The Games of my Life

Bought it yesterday, and played it for an hour or so. Here’s a few random thoughts:

• It’s a puzzle game, as everyone knows. Reminds me of Bejeweled and Puzzle Pirates‘ bilging puzzle, with a little bit of Tetris added to the mix. Basically, pieces (called “meteos”) fall from the top, and you don’t control them there (unlike Tetris); instead, you have to move them, after they’re down, using the stylus, to make columns or rows of three or more identical meteos. When you do so, they “ignite” and move to the top, taking everything on top of them with them. The goal is to make them leave the screen (if you’re competing with another player, or a “bot”, it’s even more important, as they fall into their screen), but sometimes you need to make more than one column or row quickly so they have enough thrust to leave the screen.
• The graphics are really great. For some reason, even though it’s using the same screen(s) as GBA games, the game seems much more colorful and “hi-res” than them. The game’s presentation is fantastic - those guys have put more care into the game’s menus than many developers put into entire games!
• Music and sounds are excellent, too. Dozens of different tunes, in many separate genres - reminds me, in a way, of Star Control 2. I’ve heard techno, trance, rock, even something like country, there. And you can unlock many tracks to play in the “extras” section.
• Each “planet” has different graphic styles, different music, and different rules. Even though the game’s basic rules are the same, in each level you have to adapt to different conditions - for instance, gravity may be lowered (which means you have to make simple rows or columns really fast) or increased (forcing you to plan your moves and make big combos). This is only one example, there are many more variations.
• There are lots of unlockables. New planets, materials, items and tunes. You’ll have to play a lot to get them.
• Can be played with up to 4 players, though I haven’t done so yet.

So far, I’m happy.