Pirate Poppers - Ball-shooting Pirate Arcade

Searching the web I ran into one more sample to expand our collection of ball-shooting arcades. Some day we're going to make up a popularity chart out of all of them.

So, what we have today is a good-old ball-shooting arcade in Adventure, Puzzle and Arcade Modes, however this time in the Pirate manner called Pirate Poppers.

This game was created by the Mystery Studio and spread over the market quite soon after its release.   

Game plot. As we know, pirates used to rob everybody on their way. But they never spent the stolen treasures, and hid them very cleverly instead. So, playing Pirate Poppers few centuries later, it looks as if you were to find the treasure using the pirate maps, manuscripts and notes. But on your way you are to solve a great amount of puzzles and avoid numerous traps. 

At the bottom of the field there is your own cannon to be used for shooting the multicolored balls. (Each ball in Pirate Poppers has a skull on it).

What to do? The game can be controlled with help of mouse. As there are three modes in the game, rules in each mode differ.

In Adventure mode, the rules and controls are very similar to Atlantis and other ball-shooting games.

At the upper part of the field the multicolored balls run along the labyrinth.

Move your cannon to the left/right to aim and use right mouse click to shoot. If the balls are the same color as your cannon, they will blow up and vanish. If you miss, the cannon ball will be added to the ball chain. In a nutshell, this game is a pirate-style Zuma clone.  

In Puzzle mode, the task is more interesting in my opinion. The point is to destroy a row of steady balls using the limited number of cannon balls.

However, you cannot change the cannon ball with right mouse click. Use your logics instead. You need to clear the playfield and make all the balls disappear. Me, I had to replay each mode several times, before I finally managed to figure out the way to do this. 

And the last, Arcade mode. Recommended for professionals only. In Arcade, multicolored balls rush along the playfield at a hectic speed, and you don't have time to think.

The principle is the same as in Adventure mode. Good news is you may also earn an extra life here is collecting 20 coins.

Don't you forget about bonuses. Once you catch them with your cannon, you obtain more advantages like super-missile. With its help you can remove about a dozen of the balls, regardless of their color.

Some bonuses will cause the balls to slow down or even stop for a while. Besides, you can catch some jewelry or golden coins as a bonus.  

Before exiting the game, you may admire your results in the hall of fame. Here your scores are kept as securely as in the long hidden pirate treasures and you can submit them to the global score database. 

Game Pros. Wonderful graphics and original game design. The sound exceeds all expectations: it couldn't be more live. Very similar to the soundtrack to a Pirate movie. All sounds are very natural: cannon shots and ball crashes. Moreover, the ‘Puzzle' mode of the game makes it look different and stand out of the crowd of Zuma-clones.