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Game
Review: Fizzball
produced
by Grubby Games
Review
by Troy Hepfner
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Ever since I played Breakout on my old
Atari 2600 when I was growing up, I've enjoyed playing a good
brick-busting game on occasion. I'm sure you've seen these kind of
games before: you move a paddle at the bottom of the screen to
bounce a ball upward and smash all the bricks. There have been
numerous clones or variants on this theme over the years, which
updated the graphics and added interesting power-ups. But they're
all basically the same game with the same three elements: a
platform, a ball, and lots of bricks.
Grubby Games took this basic
concept and combined it with cartoon graphics and an interesting
storyline to create Fizzball. This game adds a lot of fun new
twists to an old-style game, and it is very entertaining to play
for both children and adults alike!
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The game begins
when Professor Fizzwizzle, the hero of the story, discovers that all of
the people have fled the islands and there's nobody left to care for the
animals. The good professor decides to put his inventions to use to
rescue the animals and discover why the people left. The main invention
he uses is the Fizzball, a special bubble that initially can only pick
up small animals like butterflies or small objects like acorns or coins.
But as it begins to collect things, the Fizzball grows in size so that
you can collect larger animals and objects.
Your goal in each level is to collect all
of the animals, thereby rescuing them from whatever pending disaster
frightened the people away. Along the way, you must also collect food and money in
order to care for the animals that you rescue.
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over 60 different kinds of animals, from small animals like frogs and
squirrels to common farm animals like chickens, pigs, and cows to more
exotic species like panda bears, monkeys, and penguins. Each animal is
uniquely animated, with its own personality and behaviors. The cartoon
graphics in this game are a real treat, as are the sound effects for all
of the animals.
As you can see from the screenshots, the game levels feature a variety of
different terrains and weather conditions. On some levels, it actually
rains or snows. There are also lots of different obstacles, from
unbreakable objects like trees and rocks to breakable objects like
fences, crates and barrels. Plus, there are objects you want to avoid,
like hazardous barrels that will spew out toxic chemicals when the
Fizzball hits them.
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The game
controls are easy to learn. During the game,
you control Professor Fizzwizzle as he drives his rocket propelled
railcar back and forth to keep the Fizzball moving. The faster you move
your mouse back and forth, the faster the railcar moves. You can also
control the trajectory of the Fizzball when it bounces off the railcar,
depending on where the ball hits you. When the Fizzball collides with a
tree or breaks an object like a crate or barrel, a bonus floats down for
you to catch. Bonuses include cash and various powerups to help you in
the game.
Regular game
levels are interspersed with interesting bonus levels, which will have
you rounding up stampeding monkeys, breaking barrels, or doing any
number of other amusing tasks. The bonus rounds are fun and keep the
game from becoming too repetitive.
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In summary, Fizzball is a great,
non-violent game for everyone in your family. There's even a special
Kid's Mode that is easier and more forgiving to play, and it includes
educational animal quizzes between levels. With over 180 levels,
dozens of funny trophies to unlock, an online high score system, and
support for Windows, Mac, and Linux, what's not to love about Fizzball?
For more information about Fizzball,
visit the official
web site.
You can also download the free Fizzball
trial by clicking on your operating system:
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