We've all seen this formula done before, and done better. A smaller though notable part of the problem is that Zuma Deluxe came out long before Luxor 2. It doesn't help that there aren't many stages to choose from and that they start repeating pretty early on. A big part of it is that the stage designs aren't all that clever or creative, so except for rare occasions when you get tripped up (and you won't stay that way for long), you'll figure out precisely what the movement pattern of the line of balls is going to be from nearly the moment the stage boots up. Zuma also got sort of repetitive and dull after long stretches, but Luxor 2 gets that way much quicker. Luxor 2 isn't broken or particularly awful in any way, but the pacing and methodology of the gameplay are so mechanical and generally easy that it doesn't feel like you're getting better at the game so much as you're just going through the motions. While that's a desirable quality in a casual puzzle game, mind-numbing tedium isn't. The concept is achingly simple, and no one should have a lick of trouble picking it up quickly. Trying to overexplain the game gives it more credit than it deserves. There are also some power-ups you can earn as time goes on, like fireballs that clear out a big section of the balls, a dagger that takes out individual balls, and a lightning storm that takes out a random smattering of balls. What, if anything, sets Luxor 2 apart from Zuma? Well, there's the fact that instead of a rotating ball cannon that sits in the center of a stage (that happens to be shaped like a giant stone frog), you get an Arkanoid-paddle-looking cannon that can only move from side to side at the bottom of the screen. You're given a cannon that launches similarly colored balls at the moving loops, and your goal is to break up the loops before they get to the very end of the stage by creating three or more combinations of same-colored balls. Small colored balls come pouring out of an opening and wind their way through a loop or a wiggly line or some other pattern. Yep, that picture of a boat sure is enough to make me forget that I've totally played superior versions of this game before.
Luxor 2 feels every bit like the third-generation clone that it is, and its few twists on the concept that Puzz Loop created and that Zuma made popular aren't enough to make it worth the $10 it's running for on Xbox Live Arcade. If that sounds like too many layers of derivation for the game to be unique or particularly fun, you'd be exactly right. So, in essence, Luxor 2 is a sequel to a copy of a copy. Zuma was a rip-off of an obscure Japanese puzzle game called Puzz Loop. Luxor was a rip-off of the popular PopCap puzzler Zuma. If you don't think any of the above situations apply, you can use this feedback form to request a review of this block.Luxor 2 is the sequel to casual games developer MumboJumbo's Luxor. Contact your IT department and let them know that they've gotten banned, and to have them let us know when they've addressed the issue.Īre you browsing GameFAQs from an area that filters all traffic through a single proxy server (like Singapore or Malaysia), or are you on a mobile connection that seems to be randomly blocked every few pages? Then we'll definitely want to look into it - please let us know about it here. You'll need to disable that add-on in order to use GameFAQs.Īre you browsing GameFAQs from work, school, a library, or another shared IP? Unfortunately, if this school or place of business doesn't stop people from abusing our resources, we don't have any other way to put an end to it. When we get more abuse from a single IP address than we do legitimate traffic, we really have no choice but to block it. If you don't think you did anything wrong and don't understand why your IP was banned.Īre you using a proxy server or running a browser add-on for "privacy", "being anonymous", or "changing your region" or to view country-specific content, such as Tor or Zenmate? Unfortunately, so do spammers and hackers. IP bans will be reconsidered on a case-by-case basis if you were running a bot and did not understand the consequences, but typically not for spamming, hacking, or other abuse. If you are responsible for one of the above issues. Having an excessive number of banned accounts in a very short timeframe.Running a web bot/spider that downloaded a very large number of pages - more than could possibly justified as "personal use".Automated spam (advertising) or intrustion attempts (hacking).Your current IP address has been blocked due to bad behavior, which generally means one of the following: