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Fans of puzzle games have had a lot to get excited about on Nintendo DS. Many of the brightest moments in the system's early lineup have been new types of puzzle games as well as cool takes on old favorites. Meteos joins that list with its combination of falling-block puzzling and action-packed pace. Developed from an idea by Masahiro Sakurai, creator of Kirby and Super Smash Bros. Melee, Meteos is focused squarely on gameplay with surprising depth that is only revealed through repeated play.
The meteos of the title are the blocks that fall from the sky during play. Using the stylus, you arrange three or more meteos of the same color in a row or column causing an ignition. Ignitions send the meteos rocketing toward the top of the screen. Those meteos that reach the top edge of the screen are then added to your end of game launch totals. In multiplayer or competitive games against the AI, those same meteos are dropped as black fused blocks onto your opponent creating a tug of war to keep your screen from filling up to the top. It's a simple gameplay concept that becomes increasingly complex. It's also extremely frantic.  The major form of control features the stylus as your tool for aligning meteos. You can only move single blocks up or down in a column. No lateral movement is allowed. You've also got to be aware of which colors of meteos are more abundant on a given planet, what that planet's gravity is like and whether you get bonuses for firing columns or rows of meteos. When you first start playing, it's all you can do to make the needed ignitions to keep your screen from filling up. But like any great puzzle game, repeated play finds you setting up chain ignitions creating huge stacks of meteos that drop soul crushing piles of fused blocks down on your opponents. That's right, you can play the game with up to four players both wirelessly and with computer players. You can even set up teams of two on two or one on three along with the standard free for all game. In multiplayer, you can even decide who gets the brunt of your launched meteos. There are new elements of strategy that reveal themselves all the time. When combined with nearly thirty unlockable planets, all of which have strengths and weaknesses you can use in multiplayer, the game truly makes its case for best portable puzzle game when played with friends. That's probably Meteos biggest weakness too. It's a fun single player game, with an entertaining Star Trip mode that lets you see a pile of different endings and that helps you gather up more meteos to spend for items and planets. You can also buy all the musical tracks and sound sets from the excellent audio portion of the game. But as entertaining as single player is, it's just not enough to hold your interest indefinitely. You really need human opponents to get the most out of the game. The gameplay is focused so strongly on playing boards again and again that puzzle and arcade game fans are definitely the gamers best suited to playing Meteos for extended periods. Don't expect a huge story-based game because you won't get it. The game is a little weak on variety of challenges too with only four of the timed variety available in addition to Star Trip, Deluge (endless) and Simple matches. More could have been added for extra variety to gameplay.  If single player variety is something you demand, then this game won't last as long with you as it might with the multiplayer DS gamer. All the challenges and unlockables in single player are best enjoyed with one or more friends. That's easy to do if you have friends who have a DS but not this game. It features four-player gameplay with only one gamechip. It also allows you to download a version of the game to your pal's DS so they can take it along home with them and get hooked enough to buy it themselves. It's a devious way to create a multiplayer Meteos club for you to play with regularly and that's truly a revelation in portable gaming. A little more single-player variety would have catapulted the game to legendary status. But as it stands, this is still one of the best new puzzle games in years. 
Meteos can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike. It becomes fairly complex once you understand its nuances, but anyone can play for two minutes or two hours and earn a lot of meteos to unlock goodies. Every mode including multiplayer gives you something just for playing and those rewards keep both kids and adults glued to the game until all the major rewards are handed out.
The game rewards planning and quick thinking. It also rewards speedy precision movement with the stylus. These are all good skills for kids to learn. Puzzle games in general are excellent ways to exercise your children's brains at the same time they busy their hands. The rewards the game hands out aren't quite as robust as those in something like Super Smash Bros. Melee, but the gooides are likely to keep anyone's interest for long enough that the depth of gameplay will grab them. Meteos is all about the core game so if your kids are more inclined toward story-based games, this one probably won't last long. However, if they really get into game systems and playing over and over again for high scores, then there are few puzzle games that provide as many thrills and as much challenge as this one. Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Browse Amazon.com's selection of "Meteos" themed games Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Meteos |
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