''Zapper: One Wicked Cricket!'' is a

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

for the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the ...

, GameCube,

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, ...

, and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

. For most platforms, it was developed by Blitz Games and published by Infogrames Interactive;

Atomic Planet Entertainment Atomic Planet Entertainment Ltd was a British video game developer based in Middlesbrough, England. It was founded in 2000 by Darren and Jason Falcus, the brothers who previously managed Acclaim Studios Teesside. History APE's first title wa ...

developed the Game Boy Advance version. ''Zapper'' was released in North America in 2002 and 2003 in Europe. On November 17, 2008, ''Zapper'' became available on Xbox Live as part of the Xbox Originals range.

Plot

During a squabble over television, Zapper tries to use his brother Zipper (a grub) as a substitute TV antenna. Zipper is snatched away by an infamous thieving magpie, Maggie, who leaves an egg at the scene of the crime. Unfortunately, much to his dismay, Zapper sets off and determines to rescue his brother and turn Maggie into a jailbird. At the end of the game, Zapper gets Zipper back after defeating Maggie, and finally sets him up as a substitute TV antenna, just in time to watch TV by himself.

Gameplay

The player's aim is to traverse over eighteen levels as Zapper the cricket. Along the way the player must collect six eggs in each level. The player can jump or zap through the levels. If Zapper touches an enemy or falls into an environmental hazard, Zapper will lose his life and will respawn at the last collected egg checkpoint. Zapper has turn-based enemy movements, but the gameplay is similar to

Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous rive ...

, which instead has vehicles moving independently. It is described in the

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

review as "basically just Frogger without the license".

Reception

The game received "mixed" reviews on all platforms according to the

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website

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gave the Xbox version an unfavorable review over a month before its U.S. release.

References

External links

* *{{MobyGames, id=/142278/zapper-one-wicked-cricket/, name=Zapper: One Wicked Cricket (GBA) 2002 video games 3D platform games Game Boy Advance games GameCube games PlayStation 2 games Video games about insects Video games developed in the United Kingdom Infogrames games Windows games Xbox games Xbox Originals games Fictional crickets Atomic Planet Entertainment games Blitz Games Studios games Single-player video games