Zoop: 1995 жылғы пазл ойыны

1995 video game
the video game

Zoop is a puzzle video game originally developed by Hookstone and published by Viacom New Media in 1995 for the Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, MS DOS, Macintosh, PlayStation, Game Gear, and Game Boy, then in 1996 for the Saturn and Jaguar. Zoop has similarities to Taito's 1989 arcade video game Plotting (also known as Flipull), but Zoop runs in real time instead. Players are tasked with eliminating pieces that spawn from one of the sides of the screen before they reach the center of the playfield. By pointing at a piece and shooting it, the player can either swap it with the current player color and thus arrange the same color pieces in a row or column, or match the color. A month before release, Zoop was one of four games played in the preliminary rounds of the Blockbuster World Video Game Championship II competition, a rare instance of an as yet unreleased game being used in a video game competition.

Zoop is a real time puzzle game, like Plotting, where the player controls a triangle in the center of the screen. Every second (or more often in advanced levels), a piece comes in from the side and possibly pushes other pieces forward. Two consecutive pieces will never come in from the same quadrant, and runs of consecutive identical pieces on one row are longer, statistically, than one might expect. If a piece falls into the center square, the game is over. If the player shoots a piece of the same color as their triangle, it will be "zooped" (cleared) and points are earned. If the piece behind the target piece is also of the same color, it is also "zooped". The same goes for the next piece, and so on. If a piece of a different color from the player's current piece is shot, the player's piece will switch colors with it. This is also what happens when a piece of a different color is encountered after zooping one or more pieces of the same color. When the quota of "zooped" pieces is met, the game speeds up, and (before level 10) the background changes. Various special pieces do different things, such as a proximity bomb (shaped like a lightning bolt) that blows up pieces in a 3×3 area centered at the target piece, or a line bomb (often shaped like a gear) that clears a whole target line of pieces. To make gameplay more difficult, the game also employed what was referred to as "Opti Challenge" backgrounds. As the levels progressed, the backgrounds would become increasingly distracting. Early on, this would involve the use of contrasting colors and increasingly intricate color schemes. Background patterns would also become more intricate and would make subtle use of asymmetrical elements. Although the "Opti Challenge" technique of the game was used as a selling point, very little information exists about the technique itself, and no other game on the market has ever claimed to use "Opti Challenge" graphics. The sound effects have a cartoonish tone to match the vivid colors used through the stages, while the music is smooth jazz and "evolves" with the game. As the levels get harder, the music becomes more tense, adding to the fast paced atmosphere of the game.

Along with Dracula Unleashed, Zoop is one of the few original properties that were released by Viacom New Media, who only published games that are based on existing intellectual properties (including Viacom Media Networks' programming) until their closure in 1997. The title was extensively marketed by Viacom, who wanted the game to replicate the level of success of Tetris, which can be evidenced by its release on many platforms, as well as the game's slogan, "America's Largest Killer of Time!". The team at Hookstone stated in an interview with Spanish magazine PC Manía that Zoop spent several years in development and that the concept proved to be difficult to explain to their producers and as such, the team presented a nearly finished build. The PC was chosen as the lead platform, despite the development team never having done anything for the PC before. As of 2018, the rights to Zoop are held by Viacom International. Before it was officially released to the general public, the game was featured and played during the preliminary rounds on the Blockbuster World Video Game Championship II competition.