Humor Beats Out Violence in New DS Game

March 3, 2009— -- "Pokemon" video games have been hugely popular with kids because they get to collect the little monster characters and then use them to battle bad guys. "Zubo," a new Nintendo DS game from Electronic Arts, offers that same kind of collection of cute little creatures and battling, but it does it with more humor and less violence.

What makes "Zubo" so good is that is combines traditional turn-based battling mechanics with a good role-playing storyline, and then seamlessly adds music rhythm games into the mix. The result is a highly entertaining adventure that both kids and adults will enjoy.

You enter the 3-D world of Zubalon as either a hero or heroine. Your avatar will follow the DS stylus wherever you move it. As you explore the 10 different lands that make up Zubalon, you will encounter more 50 Zubos, rounded Lego-like inhabitants with expressive faces. The Zubos need your help in ridding their world of the evil Big Head and his army of mischief-causing Zombos. Each Zubo that you befriend wants to help you scare away the Zombos, which sets up the game's battle system.

To rid the world of Zombos, you must defeat them in a comedic battle. This is the heart of the game and where it shines for originality. Battling in this game does not mean using traditional guns and swords to inflict wounds, rather, Zubos use funny gags to knock out their opponents or send them running. That is why you will see a Zubo place a bouquet of flowers under the nose of its opponent to make him sneeze his way out of the battle field, or play the guitar so loud that the sound deafens the opponent. Each Zubo has four battle gags, and the game showcases these funny battle moves in more than 100 short animations.

Also unique to this combat system is the introduction of rhythm games while battling. As your Zubo goes through his funny animated battle moves, a red outline appears around its body. At frequent intervals, a larger orange glowing outline will appear around the body and decrease until it meets the red outline. Your goal is to tap the screen when the two lines intersect to increase your battle score.