One of the greatest DS puzzle games ever!
Gameplay (9.5/10): The idea is simple: use your stylus to guide three or more of the same type of Meteos in either a vertical or horizontal row. At first glance, you may think that it's too simple to play, but a huge variety of planets force you to come up with different strategies to launch Meteos at your opponent (i.e. only launching horizontally). There are few problems in the controls, the most major being when you find yourself with a full screen of Meteos, frantically trying to launch them away before you're anihilated. Here, the touch screen sometimes doesn't respond as perfectly, but this is a pleasantly rare occurrence (of course, you aren't limitied strictly to the touch screen. You can use the control pad and buttons if that's more to your liking, but the touch screen is highly recommended). Overall, this game has a relatively short learning curve, and you can usually master the basics within five or ten minutes.
Graphics (9.5/10): The designs of the planets themselves are pretty incredible, ranging from gas giants to pure forest-type bodies. The look of the puzzles on the bottom screen are enjoyable to the eyes. Granted, these graphics are not going to allow the DS to rival a 360, but given the breadth of the game itself, the graphics are more or less flawless. Again, with a crowded puzzle screen, some minor problems can appear, but as before, they're usually rare in occurance.
Sound (10/10): Gameplay and other specific elements aside, the sound quality is enough of a reason to pick this game up. Each planet comes equipped with its own unique soundtrack, right down to the sounds that are produced when you launch your Meteos, and a fairly epic-sounding track comes along during the "space traveling scenes" that occur in between the various levels. The sounds that emanate from you DS speakers will reel you in even more when you're playing the game.
Multiplayer (9/10): Perhaps the biggest complaint you could make about the game is that there is no online play, although you could put this complaint to the side since it's still incredibly fun and enjoyable in and of itself. When it comes to multiplayer matches, you're limited to the usual DS-to-DS style multiplayer, which is highly addictive and enjoyable. You can easily lose an hour of so playing this with a friend (or three friends). "Lag" problems can occur when the bottom screen becomes flooded with Meteos, but, once again, this is fairly infrequent.
Replay Value (10/10): Another fantastic draw to this game lies in the replay value. You have the opportunity to amass Meteos through the five single-player modes, fusing them together to create and unlock the very planets you "fight against" in the game. The biggest test of your patience will lie in trying to unlock the ultimate planet Meteo, which is high in cost, but it's a great reason to go through the game modes over and over again. In addition to the planets, you can also use the Meteos you gather to create items that can be used during the game in addition to the multiple sound tracks of the different planets. There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't be able to put this game down for all eternity.
All in all, Meteos is an incredible game. No DS fan should be without it in his or her collection. Furthermore, no puzzle fan (or, more specifically, no Tetris fan) should be without this game. It takes the bare bones, block-matching concept of Tetris and brings it into the twenty-first century with style and enjoyability.
(Note: The actual rating of this game is 9.6. I'll be rounding down to a 9.5)