Not long ago, PopCap artist Liv Hathaway brought me a present, and today, I am going to share it with you. She was part of the team working on Zuma’s Revenge for Xbox, and she handed me a pile of papers, offering that they might be something I could share eventually with fans of the game. That’s right, I’ve been sitting here with a pile of concept art for weeks now, suffering the cute attacks of a sweet hand-drawn kitten face in silence, but now the game is out, and I can share the squee with the world.
Let's all join in now for a collective Awww!!
If you’ve played the game (which, if you haven’t, get on that! Go get an Xbox if you don’t have one, because you’ve got some frogtastic revenging to get to!), then you may have already guessed where the little guy above comes from; he is one of the early versions of the Spirit Cheetah. And if you’re wondering why a face this adorable didn’t wind up in the game, well, think of it this way: you’re supposed to want to level up your Spirit Animals… not to be sad when they grow up because they were just so darned cute. Check out more of the evolution:
A young adult kitty, really growing into his proud kitty face. (Okay, I'm a cat lady. There are worse things to be.)
He starts to look a bit more regal here, though still clearly the grown-up version of a sweet kitty who will protect you in the jungle.
You can see the new direction he starts to move in here... a little fiercer, a little less furry.
Fur is left behind entirely as other materials are explored.
I find the fiery lion to be a handsome beast. I think I’d still be sad that little kitten ever grew up, though. Probably better that they changed direction again…
With the move toward blue, the Spirit Cheetah as you now know him started to emerge.
Now get back to your own Spirit Cheetah! Level him up, watch him roar, and thank him for the gift of Shot Speed that he shares with you as he grows.