article Related Topics:
Meteos
 

Meteos (Japanese: メテオス (Meteosu)) is an action puzzle video game for the Nintendo DS portable gaming system. The name of the game comes from the Japanese word "meteo", meaning and borrowed from the English word meteor. Meteos was developed by Q Entertainment and published by Bandai. The producer for the game was Tetsuya Mizuguchi and lead designer was Masahiro Sakurai. The game was released in Japan on March 10, 2005. The US release date was June 27, 2005.

Meteos has received very favorable reviews and previews (for example, this GameSpot review). Meteos is often compared to Lumines, a game for PlayStation Portable by the same developer. In general, Meteos relies heavily on speed and reflexes, while Lumines relies heavily on rhythm and concentration. Though both games feature colorful falling blocks, their gameplay is hardly alike.

On September 7, 2005 mobile gamemaker Gameloft announced that they would be bringing both Meteos and Lumines to cell phones. Also, on April 26, 2006, Buena Vista Games announced they would be publishing Meteos: Disney Edition.

Gameplay and controls

Most of the action takes place at the bottom screen of the DS unit (atmosphere). Blocks ("Meteos") fall down from the top of the screen and start to form stacks. The player can move blocks up and down in a stack using the stylus, or alternatively by using the control pad and A button.

The player aims to line up three or more matching blocks. When a horizontal or vertical row of at least three blocks is formed, the row of blocks will ignite and turn into a kind of tiny rocket engine. The rocket then pushes the blocks above it towards the top of the screen. To lift a large amount of blocks, additional rows of blocks must be formed in a quick succession (secondary ignition). Also, if an ignited pile of blocks falls back down and, in doing so, causes another set of blocks to ignite, the pile will boost back up again, wider than before. This is called a step jump.

The goal of the game is to lift blocks past the top of the bottom screen, turning them into sparks at the top screen (orbit). If any column of unignited blocks grows beyond the top of the bottom screen and is not dealt with, it's game over (annihilation). When a stack of blocks gets dangerously high, the stack will flash and the game will sound a warning signal, until either the game ends or a quick action by the player averts the disaster.

Holding down the L or R button, or tapping the appropriate on-screen icon, activates the speeder, making blocks fall faster. Certain game modes allow the player to collect items, which produce various helpful effects when the player activates them. Certain levels have subtle differences in gameplay to add variety.

Further adding to the difficulty of the game is that each planet has different physics that affects the speed of falling blocks, the gravity the blocks experience, and the acceleration that ignition gives the blocks. One world has blocks that fall if as if underwater; in another world, it's almost required to achieve secondary ignition in order to move blocks off the screen. Also, the types of Meteos that fall on a world or that can be launched by others will depend on that world. For all the unburnt Meteos that you do launch, these are accumulated as points in the main screen in order to unlock new worlds that you can use as your base, as well as sound tracks, additional powerups, and other features within the game.

Story

An evil planet called Meteo is shooting colored streams of energy (which take the form of the colored blocks manipulated by the player) at other planets. All planets are reduced to rubble as Meteo destroys all civilizations in a reign of chaos and destruction. All hope seems lost until three of the same color happen to hit one another and fly back to where they came from, namely, Meteo. The indigenous aliens of each planet decide to defend themselves by aligning the blocks, thus shooting them back towards their source. When enough meteo blocks were stored all the races of the universe created the Metamo Ark. The Metamo Ark is built, flying through space to reach planet Meteo and use its own Meteos blocks against it to defeat it once and for all.

Planets

There are 32 planets total to play, each with its own unique rules, levels of gravity, music, and visuals:

Future

During a pre-E3 2006 announcement, Q Entertainment revealed that a sequel to Meteos would be published. Entitled Meteos: Disney Edition, the sequel would merge the gameplay of Meteos with Disney characters. "Buena Vista Games Enters Agreement to Publish Four New Games from Q Entertainment". Gamespot. URL Accessed 2 June 2006.

Miscellaneous information

  • The soundtrack of Meteos is mostly composed of epic orchestral themes.
  • The producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi was inspired by variety of popular culture works:
  • A playable demo of Meteos was the first Nintendo DS game to be distributed via wireless download kiosks.
  • The European version of Meteos had to be edited because of "subliminal" sexual references, according to a live interview on 1up.com.
  • The game Star Fox 64 published by Nintendo contains an asteroid belt named Meteo
  • If listened to closely, the music that plays on the planet Suburbion also includes a voice saying "temperature is seven-zero" or "
    -- and point four two."

Awards

  • IGN: Editor's Choice Award

See also

References

External links

2005 computer and video games | Nintendo DS games | Mobile phone games | Puzzle computer and video games

Meteos | メテオス

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Meteos".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world