Like Crecente said, it leans heavily on its art style, cool mini-fig style creatures that are really artsy and look vivid and fantastic on the DS. The basic gameplay might lead one to believe it's a kids' title, but since higher difficulty levels advance in complexity, I have to say with cautious optimism that I'd probably enjoy it too.

Particularly, I liked the character designs. Pics of just a few of them, plus printable papercraft (!) after the jump.

As Crecente said:

The stylus-driven game is broken down into a number of themed-worlds, each with it's own team of Zubo that you can befriend through tasks and mini-games to add to your team of three. All said there will be 55 different Zubo in the game and all of them will have unique attacks during combat.

I'm a big Elite Beat Agents nerd, which means I just love to tap the screen whenever circles converge, and that's what Zubo wants you to do. It has some basic RPG elements - different team members have different attributes and thus their individual techniques will be strong against some enemies and weak against others. Pick a character from your team to attack, choose what moves they'll do, and then a silhouette line will start converging on your character as it dance-attacks the enemy. Tap at the right time and the attack is successful.

The reps brought headphones so that I could hear the music that Crecente didn't get a chance to hear too closely during his demo, and it's all pretty interesting, various stuff all synchronized to beat well. And the gameplay does sync up with the beat, meaning like with EBA, you'll need to use your ears more than your eyes to time things ideally.

It's not, admittedly, as fast or frenetic looking as you might expect a challenging rhythm game to be, but the music and visual style are entertaining enough that it just might close that gap. I'd advise not writing this one off as a kids' game just yet.

The game, created for 7 to 11-year-olds, may sound childish, but it looks to have the right mix of art-style, sense of fun and graphic muscle power to be a potential hit on the portable.

I sat down with the game for a short demonstration last week with UK's EA Bright Light studio. The devs told me that the game will push the DS to it's technical limits with scenes that boast a minimum of 2,000 polygons.

The stylus-driven game is broken down into a number of themed-worlds, each with it's own team of Zubo that you can befriend through tasks and mini-games to add to your team of three. All said there will be 55 different Zubo in the game and all of them will have unique attacks during combat.

Combat is performed through an elite-beat-esque rhythm game that has you first choosing your attack and then either carrying it out or failing by tapping the sliding across the screen with the stylus.

The demo I saw, while fun to look at, was in a setting to loud to really hear the music, and it's the music and how it syncs up with the on-screen action that can make or break this sort of game. The art-style, though, will certainly play with the age group, and even adult fans of plastic figures.

EA ANNOUNCES ZUBO - A NEW CHILDREN'S VIDEO GAME EXCLUSIVE TO NINTENDO DS

Original Nintendo DS game features collectable characters in a music-based rhythm-action adventure

Guildford, U.K. - March 28th, 2008 - The EA Casual Entertainment Label today announced the development of a new wholly-owned, original intellectual property, created for 7-11 year old boys and girls. Zubo is a music-based rhythm-action game featuring a unique set of characters that is scheduled to ship worldwide later this year, exclusively on the Nintendo DS handheld system.

"Zubo represents the culmination of a dedicated incubation project, which specifically sought to develop a new videogame property for boys and girls under 12," said Harvey Elliott, Head of the EA Bright Light studio in Guildford, UK. "The team here has designed a rich, immersive and, above all, enjoyable experience - one that will live in the schoolyard, at home or on the move."

Players enter the world of Zubalon to help the colourful and zany inhabitants, the Zubos, defeat an evil force which is bent on world domination. Players can befriend the Zubos they meet along the way, feed and nurture them, help them gain skills and strength, and assist them in their battles with the enemy, the dastardly Zombos.

A key element to Zubo is music, which is intrinsic to Zubalon from its tuneful plant life through to its currency of musical notes. The player will use the music to drive the battles forward, synchronising their stylus action and tapping in time with the musical beats to win!

With 55 Zubos available to find and recruit to a player's squad, plus a wealth of interactions and mini-games, and the world of Zubalon to explore, Zubo offers a deeply rewarding Nintendo DS experience.

Zubo is developed by EA Bright Light studio in Guildford, UK and it will be available on the Nintendo DS this autumn.

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