Review: Meteos (NDS)

Blocks. They seem to form the basis for every major puzzle game ever since the dot-matrix phenomenon of Tetris took the world by storm. Amazingly, with just a simple change of colour and a switching of objectives, you can turn one block-based puzzle game into another, and Meteos is just another example of this... albeit a really good one.

The planet Meteo is bombarding neighbouring planets with streams of blocks called 'Meteos'. Meteos come in twelve different flavours (or elements) and, when three or more of the same kind align, they fuse together, launching them back up into the air. Pay attention now, this is the important bit: much like Columns (another block-based puzzler), you can only slide Meteos vertically; but this is done not to those which are falling, but ones already building up on the ground. The falling loose Meteos are completely out of your control, so it's only your ability to launch the landed ones that will prevent the play area from filling up and your planet being "annihilated" (game over). Vertically slide the stacks to align blocks horizontally and launch them as a platform, carrying any other Meteos on top of the fused ones, then align more of the aloft blocks to send them up and away forever. It sounds complicated but, aside from the more advanced techniques, this basic formula is really easy to use and very addictive.

Each planet essentially forms a new level, with each one having a different gravitational strength - the low-gravity ones being easy and the high-gravity ones being hard. Further to this, the style of the blocks, the scenic backdrop and the music also change depending on which planet you're on. So much is the difference that you will actually find yourself choosing what stage to play based on which location is most appealing aesthetically, more so than any technical advantages they may offer. A slight problem occurs on some worlds with certain blocks looking too similar at a quick glance (red and orange, for example), but it's a minor point.

Gameplay aside for just a moment, Gamestyle has to comment on the music: it is absolutely wonderful. The main menu themes sound epic and exciting in the best way possible ('Back to the Future' similarities are presumably coincidental) and the in-game music actually changes fluidly based on what you are doing, and seamlessly merges with the sound effects. The pace picks up when you're close to Annihilation, yet relaxes when the screen is relatively empty, and all of this happens in blissful stereo sound.

Prolonged play of Meteos has that unmistakable effect of staying in your mind for hours afterwards. You begin to mentally visualise blocks aligning themselves and blasting away. During play, you can really get into the 'zone', especially when things start to speed up, a crescendo of cubes raining down, creating an almost subconscious level of awareness, as your stylus hand moves itself around the screen. At times like this, a brief lapse of concentration usually results in Annihilation, like sneezing near a tower of cards, but it never dampens ones enthusiasm to try again; Meteos, thankfully, can be played in very short bursts.

There are many advanced tricks and techniques that you will learn over the course of play (and the instruction manual offers some insight into these); until such a time as you figure these out, certain events on the playing area may baffle you - combos, bonus items, complete screen clearings, gravity effects and more. Meteos may be a complicated beast, but it ensures you don't have to know its secrets to be able to enjoy it; it's just as much fun simply doing your best and accidentally triggering these events off as it is to try to plan them in advance, albeit less rewarding.

Battling through the Star Trip mode, you take on CPU opponents who are attempting to clear their screen as well (behind the scenes). They dump their wasted Meteos on you, as you do to them, and the last player standing wins the match, moving onto the next planet. The other game modes give you targets to reach (either time or number based), or you can play without any rules whatsoever, and the game won't end until you lose. In wireless link-up mode, the other players (up to 3) take on the role previously filled by the CPU, in much the same way. Meteos supports single game link-up and even has a demo version that can be downloaded to another DS.

Everything is presented beyond mere competence: there's an intro movie, movable menus, customisable controls, auto-saving and statistics on everything you've done - and, graphically, it's vibrant, colourful and imaginative. You can also play the game via the touch-screen or the hands-on controls, however the latter is so slow that you'll be reaching for the stylus pen within minutes. Unfortunately, the top screen doesn't get much use outside of an optional second sight into your opponents' doings, but it hardly matters.

Not content to simply rest on its laurels and leave nothing but the temptation of the scoreboard to keep you coming back for more, Meteos also offers unlockable goodies like new planets and items, which are 'fused' together from the Meteos you've launched. The more you play, the larger your stock gets, and the more items you can fuse, ensuring a high level of longevity.

To be frank, Meteos isn't Tetris. No, it's very different, and it's also not quite as good, but it's a lot fancier. It's like Tetris' half-Italian younger brother, Tetrigo: he isn't as old or as wise, and you can't understand him all the time, but he wears a suit and drives a Ferrari... so hop in and enjoy the ride!

Rating: 8 / 10

Words by Daniel James