Bejeweled creator PopCap opens Zuma Blitz to ball busters worldwide

PopCap, developer of Facebook hits like Bejeweled Blitz and the recently launched Bejeweled 3 for PC and Mac, has finally released Zuma Blitz to the masses on Facebook. Continuing with its tried-and-true Blitz style of gameplay, this Facebook version of the developer's popular Zuma's Revenge for PC and Mac challenges players' ball-busting skills in one-minute bursts.

Somewhat similar to Bejeweled Blitz, players are tasked with matching three or more identically-colored balls in a row to destroy them, keeping the oncoming onslaught of colorful orbs from reaching the Aztec-style skull in the center. Skilled players will be making combos and what are called "Gap Shots"--shots made through temporary gaps between balls made by previous combos--in no time. And because this is on Facebook, of course there will be weekly tournaments and power-ups made available for purchase with Facebook Credits.

You'll also be able to level up as you progress in the game, showing off your progress to friends while checking in on their most recent achievements. And in a feature new to Zuma Blitz, PopCap's second Facebook game, players will be able to channel their inner Hot Frog to unleash section-clearing shots. Considering Bejeweled Blitz has been played by 40 million Facebook gamers, according to PopCap, we'd say Zuma Blitz has a pretty good shot at making it to the big time.

March Madness Facebook Game Showdown: Final Four

Upsets galore in the second round of our March Madness Facebook Game Showdown, just like in the real NCAA Basketball tournament.

In our quest to determine the best Facebook game, most of our match-ups have been cruising along without any major upsets. No longer! In the second round of our Showdown, things went haywire with several favorites finding themselves on the outs, including three of Zynga's most popular games.
Pet Society by Playfish continued its unlikely run as its fans backed it all the way through to the Final Four. Pet Society defeated Zynga Poker 57% to 43% in a close match-up. Pet Society has now defeated two higher seeded Zynga produced opponents in Cafe World and Zynga Poker.

In what is likely the biggest upset this side of VCU over Kansas, Treasure Isle defeated the heavily favored FarmVille. The two Zynga made games went head to head and in unbelievable turn of events, Treasure Isle squeaked by FarmVille 52% to 48%. Unreal, considering how much Games.com -- The Blog! readers favor FarmVille over all else.

The last in our upset trifecta is the defeat of staff favorite FrontierVille by Pop Cap's plucky arcade classic Bejeweled Blitz. In what has to be the triumph of the name brand, Bejeweled over the newer FrontierVille, Bejeweled Blitz won 54% to 45%.

Rounding out our final match up of the second round and last Final Four participant CityVille, the number one seed in the tournament defeated Mafia Wars. CityVille is the only top seeded game to advance to the Final Four trounced Mafia Wars handily 66% to 33%

Here the Final Four match-ups for the March Madness Facebook Game Showdown:

E3 2011: Fruit Ninja Frenzy takes a slice out of Facebook this summer

At this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, we had a chance to go hands-on with Halfbrick's upcoming port of the popular iOS game Fruit Ninja - Fruit Ninja Frenzy - on Facebook. As of this writing, you can Like of the game's official fan page, and you can "play" an incredibly short version of the game, slicing one single fruit just to see what the mechanic would look like (you hold down the left mouse button and then slice just as you would when drawing your finger across a touch screen).

For this E3 demo, however, we got to take a look at a fairly final version of the game, which is more comparable to Bejeweled Blitz and other one-minute games than anything else. In Fruit Ninja Frenzy, the same basic gameplay from the mobile version has been retained, but has been chopped (no pun intended) into 60-seconds of bite sized fruity goodness. Your goal is still to slice as many pieces of fruit as you can in the 60 seconds to earn points. You'll earn combo points for slicing multiple fruit at once, and you'll need to what out for bombs that will remove points from your score.

While all of that remains the same, the Facebook elements here give you an overall profile and score. Sure, each game has an individual score, which allows you to climb your leaderboard of friends that have posted scores, but you'll also earn a tenth of your points as Juice, a new currency in the game (that is, if you scored 100 points, you'd receive 10 Juice). Another currency, Starfruit, allows you to unlock Smoothies, which are power-ups that can be activated before each run at the game.

This power-up system will be familiar to Bejeweled Blitz fans, as they allow you to make bombs harmless (they'll show up as dimmed outlines and can't be sliced), add more time to your clock and so on. You'll start with only one power-up slot free, but can eventually expand to three by spending more Starfruit, which can be earned through simply playing the game or purchasing it outright.

For iOS fans, the game will connect to the iOS version, just as the way Bejeweled Blitz works on iPhone. The Frenzy gameplay will be available in the palm of your hand, and if you happen to beat your high score posted on Facebook, it will be updated via this cross-platform support. Additionally, just as with the iOS version(s) of the game, you'll be able to unlock achievements, blades and other unlockables on Facebook, giving you an incentive to keep going (as if you really needed any extra persuasion).

Does Fruit Ninja Frenzy break the mold when it comes to 60-second gameplay on Facebook? Not really, but it doesn't have to. The game has become so iconic to mobile players, and the gameplay was incredibly smooth here, making for a seamless transition. I can't wait to be able to spend five minutes (or more, let's face it) here and there slicing and dicing my way through fruit to earn bragging rights among friends.