Polarium

"Not so Tetris-y but good nonetheless"

Nintendo wanted Polarium to be the ‘new Tetris.' Was that achieved? Well, uh, no, but Polarium is still a great puzzle game which uses the capabilities of the DS to create a unique puzzle experience.

Story(-/10):
It's a puzzle game. It needs no story. (Puyo Pop Fever is a great example, the developers wanted to give it personality, but the end result was, frankly, horrible)

Gameplay(8/10):
The game has three modes of play: Puzzle, Challenge, and Versus (more on this one later). I will rate them separately because each one is quite different from the other.

Puzzle(10/10):
My favorite mode. In this mode you are given a block of varying size. This block is composed of small black and white tiles. The goal is to make all tiles in a row the same color. This is achieved by using the stylus: you drag the stylus across tiles to select them, once you're done, lift the stylus off the screen and click the last tile you selected and all of the selected tiles will reverse color.

There is a catch though, you can only select tiles by a single continuous stroke. Therefore each of the 100 puzzles must be cleared in a single stroke. What increases difficulty is that the outer border (the gray space surrounding the tiles) is neutral, allowing you to move onto it and go to another location. The first puzzles are nice and easy but they get progressively harder and some of the later ones are mind-numbingly hard. The game is fair though, it uses the upper screen to show you your last attempt, so that you can figure out where you went wrong. Also, if you spend too much time on one puzzle, the upper screen will show you the starting and ending tiles as a hint.

Challenge(6/10):
This is the Tetris-like mode of the game. The playing area is elongated by using both screens. Tiles fall continuously and you must eliminate them (Again, by matching the color of tiles in each row) quickly, otherwise they will reach the top of the screen and you'll lose. I don't like this mode much, because at level3 and up the patterns become too hard and confusing to eliminate quickly. Also, if you make a single mistake then you're pretty much screwed, because one mistake causes you to make plenty more while you try to rectify the first.

Graphics(5/10):
Many would argue that, as a puzzle game, it doesn't need to be jaw-dropping graphically. I do agree but still think that this game needs some extra flair.

Sound(7/10):
The music is soft and soothing, but gets boring after a while (lack of variety). IMO catchy tunes suit puzzle games much better. I'm also quite fond of the ‘clug-clug' sound when you drag the stylus across tiles.

Multiplayer(6/10):
Only a single card is needed to play with a friend. You hold the DS by the side (Yes, you heard me right). The touch screen is your play area, while the upper screen shows your opponent's play area. In this mode you must clear tiles quickly so that tiles will fall on your opponent. There are several power ups to be used.

Replayability(10/10):
What with 100 puzzles to beat, getting a higher score in Challenge (good luck btw, best I got was a D), and multiplayer, this game will keep you occupied for a while. And even when all that is over, you can still make custom puzzles and challenge a friend to beat them. Or else download new puzzles (made by other people, from the web for instance) by entering the code specific to each puzzle into your DS.

Overall(8/10):
This game frustrates occasionally but it is heaps of fun. It also has humungous replayablity. Buy it, it's not very expensive. But as someone before me said: ‘Don't be stuck with Polarium as your only DS game'.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/25/05