Fun and addictive, this is the one DS puzzler game to get.
The gameplay builds off of the basic formula introduced by Tetris way back when, and yet it twist this feature in interesting and new ways. First the basic premise of the game is this, there are falling blocks and you have to use the touch screen to move them vertically up and down to line up three meteos that then turn into rockets that can push up other meteos above them. Using this basic set of rules you can make some pretty cool combos that make lots of noises( sort of like what Lumines does) and then shot off into space. The one thing to note though is that like Lumines this game has different ‘tiles’ which in this case are called planets and each planet has its own gravity and set or rules that make it easier or more difficult to send meteos flying. As an example on planet only lets you shoot meteos that are vertically aligned, another planet makes it so that it is eaier to lift a rocket by flicking meteos( a cool feature in which you basically just flick a meteos into the air) into the rocket. Things like these make meteos a fun a varied experiences, that said there are some flaws in the design. The most noticeable, and this comes into play quite early, if you are running out of space you can just start rubbing up and down with the stylus to make combos start happening, this obviously involves no skill, but it is easy not to do this and get by without encountering this problem. Also this game tracks how many meteos you have launched, which you can use in the Fusion room to unlock new songs, planets and other things. The gameplay in Meteos is really fun and fast paced, you will enjoy every moment playing this game and the multitude of unlockables, from new planets to new items, are a great pleasure to find and use.
The graphics in this game are functional and a delight to watch but like most puzzle game, there is no high-def particle explosions with bump mapping and HDR lighting everywhere, rather they are there to serve a purpose and they serve that purpose will. In this case the main purpose is to make it so that the player can easily identify each block and recognize patterns, for if you couldn’t easily tell the different between each of the blocks the game would have already failed, luckily they are easily distinguished and bright and colorful. The FMV movies that play after beating each mode in the campaign are very nice and prove that the DS screens can play some nice videos. Other than that the menus screens are inventive, you can slide the icons around and stuff and generally the game has a smooth and consistent polish to its design.
The sound in this game is great, then many tracks that are included are varied and fun to listen to, but none of them really have any voices or anything like that but they are a great collection of songs none the less. Each planet has its own soundtrack and sounds to go with launching the pieces, which is nice and make the game that much more enjoyable. While the game might not have a track like Brash or Lights like Lumines does but it is still a great soundtrack. Not much else can be said about the sound track other than that it is great, fun and keeps the game moving along at a brisk pace.
This game is very fun and has a lot of replayability, from its multitude of game modes, like Simple in which its just like a quick mode, to Deluge in which you just try to survive, there are many things to keep you occupied. While this is all good, something about the game is so frantic and the style of the game is made as such that after a couple of months you could grow bored, but if you just pick it up and play it every once in a while then you are in for a treat, and I think the game is at its best as a pick up and play, rather than a long and involved gaming experience. In the end this is a good game, though it just misses the mark to reaching greatness but it is so fun to pick up and play that it is more than made up for.