, and fun. It makes concentrating on the action enjoyable and if you spend enough time with it, staring at the screen starts to feel like you're staring at candy. Even the top screen, which does nothing but show your bonus point incentives and a nice piece of stylized art, beckons a quick glance when you can afford to take one.
But back to the game for a second, it does fall a bit short in the depth department, largely due to that pesky, limited cursor. You see, since you can only shift pieces in an effort to clear them, as opposed to strategically aligning them for later, you have to truly rely on what's coming down the pipe and the combo of the moment. It does give the game a heightened tension in higher stages, but there are definitely times when the limitation will shine through even to the casual participant.
