Zapper is a 3D platform game starring a young golden cricket on a quest to rescue his brother from a merciless magpie queen. The game spans four worlds of trap-filled action, where players must avoid and react to quick-moving enemies and threats to stay alive. In order to see his brother Zipper again and stop the magpie's pilfering ways, Zapper must round up the bird's eggs on each level before being allowed to advance to the next. Each world consists of three to four levels apiece.
Since the magpie's eggs are hidden in various locations across the levels, Zapper will need to use his antennae to find them. Pressing a button causes the cricket's antennae to point in the general vicinity of the next magpie egg, and Zapper can reach them by jumping, super jumping, or hovering for a short time using his buzz-fly ability. Enemies are roaming around looking to stop the cricket, but Zapper has the power to send out an electrical charge to nearby foes. This zapping technique can also be used to open boxes, and it can be powered-up to a super zap by finding firefly swarms.
In addition to the magpie eggs, Zapper can collect orbs found throughout each level. Catching all the orbs in a level allows players to enter a bonus round to acquire extra lives and power-ups, while finding all the orbs within a world allows players to unlock an additional level. Developed by the same team responsible for Frogger 2: Swampy's Revenge, Zapper offers a separate battle mode supporting up to four players for simultaneous cricket-jumping action.