"An incredible puzzle game where the action never stops, and it's only possible thanks to the Nintendo DS."

I was pondering about whether to even get a Nintendo DS, as most games that made any use of the touch screen used it as a gimmick. Then I heard about this game. A puzzle game? I don't even like puzzle games, and let me tell you, the purchase price of the game and the system required to play it was well worth it.

Story: 7/10
I have to give Q? Entertainment credit for even attempting to put a story into a puzzle game. The story is simple, but it works. The evil planet Meteo is sending out "phantasmagoric matter", called Meteos, at unsuspecting planets and blowing them up. How sweet. Then the people on the planets figured out how to send them back. That's the story.

Graphics: 9/10
The graphics are not killer 3D or anything of the sort. But, they certainly immerse you in the game, and the variety among the puzzle pieces keeps the game interesting. The backgrounds are rich and full of detail, and the display on the top screen shows the other planets you are attacking. Each planet has its own art style and the pieces show it. On Firin, the fire planet, the pieces glow as if heated, and on Oleana, the water planet, the pieces shimmer as if underwater. Some planets have pretty bizarre shapes that make it hard to find a match until you get used to the pieces, while others have very simple, almost 8-bit style designs that make finding matches a breeze. I can't complain one bit, but these aren't the most amazing things you've ever seen before, either.

Sound/Music: 10/10
The way they did the music in this game pulls you right in, right from the menu theme which has a very uplifting theme which reminds of something straight out of a movie. It's stuck in my head at this very moment.
The planets each have their own soundtrack, which reflects the atmosphere (no pun intended) of the area perfectly. Most planets start off with a pretty simple melody, but as the stacks get higher the music gets more frantic. Also, as you launch rockets, different melodies and chords play, and on certain planets it almost seems as if you are writing your own performance. The music also fits so nicely it seems that it was written for that playthrough. I found myself going into the Sound Test option frequently.

Gameplay/Controls: 10/10
If I could give this category more than a 10 I most certainly would. The concept of the game is simple, yet incredibly addicting. The pieces fall from the sky, a la Tetris, however, this is the only thing the two games have in common. You can't control the pieces as they fall, but you can move the pieces up and down in their vertical columns as they land. Align three pieces of the same color, and *insert musical fanfare here* your three pieces shoot up into space, carrying whatever is on top of them with it. However, there's a catch. If the pieces are too heavy, the rocket won't make and will fall back down, and you have to light a secondary ignition to send it back up. Before long you'll find yourself able to set up extreme combos, with secondary ignitions and step jumps, until you're juggling the entire screen with one huge rocket. Then, you send them all to your opponent.

Yes, you have an opponent. Up to three, as a matter of fact. If the constantly speeding-up falling of the meteos wasn't enough, the other worlds are sending you the pieces that THEY send off! It's a full scale planetary war, and I have to say, it kicks ass. It's very satisfying that you blow up your friend's home planet when you win. Also, every world has its own music, tileset, and physics. What works like a charm on one planet might not work at all on another.

There's two methods of control: using the D-Pad and Buttons, or the Stylus. And to put it bluntly, I think the only reason Nintendo put in the first option is to show you how ridiculously impossible this game would be without the touch screen. The Stylus control is basically your only option, and this isn't a bad thing. It's a great thing. The point and move lets you move pieces all over the place in a matter of seconds. Try playing this game on PSP. Yeah right. (No offense to any PSP owners, but it just wouldn't work.) In the beginning you might find it hard to hit the piece you want, since they are kind of small, but after a couple play-throughs of the Star Trip mode, it will become second nature.

Then, there's the modes. There's Simple mode, where you set up one game, where you pick your planet and the three computer players' (if you want any), and then choose a Time or Stock battle (Super Smash Brothers anyone? One of the developers of this game helped create Super Smash Brothers, and it has a very SSB feel to it, from the menus to gameplay. Very fun. Very cool.) and play until you win or lose. Then you have Star Trip mode (the main game). There's three types: Straight, where you play through a series of randomly chosen worlds to reach Meteos; Branch, where when you win you pick the next path you wish to take; and Multi, where you try to complete a mission as you defeat your opponents. There's also Deluge mode, where you play until you lose, and the speed increases constantly. Finally, there's Time War mode, where you can choose to see how high a score you can get in a certain amount of time, or see how quickly you can launch a certain number of Meteos.

Items. There's everything from bombs that clear your entire screen, to super rockets than turn an entire row into missiles. Some items blow smoke that hinder your vision of the field. Obviously you don't want those, so you have to activate and launch it to your enemy before it activates(hopefully). The same goes for bombs, although a little more thinking is involved there. Are you in trouble and need to clear a few lines? Light the fuse and watch the fireworks. OR, does your opponent have a massive combo going that you want to destroy? In that case, ignite it and send it over before it explodes.

Lastly, some people claim that you can succeed at this game by just randomly scratching the stylus all over the screen. Yeah? Try that on five star difficulty and see how long it takes until you die. On second thought, try it on ANY difficulty over one star. It doesn't work well on two, and you're pushing it on three. Even at the later levels of three it really fails to work at all.

Whew. That's all on gameplay.

Replayability: 10/10
This game has tons of replay value. There's tons of unlockables, from planets to items to sound sets. It will take you a good chunk of time to get them all. Once you unlock all the planets, you can go for high scores. And EVERY planet has a different set of music, meteos, and physics. Find your favorite planet and learn it inside and out. Then start a war with your friend! The fun really lasts until you turn the game off.

Last word: Buy it now.
If you don't yet have a DS, this game is the reason to get one. And if you already have a DS, what are you waiting for? This game is the best DS game, and one of the best I have played in a while. You won't be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/05