|
The Good, The Bad, and The Meteos
Those gameplay modes provide even more replay value to a game that wasn't short on that feature to begin with. There are three separate versions of Star Trip, each with a different method of progressing through the levels, and four Time War modes. Time War's two minute and five minute bursts of gameplay are great for high score quests, and even more addictive are the 100 and 1000 Meteo Wars. The object of the Meteo War modes is to clear, logically enough, 100 or 1000 meteos in the shortest possible time, but the way the meteos react to ignition is different enough that 1000 mode isn't just ten times larger than 100. Other gameplay modes include the badly names "Simple", in which half a dozen options are open with which to set up the perfect game, and Deluge, which is a straightforward survival mode on the planet of choice. Finally, the wireless multiplayer modes are a breeze to set up and a blast to play.
Meteos isn't 100% perfect, though. It can be a bit fiddly getting the right tile to move when things are happening fast, easily leading to an aggravating defeat. Some levels have tiles that are a bit too similar in color, making what looked like a great combo turn out to be a big nothing. Finally, the computer AI can wander from brilliant to dumb as a stump, even on the hardest levels. It's possible to be soundly defeated five times running, only to have the computer seemingly give up the next round after only a few meteos salvos are thrown its way. Overally though, these are small problems that either a bit of practice can fix or don't happen often enough to seriously screw things up.
Must. Play. More!!!
If it isn't obvious by now, Meteos is an amazing game. It does take some getting used to, and isn't as instantly accessible as some other puzzlers, but Meteos' depth makes it superior to any three games from its genre combined. The wealth of options, gameplay modes, unlockables, and just amazingly fun gameplay make this one of the best games of its kind, and in a year that's seen both Zoo Keeper and Lumines that's not just a hollow compliment. The bottom line is, if you've got a DS, you need Meteos.
|
