Meteos

"Meteos is the best game since Tetris"

When you first boot up Meteos, you are in for a spectacle indeed. As soon as the game begins, an amazing intro movie plays. In rich, beautiful detail, you learn of evil planet Meteos and it's assault on the universe. You stand in horror before the senseless destruction of planet after planet under the crushing matter launched by Meteos. In the background, an epic, breathtaking scores runs, setting the mood. Then, you gasp as small planet Geolyte is about to fall, when three Meteo line up, turn into rockets, and push off the planet, saving it. The Geolytians cheer, and the music shifts to delight. Then, you applaud, as the sentient beings of the galaxy repel the attack, and the balance of power begins to shift. Finally, the new Metamo Ark, a spaceship, departs to defeat Meteos. Yes, this is a puzzle game. Yes it has a story. In fact, this story receives an 8 for 10.

Meteos dares to break the mold, and for those who play it, changes the rules of what a puzzle game can be. It is an amazing experience, one that scores incredibly across the board. The entire package: the sights, the sounds, the mood, everything is astonishing. Put plain and simple, Meteos is addicting.

Meteos' gameplay, the meat on the sandwich, is simple. In Meteos, you have been charged the task of protecting your planet. Blocks, called Meteo, fall from the top of the screen on to the bottom. As they reach for the top of the atmosphere, the risk rises. Once they spill over, your planet novas.

To prevent utter destruction, you use the stylus to drag the Meteo blocks up and down in their columns. When you line three of the same color, they turn into rockets and blast skyward. The stack may clear the atmosphere and disappear, or it may be too heavy and begin to fall back down. If this happens, you have to create another launch inside the stack. This adds to the challenge. I give gameplay a 10 for 10.

However, there is so much more to Meteos then this simple gameplay. In Meteos, the visuals, the sandwich's bread, aren't a problem either; as a matter of fact, they are stunning. The intro movie alone is spectacular visual work; you can barely believe it is running on the DS. The game doesn't fall short during playtime, though; far from it. The animation of Meteo blocks are simple, yet clear, concise, and appealing. It won't induce headache, but sure can make a good distraction. Further, on the top screen, the species on your planet dance along with the pace of the game, and these little critters are very well created, quite cool, and entertaining. The only downside, though, is that on some planets, Meteo blocks are hard to distinguish. For some minor faults, I give graphics a 9 for 10.

Next in Meteos' long list of successes are the sandwich condiments, the audio. Of all modern games, I found the music to be easily some of the best. Not only is the main theme catchy (I have found it stuck in my head for the last week), but the sounds effects flat out rock. More so, each planet has it's own theme music, and you can easily be lost in the tunes. If they took this game's music and created a soundtrack, I seriously think they could sell it for profit; I would willingly buy it. The music of Meteos is a wonder, one that manages to wrap itself cleanly into the game without feeling out of place. For this, audio receives 10 for 10.
Finally, the crucial aspect for making a game a classic: replayability. In Meteos, just for being a puzzle game, this is nearly limitless. You can simply play this for hours, trying to do nothing but have fun, or maybe break high-scores. Yet Meteos goes the extra step and adds so much more. The first element is extras. As you play the game, every single Meteo block you blast of the screen gets added to a running count. You can then use these acquired Meteos to fuse a multitude of objects: new items that drop during play and add an element of randomness; sound effects and music from other planets to play in a in-game jukebox; more planets themselves. So much time can be spent just trying to unlock everything. Many modes, from simple games to a story mode, increase replayability even more. Do solely to a sheer amount of great additions, I give replayability 10 for 10.

Overall Meteos is a game that dares to be unique, dares to break the mold, and dares to addict you. In all these aspects, it has become a wild success. Meteos is a killer-app, a game that should be a system seller. I feel it is overlooked, but this is a beauty even casual gamers shouldn't pass up. If you own only one puzzle game in your life, it should be Meteos. If you have a DS, buy it now. If you don't, buy a DS, and buy Meteos now. I truly believe it is the best thing game Tetris. Meteos, from me, receives a perfect 10 for 10. It deserves to be owned. Meteos breaks the mold, and is one awe-inspiring gaming experience.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 02/13/06