Sumo Meets Pong: Zwingo by Kabomb Games

I admit, I've corrupted my boss's husband. What used to be a hard-working, computer-illiterate man in his sixties has been replaced with a flash game-lovin', customer-ignorin' mild-mannered gaming madman.

And now it's getting worse. He starts recommending games to me now. :D

The first one he's recommended, Zwingo, is a neat take on defense games, ball physics games, and of all things sumo! It's a bit old, but the music is fresh and definitely unlike the water torture of games with short soundtracks like Starshine.

Here's how it works: you have a ball attached to a smaller ball. You control the smaller ball with the mouse and drag the larger ball around like a lovesick puppy. You have a central ball that you will pass through if you bump into it. Black balls come from the edges of the screen trying to knock this central ball out of its boundary circle. Your job is to hit the black balls and knock them out of the screen. The faster you smack them back, the more experience points you get for upgrades between rounds.

Excitement: 4. Things get a little crazy on later levels trying to use circular motion to swat straight-incoming spheres while your target ball is teetering on the edge of the boundary (Thanks to the designers for not making the round end when it's simply touching the boundary!)

Originality: 4. A very nice combination of tried-and-true defense, ball games, and sumo. What's up with the same boss on level 20 as on level 10 though?

Graphics: 3. Functional but smooth.

Controls: 4. Very responsive especially once you upgrade but it takes a little getting used to and it makes me feel a little claustrophobic; move your mouse off the screen and you've got to click on the central screen again.

Sound: 5. A great soundtrack that won't stale out on you and the minimal bump sound effects don't grate.

Replay value: 3. Simple gameplay and not much incentive to pick it up again and get to level 30. Still a fun diversion many people like my boss might like.

Overall value: 3.83 stars

Don't think so? Post your comments here!