Polarium

"Puzzle fans, rejoice."

Polarium is the very first puzzle game to show up on the Nintendo DS. Block puzzle games, including Tetris, Dr. Mario, and Pokemon Puzzle League, are extremely popular. Polarium, the next to show up on the block puzzle game list, is a great game in its own rights.

Gameplay: 9/10

Control-wise, this game does well. You use the stylus throughout the game; the buttons are not operational. The goal, whichever mode you're in, is to create horizontal blocks of all black or all white. Touching a black tile flips it to white, and vice versa. Luckily, there is an optional tutorial built into the game that explains all of the rules and controls.

In addition, you can use the DS Download Play feature to send a demo of Polarium to a friend. This demo includes the same tutorial included in this game, ten pre-made puzzles, and the Versus mode feature. It's a nice little package that will allow your friend to decide whether or not to get the full version.

This game has three modes; the first, Challenge, dares you to get rid of falling blocks before the upper screen piles up. A bit like Tetris, this mode lasts as long as you can survive. The second mode, Puzzle, is a series of one hundred brain-teasers that give you a grid to work with. In only one stroke of your stylus, you must eliminate all tiles at once. When you first play the game, only the first ten are given to you. After you complete those ten, puzzles eleven through twenty are given to you, and so on until you reach the last one hundred. After you complete all one hundred puzzles, you can view the credits anytime from the main menu.

A nice feature of this game is the ability to create your own puzzles as part of Puzzle mode. You can create up to ten puzzles at first, but you can unlock storage space for ten more with each group of puzzles you solve in Puzzle mode. You can generate passwords for each puzzle, or, send them to a friend using the wireless link feature. Up to one hundred puzzles can be created and saved once you solved every pre-made puzzle.

The last mode, Versus, allows you to challenge a friend to a game of Polarium wirelessly, using a single- or multi-card link. Your goal is to eliminate lines, and by doing so you will send rows to your opponent. Your actions are displayed on the touch screen; your opponents actions can be viewed on the top screen. The person that clears his or her field first is the winner.

Graphics: 6/10

Even though the visuals are a bit sparse, graphics were never an important point in games of this genre. In Challenge mode, blocks will fall down on the touch screen, then the top screen. In Puzzle mode, the top screen shows your last incorrect stroke, as well as the first and last point of a correct solution. In Versus mode, the top screen will show your opponents moves.

Replayability: 7/10

A game like Polarium will keep you busy until you solve all one hundred puzzles. After that, you may still want to play Challenge mode in order to beat your high score, or customize your own puzzles. Either which way, Polarium has something for both casual players and hardcore puzzle fans. While it may not be the best Nintendo DS game out right now, it is certainly a respectful addition to its collection.

Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 6/10
Replayability: 7/10

Final score (not an average): 8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/31/05, Updated 06/01/05