Players: 1-4
Publisher: Bandai
Developer: Q Entertainment
Genre: Puzzle
Review By: Michael Fox

“Meteos really does upstage Tetris in almost every way possible.”

I’ve seen it all too often with a puzzle game on the GameBoy or the DS; a game that resembles Tetris in any way is automatically compared to it and fails. In certain situations, this comparison is fully justified. However, there are a select few where the game is actually trying to do something on its own and can’t help but borrow traits from Tetris. Tetris is one of those games that I’ve played over the years and keep going back to (and it’s nice to know it will likely always be around due to its indefinable charm), but it just doesn’t seem to cut it at the moment. Essentially porting it to every new Nintendo handheld will surely provide decent sales with the few random features added each time, but not that much has changed, or could change for that matter. It’s time we accept that Tetris is a game of the past and embrace those new games that try to incorporate its successes with their own. Meteos is the game that takes all that was good in Tetris and works it into its own framework.

It’s true — Meteos does appear to function much like Tetris on first glance, but after a few minutes is spent figuring out the simplistic method to its madness, you’ll see that Meteos really does upstage Tetris in almost every way possible. Meteos is a game that uses the touch screen controls only for what is necessary (which is mostly everything, but the game is so simple in nature so there isn’t much to mess up) and leaves out any attempt to complicate things for the sole purpose of getting more out of the touch screen. With this minimalistic mindset that Q Entertainment has, they’ve made the controls so basic that it now becomes the kind of pick-up-and-play game Tetris wishes it could be. Meteos takes things even further by creating an experience so intense as you progress that it almost becomes agonizing — your hand starts to cramp, your head pulsates, and you’ll blink in confusion as you realize you can no longer distinguish one block from another as the colours begin to blur. Some of you may be shouting at the top of your lungs in hatred for this description I’ve provided, but if you attempt to master the game like I have, you shouldn’t have a problem agreeing with me.

Like I mentioned earlier, the touch screen controls are very simple — all you have to do is touch the desired block and move it up or down to the desired position. This is rather easy when your session first starts and everything is at a calm pace, but after things pick up you’ll become increasingly frustrated as you move the wrong block or can’t put it in the right spot. No, the controls aren’t buggy, things are simply moving so fast that, unless you act with utter precision, you’re screwed.

One of the highlights of Meteos is how everything seems to fit so well and yet offers a fantastic amount of replay value. Within the story, you fight to protect numerous planets from destruction due to a bombardment of blocks. In order to save the day, you must fuse at least three blocks of the same colour together by lining them up, creating a platform of rockets that propel upwards with the blocks on top of them into the cosmos. This may seem like gameplay that will quickly become bland, but there are quite a few things that prevent this. Each planet you attempt to save displays a completely different theme from most of the other planets. This includes altered stylings (both visual and audio), a different makeup of blocks, and gravitational pull. All these combined create a slightly new experience each time, keeping things fresh. Meteos has your typical modes, but what’s interesting is how it keeps track of a plethora of stats. These include how long you’ve played the game, how many times you’ve powered up, or the number of blocks you’ve launched into space. The further you progress with these stats, the more you’ll unlock.

It’s hard to think that a puzzle game could work on so many levels to the point where it’s almost an instant classic. Unless you absolutely despise puzzle games, there isn’t any logic you could provide supporting not getting Meteos. The controls work flawlessly with the DS and forces you to get better as you play. Meteos really stands out in being such a simple game while displaying creativity and easy of use.