"You really need to check out Meteos"

Meteos is a game that has kept skeptical DS gamers from trading in their DS games during the infamous game drought that ensued shortly after Nintendo 's lackluster DS launch. I first popped this game in on the Fourth of July, right during the fireworks celebrations. I couldn't pay attention to the fireworks. Who needs to watch fireworks, when you can launch them yourself?

Graphics: 9/10
First off, let me say this game is a puzzler, a great-looking one at that. This DS game has beautiful graphics. Some say that the graphics leave a lot to be desired and well they are partially right. This is no PSP game, for sure. The graphics are, however, right up there with the DS' limitations. The opening FMV is the most beautiful video on the DS so far. The designers clearly put in countless hours decorating every planet to match the creator's vision. All of the 30+ planets have a beautiful, albeit short video sequence that shows the surface of the planet. There are different backgrounds for each planet and there are about a dozen different block styles, all with pin-point detail. In summary, the graphics will not disappoint. If you need PS2 quality graphics, however, look to the PSP. The DS was not designed to be a graphics powerhouse. Where it shines however, is in its implementation.

Sound: 8/10
It seems that nowadays every puzzle game is judged heavily on its music and its sound effects, and for good reason. For a game to be truly addictive, like the great PSP hit Lumines , it must have not only clear visuals but sound to help draw the gamer into the virtual world. The more senses you appeal to, the mroe immersed the gamer will be. This game has plenty of beats to go around, ranging from techno music to drum beats. There are different sound effects for every planet. The menu has great menu music as well, clearly derived from Super Smash Brothers Melee's menu music. What the game lacks however is voice acting. It would be great to hear the aliens speak. It would also be nice to hear the story endings spoken, instead of lazily typed out. All in all, the game sound is top-notch, but its not extraordinary.

Story: 8/10:
Why would a puzzler have a story? Beats me, but this game has one and thus this section of my review exists. Basically, the evil planet Meteos is threatening the galaxy and you have to destroy planets on your way to get to Meteos. To destroy the planets, you fire meteos blocks at the planets and if you destroy them, you move on through the galaxy, eventually getting to the evil planet itself. The story still has several flaws. For one, the planet Meteos is a giant rip-off of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings' rendition of the evil entity Sauron. The planet looks just like the giant Eye you may have seen (or if you didn't watch the movie, heard about from your friends). Also, the story seems to take a back-seat to the gameplay. I personally don't care all that much about the story in a puzzler game, but the fact is that while it is stronger than that of Puyo Pop Fever, it feels too cheesy and uninventive. When a game has a great story and great gameplay, you will be able to see that the combined effort is truly something special.

Gameplay (including Multiplayer): 9/10:
Here we come to the most important part of any puzzler game. In order for a puzzler game to keep the player addicted, it must have a great gameplay style. Look at Tetris Attack for the SNES. The game was quick, frenetic, and most importantly extremely addictive. This game seems to have more of a focus on Tetris Attack than on Tetris itself. The game borrows the "garbage-block" approach, sending incinerated meteos blocks raining down on your opponents. The game is also played usually in short sessions, about two to five minutes each. To those that prefer the longer, play-till-you-die format, the game also has Deluge mode, an endless mode that speeds up faster and faster until it gets to the point of impossibility. You use the stylus on the touch screen to move blocks vertically (never horizontally) or you can use the DPAD, which is much less intuitive. The game is played by lining up three or more blocks of the same type, either horizontally or vertically, to launch them like a rocket. Depending on the planet you're playing on, the gravity may stop a rocket from leaving the atmosphere. To keep it from re-entering, you can send another rocket from below it to shove the rocket back out of the atmosphere, fire single blocks from below for a small push, or create a force from within the rocket itself by lining up three or more of the blocks that were carried on the rocket. Therein lies a truly innovative facet of the gameplay. If you send a rocket with many blocks loaded on top, it will be harder to get it out of the atmosphere, but if you do manage to get it into space, it will reek greater havoc on your opponents. Some planets have instant launch, so that when you line the blocks up, they simply disappear. On other planets, like the aptly named Gravitas, the blocks will take multiple launches to even get off the ground. The game borrows the Super Smash Brother's melee style of multiplayer with teams and free for all gaming. If you do a 2 on 2 battle, you and your partner planet will both send blocks to the other 2 planets. If you know an opposing planet is close to annihilation, you can send blocks ONLY to that planet as well, simply by using the touch screen. Multiplayer has both a limited single-card mode and a more expanded multi-card mode. By playing matches, some planets will also be unlocked for you, a treat from the developers to encourage you to play with your friends. The game has a single-player mode called Star Trip, where you can go in a Straight, Branch, or Goal-Based Objective-Style Route, to eventually get to Meteos for the final showdown, clearly derived from Super Smash Brothers' memorable Master Hand duels. The game also lets you use the blocks you launch into orbit as a kind of currency in FUSION mode. Here you can make items, sounds, rare metals, and even planets. You can even fuse the planet Meteos itself. Once you fuse a planet you can use it in multiplayer mode. One "flaw" with the game is that by scribbling you can launch many rockets when your screen is full with meteos, without any skill involved. This flaw is easily rectified though because I have seen gamers who are "skilled" (often only playing for a day) who can breeze through scribblers like nothing. Scribbling seems to be something that was unavoidable for the kind of fast, stylus gameplay this game has, but luckily it will not make a scribbler a grand master in this game. If you get tired of playing meteos, try hooking up your DS to some headphones and kick back to the Sound Test mode. It will lull you to sleep faster than you can say Meteos..

Overview: This game is a great title for all DS gamers so far. What would have really made this game awesome would be an online feature but sadly this was not implemented. Nonetheless, check this game out if you are interested in a new game. It will not bore you like Kirby or Goldeneye. Indeed, after playing this game, you may question even buying any non-puzzler games for a while.

Rent/Buy: Depends. If you are not a real puzzler fan, you should rent this. Chances are you may like it, but there is no point wasting precious money to find out you were wrong. If you like it, you can buy it later, and make up for the lost rental cash with the money you'll save from not buying any more DS games for a LONG time.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/07/05