Months ago my copy of this game arrived from an Ebay purchase and was put in a drawer to be forgotten until a few days ago when I found it again.  Now after playing the game for just an hour, it has to be the my favorite DS game of 2008!  Read on and get your own copy to enjoy any airport layovers you may have during the holiday travel season!

Gameplay
Meteos on the DS is unique puzzle game that tests memory, movement and thinking with the Nintendo acting stylus as your wand to conduct the magic.  The goal of the game is to defend your spacecraft and home world  by trying to connect puzzle blocks together to turn them into missiles that launch at the invading worlds.  Yes, the game has a strong space theme to it which seems to make me like more every time I play. 
 
Mechanically speaking, Meteos controls are simple, a lot like Tetris but in reverse.  Rather than lines disappearing once you create a matching set of blocks, the blocks propel upwards.  You use the stylus to grab and drag matching blocks next to each other.  After you have lined up more than three matching pieces horizontally they rocket upwards and off the screen.  The game has several planets which each affect how the blocks can be shot upwards and off your screen.  Some planets with lower gravity make the blocks rocket out of sight.  While other planets stronger gravity can cause the blocks to hover.  A hovering set of blocks can give you time to match more pieces on the floating stack causing less load on the stack and it will move off screen.

Moving the stylus is the preferred method of control but for the dexterous few you can try and control game play with the D-pad.  Good luck with that!

Graphics
Magnificent interstellar backgrounds are the first thing you see as you navigate the game menus.  An intelligently designed menu system makes it very easy to find your way around the numerous custom settings available to enhance your gaming experience.  The in-game graphics are equally stunning when you consider this is on the DS platform.  Each home planet has its own theme to set the mood with multicolored wallpapers and animated avatars representing the home worlds population.  The individual puzzle blocks are even animated on some planets.  The superb attention to detail means a lot to me because I am a software developer.  Take my word this game is rare in the DS family of games and could even be compared to Electroplankton!

Sound
Most of my gaming is done with the sound off, but I can tell you that the game has a good catchy sound track.  You could call it a techno-ambient.  Yet again, each planet has its own style of background music and the special effect sounds for adjusting and matching meteos change as well. 

Multiplayer
Mobilizing an army of friends to help fight the Meteos invasion is almost effortless!  The developers included several wireless features:  DS Download Play and a VS Mode.
The DS Download Play mode takes approximately a minute to transfer to another player.  Only simple mode is available with two game play rules available:  stock and timed.  During testing, I found that up to four players can play simultaneously in the download and play mode.  Please note that you will not get credit for any meteos launched in this mode.  VS mode pits you against another player and has no rule lock outs.
 
Website
Many of you would be surprised to hear that Q Entertainment, the producer of this game, also made the addictive puzzle game Every Extend Extra for the PSP.  You can visit their main website at http://www.qentertainment.com/english/english.html for more details on their amazing product lines.  Additionally, you should also know that Lumines II is considered the PSP clone of Meteos.  The website is very informative and will have you visiting Amazon to pick up their similarly themed games!
 
Summary
Masahiro Sakurai, who worked on in “Super Smash Bros” and “Kirby” series, participated in the planning, drafting and designing of Meteos.  In the world of game designers, he is one of the best and in my opinion Meteos only extends the legend.  Today in 2008, the game is still being played and enjoyed by a large community of fans.  I encourage you to pick up this game because it will be a sure hit that keeps you coming back for more in the years to come!

Recommended: Yes