Do you remember a game called JezzBall on the PC? No? Well, that’s OK. Honestly, I wasn’t aware of it either, until I got a chance to try BallZ on my Nokia N97 mini, and then I needed to do a little digging to learn more about the source of inspiration for this challenging puzzle game.

So, for those of us who are new to the idea of JezzBall, it is a game from the 1990s that was originally created for a Microsoft Entertainment Pack. Apparently, it has inspired many a clone over the years, including the game BallZ, which the developer – interestingly, in my opinion – first created for play on devices uses the Palm OS. I kid you not. Both the original version of BallZ, and the new version for play on Symbian OS, S60 5.0 (touch-enabled) devices like the Nokia N97 mini, were created by Austria-based Tamoggemon Software.

To further explore some trivia behind this game, I want to point out that the new version of BallZ for use on Nokia devices was developed using Qt; and the head of Tamoggemon, Tam Hanna, recently told me he was able to do the necessary work to bring this game from one platform to the other with ease. He is self-taught in the use of Qt, and said he was able to pick it up very quickly.

So, enough back story … let’s take a look at the game. BallZ is deceiving in both its look and feel, as well as in its objective.

As you can see, the game has a distinctly retro vibe to it, intentionally crafted to mimic the look of the original JezzBall style game. I like that when you begin, you are offered a variety of skill levels to play, ranging from “very easy” to “insane”. It was a bit hard to tell the difference between very easy and just plain easy, but as soon as we switched to the “moderate” format, the game got harder in a hurry. And, for the record, I was toast by level 2 when trying the “insane” setting.

All you have to do to play is make either vertical or horizontal lines across the visible grid, to separate chunks of space from the little balls floating around on the screen. As you make cuts, you confine the balls to smaller and smaller areas of space. Once you remove at least 75% of the grid, you move on to the next level, and as you can see from the screenshot below, the game gives you a percentage tally of how much of the level you have completed. Additionally, for the first few levels, the game include a few helpful pop-up style messages that give you instructions and guidance about what to do next.

In the early levels, you only have to keep two balls confined. But do be aware, if one of the balls hits a line in the grid, as you are making that cut, you lose one life in the game. Additionally, as you progress in the game, new levels add more balls to the scene, adding to the on-screen chaos. At the same time, as you move through different levels, there are the occasional messages carved into the grid to taunt you. (Go on, BallZ, bring it!)

BallZ includes 30 different levels to master, and if you consider that the game changes once you decide to increase the level of difficulty of gameplay, those 30 levels start to become more challenging as you go.For instance, as you can see in the example below, this level has four balls floating around at the same time – higher levels = more balls to wrangle.

My daughter’s and I have been playing the game, and my oldest likes to make it clear that she can “kick my butt” at any time while playing. I’ve been able to make it to the mid-teen levels without too much difficulty, but my teenager does like to show me how it should be done.

The game automatically plays in landscape mode on your Nokia touch-enabled device; and to add to the throw-back inspired fun, it includes a catchy, pulsating music loop to make sure you are paying attention. (If you don’t like the music, you can adjust the volume within the game Settings.)

The game BallZ is available for $2.99 (USD) in Ovi Store. A trial version with a few sample levels called BallZ Free is also available for download. (Note: the installation file for BallZ is quite small, but it does require a one-time download of Qt-related components which can be as much as 13 MB. Once you have these Qt files, you will not need to download them again.)

More information about BallZ is available from the developer’s website; and you can get to know the work of the developer in TamsS60 blog.

Do you have a favorite game today that is also a blast from the past? Share your memories of by-gone games in our Comments section below.