Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Zanzarah: The Hidden Portal Review (Adventure / 2002)

A unique game that is captivating.

Graphics - 7
Sound - 7
Gameplay - 7
Difficulty - 8
Overall - 8
Its really hard to describe a game like Zanzarah. Its a mix of action, adventure , statergy and puzzle solving. Zanzarah is a story about a girl who is lost in a magical world. And must use her intelligence and her ability to control the magical fairies to fight her way out and find her way back home. I admit even i found the story line a bit uneventful but after giving the game some time you start to care less about the story and more about the game play.

The graphics are a bit cartoonish and cannot be classified as great. But what is great about the Zanzarah is its game play. The game focuses on the players ability to control fairies. I know it sounds a lot childish, but these battles between fairies requires a fair amount of skill and intelligence and is often challenging enough to keep you satisfied.

The game's focus is on fairies. Some of them however don't exactly look like your average fairy

In the world of Zanzarah you will encounter many types of fairies. The objective is to have a good collection of fairies that are strong and have good variety. The more your fairies fight the better they become through experience. And since some fairies do better against other types of fairies the game requires you to have a pretty good knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of each fairy so that you can make the right choice during each battle.

Meet Amy. Your character in Zanzarah.

The other aspects of the game are pretty average but for me it was the unique game play style that really hit the spot. The only major drawback of the game for me is the lack of character choice. Whether you like it or not your main character is always a girl. However just like the story line you tend to forget about it and focus your self on the game as you play on.

The Bottom line
If you are into fantasy, magic and believe in fairies then try this game out. Zanzarah is not the type of game that you are gonna enjoy from the start. So be prepared to give the game some time to prove its worth to you.

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