It seems like a lifetime ago, but back in 2006 — when Xbox Live Arcade was in its infancy — color-matching puzzle games were a hot subgenre, with releases like Hexic, Jewel Quest, and Astropop soaking up tons of our free time. One of the better ones, Zuma Deluxe (OXM rating: 8.0), charmed us with its mix of rapid-fire action and deviously well-crafted design. And now this follow-up, first released for PC/Mac in 2009, promises the same thrilling gameplay.

Like its predecessor, Zuma’s Revenge has you shooting colored balls at a moving chain, trying to destroy it a piece at a time by forming strings of like-colored balls. Sounds simple, but because the chain automatically closes up gaps left by matched balls, you’re always thinking several steps ahead, trying to fill the chain so that when it contracts, it’ll form subsequent color matches, thereby destroying more balls and showering you with points for consecutive pairings.

The games may share a common setup, but two basic differences immediately make Zuma’s Revenge a lot more fun to play. For one thing, the graphics are considerably sharper this time around, with none of the low-res fuzziness you’ll see if you revisit the original. Better yet, Zuma’s Revenge controls much more smoothly than its forebear — a huge plus in a game where you’re constantly swiveling your frog-shaped launcher in a 360-degree circle to fire at a moving target. Frankly, after trying Revenge, we can’t imagine ever playing the first Zuma again.

Thankfully, though, the improvements go beyond looks and feel. Unlike Zuma Deluxe, where failing a stage a few times in the main Adventure mode often sent you back to the beginning of a multi-stage tier, you can now continue this mode from any individual board. New boss battles spice up the action, too — letting you shoot goofy boss idols in the face while you scroll horizontally (see screenshot above) — as do stages where you can bounce your frog cannon between two lily pads to better target the ball chain.

Hardcore Zuma players will appreciate other fresh features as well, such as a new stats system that lets you level up, say, shot speed and how often power-ups appear; the addition of multiplier balls — a ticket to massive scores if you hit enough of them on one stage; and even two new gameplay modes. We didn’t get to try Boss Rush (unlocked by finishing Adventure mode), but the new Weekly Challenge offers a way to battle friends on random stages, with a leaderboard that resets each week.

It may all seem like a lot of smallish updates, but judging from the 20-or-so Adventure stages we played, these tweaks make Zuma a considerably deeper, richer experience than we remember. If the full game is as addictively challenging as what we sampled, this $10 revamp will be well worth the download.

PUBLISHER: PopCap Games  •  DEVELOPER: PopCap Games  •  MULTIPLAYER: No  •  RELEASE DATE: Summer 2012  •  FOR FANS OF: Color-matching puzzle games, twitchy action