Review
Release Date: 06.27.2005
Platform:
Nintendo DSDeveloper:
Q EntertainmentPublisher:
Nintendo of America, Inc.Reviewed by
Ryan Dean on 7.1.2005
| Review Rating: 10/10 | User Rating: 8.55/10 |
Since the dawn of time itself, puzzle games have always appealed to handheld gamers. These quick pick-up-and-play titles have always been considerably popular on portable devices, such as
Lumines for the PSP,
Puyo Pop Fever for the DS, and all the way back to the original Gameboy's
Tetris. But now a new puzzle title has hit the streets:
Meteos for the DS. Developed by the same team that created
Lumines,
Q Entertainment, the expectations for
Meteos are high, but does it live up to the hype?
Now with
Tetris,
Puyo Pop,
Bust-A-Move and the thousands of variations of each, it's extremely hard for someone to claim a new puzzle title to be "original" and "unique". This is not the case for
Meteos. With the help of the DS hardware,
Meteos provides an experience truly unlike any other in the world of gaming. Now, it is true that
Meteos does feature falling tiles of different colors, but don't run away yet, as there is much more to Meteos than you think. As the tiles fall from the top of the screen and land, you'll move the tiles vertically to create a matching row or column, using either the DS' touchscreen or directional pad. Once you've got at least 3 of the tiles in that special row or column, they'll shoot off like rockets into space. But be careful, if you don't have proper timing and watch your momentum, you may get a large mass of unmatchable, unusable tiles raining back down upon you. When was the last time your
Tetris tiles or
Puyo Pop blobs ignited and were used to fight off evil aliens?
That's another unique aspect of
Meteos, the storyline. While
Meteos isn't a long, drawn out tale with plot twists, love, or profound sadness, it's always nice to have some motivation for moving those tiles. Sure, you might be going for a high score, but think of all the alien planets you're saving from destruction!
But really, what
is the story behind Meteos? Well it all begins when the planet Meteo decides to wreak havoc upon the universe. How so, you ask? Well, instead of using complicated bombs or vast armies, the planet Meteo attacks other planets by shooting deadly tiles, or meteos, into space. When all seems to be lost, one of the victim planets finds out how to defend itself: by creating those special rows or columns we discussed earlier. Soon, players will follow the stories of all the planets affected by the deadly meteos, helping to send the tiles back to from which they came.
Now that we know why we are playing and how we play, we must ask the essential question for every game: How does it play?
Meteos is simply a dream. It's action-packed, lightning fast, and every second is fun.
Meteos was the most fun I've had playing a puzzle game in a long time. The difficulty progression throughout the game's single player mode is superb: Quick to learn, but hard to master. And with the game so satisfying, you'll be coming back to this gem long after you've completed it. The little twists and variations on the gameplay (such as the planets' different gravitational pulls), the three different single player paths and array of difficulty settings, a free-form mode, a challenge mode, and survival mode all add an insane level of replayability. And to top it all off, there are plenty of unlockables and a multiplayer mode for up to four players, single and multi-cartridge.
Meteos is also asthetically pleasing. The graphics are bright, clear, colorful and sharp, making it the most beautiful DS title yet. And the audio, too, falls in line with all the other factors of the game, following the fast-paced action with amazing musical riffs and high-quality sound effects. While the game's music isn't entirely involved with the gameplay, such as Q Entertainment's other puzzler,
Lumines, it is very closely aligned with the action on screen. Without some good beats to set the tone and feel for the game,
Meteos would definitely not have been the puzzler we know it to be.
Meteos is a charming title on all levels, and a new puzzle title that can hold its own against all others. Q Entertainment has created an amazing game, one that absolutely needs to be in every gamer's collection.
