METEOS

The readers post their own reviews.
Alienblue

METEOS

Postby Alienblue » June 4th, 2006, 5:34 pm

Meteos (Nintendo DS) C+
I expect this to stir some controversy. As stated before, this is the game that CONVINCED me to buy a DS. I love Tetris and I love space shooting games. A marriage of the two seemed like heaven and this game was RAVED everywhere man!
Sadly, within a few days after getting it I was pretty much just playing the pack-in SM64 (until I got some GIFT games from good freinds)...where to start? The game is too fast;pieces fall like crazy there is no "learning curve" as in most puzzlers. WHAWHAMWHAM! Pieces fall and you must match 'em with the stylus to blast off platforms. Yet despite the crazed pace the game was TOO EASY! Just scribble, scribble scribble....all over the screen and you'll make the matches. And move on to a cool new world with new shapes and new , great music and BEE-UTIFUL graphics.
But so what? It's passive entertainment...I never got a sense of accomplishment just a sore wrist! I never lost, always tirned it off because I got bored. Still, I keep the game thinking that "someday..SOMEDAY I'll figure out why some people like this so much.." Until then...well, the case is a pretty addition to my collection. And you can't say you own a DS and NOT METEOS! That's like having a sci-fi movie collection with no STAR WARS!- wheather you,uh, actually like it or not

Johnson73

METEOS

Postby Johnson73 » June 4th, 2006, 11:02 pm

The problem is that you are not approaching the game correctly.  You must practice and get good at the game.  Don't be tempted to scribble.  The more you play, the easier it becomes, and soon you will be holding down on a shoulder button to make the game go faster.  Eventually, you'll be able to play on the higher difficulty levels, where you almost certainly won't win if you scribble.  You must be able to look at the game as "offensive" instead of "defensive;" so to say, you must not think "I have remove these blocks from my screen so I don't lose."-instead, you must think "I need to get more blocks on the screen and blast the computer with them so I win."  I hope that makes sense.  Anyway, give it a good amount of time and effort, don't cheat, and I think the game may grow on you.  I didn't like it initially, either.

bluemonkey1
Posts: 2444
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

METEOS

Postby bluemonkey1 » June 5th, 2006, 4:03 pm

So even though the designers allowed the game to be played like that it is not playing it properly?


Johnson73

METEOS

Postby Johnson73 » June 5th, 2006, 5:11 pm

[QUOTE=bluemonkey]

So even though the designers allowed the game to be played like that it is not playing it properly?

[/QUOTE]

In some games, exploitable cheats just have to be ignored in order to fully enjoy them.  For example, in DDR, you could win must levels by getting on all fours and hitting eighth notes.  But who wants to do that?  To me, scribbling in Meteos is like using a cheat code that the programmers put into the game; sure, you are free to use it, but don't expect the game to be as much fun or as challenging.  Plus, if you try to scribble against a good opponent or high-level computer, you'll more than likely get roasted within 30 seconds.

Alienblue

METEOS

Postby Alienblue » June 6th, 2006, 4:49 am

..I'm sorry, J, I respect your opinions and the fact you like meteos but scribbling is NOT like a cheat code. If I put a cheat code in, I am OBVIOUSLY doing something intended only as a "last resort", not the way the game came out of the box as intended to be played. If I could beat QIX (a game I love) by scribbling quickly all over the screen, I would get bored with that too! The designers should have play-tested this more, SLOWED it down and made it so if you "scribbled" it would, like "TILT!" in pinball- it could've been done. But anyway, some puzzle games are just not to my liking. I do NOT like puyo-puyo, or Hatris, or catrap.
I love Tetris (esp. DS), Columns, Zookeeper,Bejeweled....games
like that. So maybe Meteos is just not for me. Still, to be fair, I will keep trying it from time to time. It has sentimental value (my first DS game!) so I won't sell it....

Johnson73

METEOS

Postby Johnson73 » June 6th, 2006, 11:04 am

I know what you mean; some games just aren't for some people.  But I really have to disagree with you regarding the use of scribbling.  The game was not intended to be played that way, the "technique" is usually only used as a last resort, and it puts you at a disadvantage on decent difficulty levels or against a good human opponent.  The solution is simple: just don't do it.  I know that sounds stupid, but if you just play the game correctly for a while, you'll be able to play on hard difficulty levels, and then scribbling won't even be an issue.

Plus, if you don't buy what I'm saying, go read some professional reviews of the game.  Almost all of them make mention of the scribbling tactic, yet very few consider it a significant flaw.


bluemonkey1
Posts: 2444
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

METEOS

Postby bluemonkey1 » June 6th, 2006, 12:48 pm

Like Alien says it is obvious with a touch screen input that that kind of thng is possible.  And it would be real easy to put in a bit of code that penalises people who do it.

Johnson73

METEOS

Postby Johnson73 » June 6th, 2006, 4:42 pm

Well, you could either do that or make it so you can't switch between columns without picking up the stylus, but both might be hard to implement without penalizing fast players.

Perhaps a better comparison would be to compare scribbling to button mashing in a fighting game.  It can help you out to a certain extent...but not against a good computer or human opponent.  However, it would be a challenge to eliminate it without messing up the core gameplay in some way.


bluemonkey1
Posts: 2444
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

METEOS

Postby bluemonkey1 » June 6th, 2006, 6:28 pm

Unless the fighting game is Soul Calibur .


Johnson73

METEOS

Postby Johnson73 » June 6th, 2006, 6:48 pm

Heh...I was actually thinking specifically of Soul Calibur when I said that.  That game does seem to be a bit of a favorite for button mashers, now that I think about it.  Playing against my little brother is fun-he seems to think that slamming "A" over and over is eventually going to break my guard.  And he wonders why he never wins...


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