Meteos (Nintendo DS) - Review by skarma

Introduction

Meteos is a brand new puzzle game developed by newly formed team Q Entertainment. The company have currently only released one game before Meteos. A musical puzzle game called Lumines for the Playstation Portable. Even though the company has only produced two games, both Meteos and Lumines are currently two of the best games available for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP. While you would probably associate Lumines with Meteos, with both of them being puzzle games released recently, that is certainly not the case. While Lumines goes for the calming soothing puzzle game, Meteos on the other hand is fast, frantic and pulse-pounding, although a lot of things can be associated with both of these games, such as the heavy implementation of music poured into every nook and cranny. Let's see if Q Entertainment can keep there reputation with the long awaited Meteos.

Gameplay

"It's a bit like Tetris". Then again, almost all puzzle games out there are. Meteos is a puzzle game almost like no other. In Meteos, meteors (called Meteo) fall down from the top of the screen. It would probably seem logical that you control these meteors right? No actually. You have no control on how Meteos fall. But then again, this is the DS! What touch screen control could they have implemented into Meteos I wonder? The whole game, basically. You have to use the stylus to move Meteos vertically (not horizontally) to align 3 of the same colored Meteo together. Then they propel up, in what is called an 'ignition'. The object is to keep clearing the screen of these Meteo. But there's a trick to it. Each of the 32, yes that's right, 32 planets has a different set of Meteo colors and gravitational pull. That means once you make an ignition, they don't immediately all go out of the screen. You must make an ignition in that ignition to boost the Meteo to the top of the screen. That, in a nutshell, is basically how the game works. But there's so much more to the game then that. Meteos oozes with depth, there is a Simple mode, where you can play against 3 (or less) CPU's. You can set it to be a Stock or Time match. How many stock/minutes. Teams, planets etc. There's a Star Trip mode, basically a story mode where you choose a path of planets to fight to get your way to the evil planet Meteo. There is Time War, where it could be a 2:00 match to get the highest score, a 5:00 match, a 100 Meteo War (where you have to get the fastest time to send 100 Meteo out of the screen), and a 1,000 Meteo War (it speaks for itself). Add a Deluge mode (endless) and a Tutor mode, and you have one kick-ass game. But that's not it! Oh no, every Meteo you send into space also gets sent to your bank, where you can buy items, more music, more planets and even more Meteo for you to use in your struggle. Then you also have a Multiplayer Single Cart Wireless mode and a Demo Sending Mode. Which will add hours to your gaming experience. And everything you do in the game is recorded. From the 1st VS match you ever done, to the amount of Star Trip games you've played, from the first time you powered it on to the amount of Ignitions you've caused. It's all here!

Controls

To put it simply, you've never had as much control in a puzzle game, as you will have had in Meteos. Tapping the menu icons is childs play, and even when 12 Meteos wide are on screen, it's incredibly easy to move them vertically as you like. You can use the D-Pad for everything in the game, but the D-Pad is nowhere as quick and easy to use as the stylus. The only time you ever really have to use the actual buttons is in the game itself, if you want to pause it. Hell, you could even use your fingers for controlling the Meteo, but that would smudge your screen.

Graphics

The graphics in Meteos are neither stunning nor bland. They intend top be functional, and that's exactly what they are. When you power on the game, you are treated to an incredible cinematic, showing the story of the game, and the planets struggle for survival. The menu's graphics are almost identical to those of Super Smash Bros.. There are 32 different planets, each with a different background, set of Meteo and a groovy creature that inhabits the planet. The presentation on Meteos is second to none. It is absolutely incredible. Even small things like being able to move the menu icons around are a sweet little thing to do. The planets backgrounds can be breathtaking too, with incredible attention to detail on them.

Sound

Over 40 tracks of music are squeezed into the tiny DS cartridges. The music quality will take your breath away, it's like your listening to a movie soundtrack. It's so incredible. The cinematic movie music goes exactly with what's happening on screen. The menu music seems Star Wars quality, and the in-game soundtrack is great. When you start playing the game for the first time, you will hear a 'backbeat'. A looping bit of music. When you making your first ignition, a sound effect plays to go with the music, when you make another ignition it plays another sound effect and this time even changes to music. When you're in trouble the music changes yet again, and changes when you make a chain of ignitions. 32 planets, times about 3 tracks of music in each, times about 5 additions to the music, adding extra tracks = music bliss.

Dual screen

Meteos is a game that doesn't really require two screens, but requires a touch screen. On the bottom screen is where the actions happening, and the top screen is where the planets are shown and the little inhabitants of the planet randomly dance about. Although the Dual-Screens certainly look great in the menu and introduction. It could be justified in-game because everything is vertical and you fire the blocks to the top screen, but since the actions so frantic, your eyes are glued to the bottom screen the whole time.

Final comments

Meteos is one of those games that everyone who owns a certain console should buy. If it's Gamecube, it's Smash Bros. If it's XBOX it's Halo. If it's DS, it's Meteos (well, until Mario Kart). From the presentation to the addictive gameplay, from the lush backgrounds of the endless planets to the high quality, intense music. Meteos oozes with pure gaming fun. Forget Lumines, this is the handheld puzzle game to own.

Pro: Music, Gameplay, Graphics!
Con: No sequel announced yet!
Final score: 9.4

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