Meteos: Disney Magic

"Meteos VS Disney: Comparative Review"

Before reading this review, realize that I have nothing against Disney. I actually like some of the movies featured in this game.

Meteos was a great game. 29-30 totally different planets with a totally different feel, single card multiplayer, many unlockables. Disney version comes out, I buy it, first thoughts: "What happened to Meteos?".

Gameplay: 7/10 In a sense, Disney Meteos succeeds. Its quite different from the first game. The blocks are twice as big, or so it seems, and they seem a lot easier to move when compared to, say, the first game's credits level, but it doesn't change much. Perhaps the game designers were trying to make it easier knowing they will have a younger audience. After playing the game a bit, I know that a lower difficulty was not part of their plan. A child could certainly play this game, but they would be confined to the 4-5 level easy mode for quite some time. Overall, it works, but I'd rather be playing the original.

Story: 5/10 Wow, way to screw up Meteos's story. Planet Meteos is gone, all that's left is a terrible excuse for a story on each mission. "Oh I see, hyenas are invading the pridelands, we must get rid of them." Level loads up, each block has a hyena drawn on it. Clever.

Graphics: 8/10 Actually quite good. Disney characters are well detailed, etc. You won't be looking at that screen anyway.

Sound: 5/10 When I bought this game, I assumed that the sound would be like a Disney version of the previous game ie: when you launch a block it makes a noise that goes along with the music. Now, it makes an annoying bleep. The songs themselves are occasionally decent (Nightmare Before Christmas) but they lack the singing and presentation that made them hits. Worst thing you can do to a Q? game: take away the music.

Changes:5/10 Some of the technical details about this game are actually better than the first game. Horizontal movement of blocks, and level specific special moves would have been welcome in the first game. But the obvious difference from this game to the second is the unlockables. The first game had so many unlockable levels and moves, I find it a shame at what there is in this game. Basically, instead of sounds, items, and planets, there's pictures and a single song per level. And you don't even get to buy these. They are given to you after a few playthroughs of the level. I was expecting some movie clips or something, but all there are, is pictures. And from the main menu, an option blinks as to inform you that you will actually want to see these useless pictures. You don't.

Pros: Mechanics are a lot simpler. (kind of positive).
Disney characters, although still action pictures are kinda detailed.
Cons: Sound sucks.
Story sucks.
Changes totally ruin replay value.

Overall Score 6/10
Score for original Meteos: 9.5/10
Rent or Buy: Rent if you must. If you don't have Meteos, I still don't believe this game is worth it.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 03/26/07