Polarium

"Simple, but unbalanced."

The DS is a very intriguing system with a very diverse library. One specific genre where it has flourished is the puzzler. With games like Meteos and Puyo Pop Fever, another puzzler can't hurt the impressive two-screened special. This new stylus-driven game is Polarium. Does Polarium stand up to its powerful competition?

Graphics 7/10

Polarium is black and white. No seriously, it's black and white. Okay, there's the occasional pink and rainbow, but get used to black and white. Polarium's name is driven from “polarity”, as in opposite, as in black and white. The core of the game is flipping tiles from either black to white, or vice versa. Using the stylus you can flip the tiles, and when you complete a row, the tiles disappear in a bright, sparkly animation. And that's pretty much it. It's a puzzler, not complex. The colors do look pretty futuristic and the disappearing animations are pretty good to look at. But the game is pretty much the same over and over. Not bad by any means, just repetitive.

Audio 6/10

The audio in Polarium is not particularly bad, just more along the lines of overused. The background music is pretty basic; some very mysterious techno shimmers do provide some character and sound okay. The background music is not diverse at all. The biggest annoyance of all is the overused clicking when flipping tiles. Though not bad, it gets annoying when getting into the frantic gameplay. The audio is very boring. That's all I can say.

Gameplay 7/10

Polarium: is it the next Tetris? Well, Polarium does take advantage of the DS stylus and pretty much throws the remaining controls out the window. No buttons, no d-pad, just stylus. Using the stylus, the player must flip tiles over to their opposite polarity and create lines so they disappear. To do this, the player must tap a tile, then drag their stylus to another tile (or tap another tile). By tapping the end of the line, all tiles flip to their opposite polarity. The controls are unique and functional, but Polarium does get a little touchy with the stylus manipulation. This isn't a game to play in the car, kids, unless you like having puncture marks all over that bottom screen on your DS. However, the game does have two unique single-player modes to play.

The first mode is Challenge Mode. Challenge Mode is classic Tetris-style gameplay: the blocks are falling and you have to make them disappear before they stack too high. This sounds like a brilliant and traditional idea for this new stylus-driven game. Nope. While you do get to make the blocks disappear with the stylus, and the two-screens make it a bit more bearable, the game just doesn't work in this way. Most of the time the blocks crash down at high speeds and in effect, you try to find out the most efficient way to remove all the blocks at once. By that time, the blocks are stacked too high and you lose. The overall pace doesn't fit the controls. Challenge Mode is fun for a little bit, but fails to become a very compelling game experience.

The second mode is Puzzle Mode, and thankfully, it is much better than Challenge Mode. Puzzle Mode is a nifty mode where the game gives you a set of tiles. Your job is to eliminate all blocks on screen in only one line. This game takes advantage of the game's pace much better, allowing for the player to use trial-and-error easily and think things out well. There's a plethora of puzzles to complete, and you can even create your own puzzles to send to your friends wirelessly. Puzzle Mode is a very fun and addictive mode and makes up for the lackluster Challenge Mode.

Multiplayer is probably my favorite part of Polarium. The DS's wireless features are used incredibly well. The DS's excellent download play feature allows you to download a demo of the game to another DS owner. That means that they can play without having the game. The demo includes a tutorial, a few puzzles, and the awesome two-player versus. Not only that but if both players do have the game, you can share puzzles and see if you can conquer your companion's crazy colorless creation. All in all, Polarium has pieces missing, but does deliver a fresh new gameplay experience.

Replay Value 7/10

The multiplayer is very well done and playing versus mode with a friend is addictive thanks to the download play. The puzzles are plentiful, but the Challenge Mode doesn't have very much longevity outside of quick gaming fixes. Polarium does have some lifespan, but really could've used more.

Final Verdict 7/10

Polarium is made up of many pieces, but not all of the pieces are functional. The Puzzle Mode is challenging and addictive, and the multiplayer is well-designed. The Challenge Mode, however, is a letdown due to its incompatibility of the frantic fall-down pace and the stylus manipulation controls. Because of this lack of fast-paced gaming, Polarium is a much more thought-oriented game. Is that good? Well, yes, but not for everyone. Polarium is not the next Tetris. With lackluster attempts at fast-paced gameplay and some sub-par presentation, the game is far from perfect. If you like a thinking game, Polarium is a prime choice. If not, then it's best as a rental.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/09/05