Meteos

The universe is threatened by an evil planet named Meteo, the only way to stop it is to fuse blocks known as Meteos together and send them rocketing towards the hostile planet in the hopes of defeating it once and for all. OK this isn’t exactly the most believable of plots but since when did the story behind any puzzle game ever make the slightest ounce of sense. In order to fuse these blocks and save the universe from almost certain doom you must align at least three of the same colored blocks either horizontally or vertically within a Tetris-style grid. This may sound incredibly simple and somewhat tedious but many said the same thing before experiencing the Tetris phenomenon for themselves.

Meteos makes perfect use of the touch-screen. You essentially drag blocks around with your stylus which can be fiendishly tricky at first; however once you continue through the game your hand will become more accustomed to throwing blocks across the screen with a small flick of the wrist. This makes for a more rewarding gameplay experience especially when you compare it to the classic retro D-pad method of press and rotate. The stylus also just feels right; it really does fit in perfectly with the games frenzying pace. On some of the harder levels your hand will become a blur as you battle to clear the screen and counter-attack your opponent. You do have the option of using the systems D-pad however this takes away what I feel the game sets out to achieve.

This just like the majority of its puzzling counterparts shines in the multiplayer department, up to four players can scrap it out for control of the universe with just one copy of the game. While luck does play a big part in Meteos this only adds to the frantic action the game works so hard in creating. Sometimes a block will fall into the ideal position and save your whole game, other times you will be left in the dark as to what actually went wrong and this will test even the most patient of gamers. The action never seems to tire but does reward those a little more skilled at the game; so while this is fun for all the family the person with the most experience will usually be crowned the winner.

The Meteos experience is enhanced by the addition of gravity, each planet is assigned their own unique attributes which ultimately determine how fast your blocks fall and how fast you send them back up. Some of the tougher levels will see blocks pummeling down like its monsoon season yet as you attempt to fire them back towards the heavens they will suddenly become reluctant to move. This is only one of the factors that contribute to each planet having their own personal look and feel. They will also contain their own sets of blocks which range from your bog-standard square blocks right up to some pretty unusual coral shapes found on some of the eerier planets.

The single-player is surprisingly good, the game tracks every block fired off-screen and if you rid a set number of one or a multiple of specific Meteos you will then begin unlocking a whole host of new features. New planets, items, soundtracks and other equally cool rewards are all on offer, each becoming readily available within the single-player and multiplayer portions of the game. There are also a fair few modes to sink your teeth into; the main one being Star Ship mode. This sees you battling a series of menacing planets; eventually leading up to the predictable final boss Meteo. There are a total of 9 alternative endings to unlock here, each obtained by playing though the game in a variety of unique ways. If you’re a sucker for finishing games off entirely you will need them all and some of them are a little tricky to get your paws on. Other options include your standard practice and survival modes that pretty much play like you’d expect.

This game doesn’t exactly push the DS system to its graphical peaks yet it does just enough to create a sense of atmosphere unseen in any other puzzler to date. Every planet has its own look and feel which keeps things interesting for the gamer; the same can be said for the sound which plays host to some pretty freaky soundtracks. An impressive array of tunes can be found here and offer just enough variation to prevent you sliding that volume bar all the way to the left. The sound effects while frighteningly simple merge perfectly with the chaos playing out on-screen.

In conclusion Meteos doesn’t try to follow the trends set by previous puzzle games before it; it implements features never before seen within the genre and personally is a welcome change. Unfortunately the game doesn’t make full use of its potential and at times feels repetitive and somewhat uninspired, the electric pace while occasionally exhilarating can also be equally frustrating as the game is essentially based on the luck of which block falls where.