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Meteos: Disney Magic Review

Q Entertainment and Buena Vista Games have teamed up to bring to you the sequel to the popular Nintendo DS puzzle game, Meteos, in Meteos: Disney Magic. Meteos: Disney Magic has the same style puzzle action as the original Meteos, which is made up of falling blocks similar to Tetris or Lumines that you combine by sliding them left and right and up and down in rows to connect three or more. This time the story has taken on a story book feel and they even make you turn your Nintendo DS sideways like you are holding a book. As you complete puzzles on the right screen, or left if you are left handed, the story unfolds on the left or right screen respectively.

The story is not very elaborate. Basically, someone has messed up all the books in the Disney vault and you have to fix them by linking together puzzle pieces to shoot them off the screen. Meteos: Disney Magic has you traveling through multiple classic Disney movie themes which include, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Little Mermaid, Winnie the Pooh, Lilo & Stitch, The Lion King, Cinderella, and Toy Story.

All of the different levels are themed after these movies above and you have to clear the levels by moving blocks around the screen with your stylus to form horizontal and vertical rows. Once you have made a row the blocks above it will blast up in the air. Sometimes they will go all the way off the screen and sometimes they will only go partially up the screen and you have to make another row of blocks in the pack of blocks before it falls back down the screen. If you make another row of same color blocks then all the blocks in the floating pack will blast off the screen.

There are also special abilities in different levels that you can unlock as you play to help you with the current puzzle. These special abilities include Nitro Boost, Slow Mode, and Horizontal Block Movement, which allow you to blast the block higher, slow them down or move them horizontally on higher difficulties. There are also special blocks in the game that allow you to change all blocks of one color into a different color, rocket them off the screen, and work as a wild card to be used as any color block. All of these features add to the variety of the game.

Speaking of variety, the game features a single-player mode, multiplayer single-card and multi-card gameplay. Single player consists of Story Mode and Challenge Mode that includes the standard keep playing until the blocks fill up the screen and Time Attack mode. Multiplayer modes let you play against up to three friends as you fire blocks back and forth to each other’s screens, similar to how Tetris multiplayer and other puzzle games work.

The sound effects and music are good and what I expected in a Disney themed puzzle game. I didn’t really recognize any of the songs from the movies, but they were themed correctly and fit with the themes of the levels. For example, the Lion King level has jungle themed music and the Winnie the Pooh level has music similar to what you would hear in one of those movies. All the music has a digital synthesized style to it, but it sounds good for a Nintendo DS game. The sounds for the movement of the blocks and them blasting off also fits well and I don’t know if they could’ve done anything different. In-between levels the menus have a familiar Disney theme song running throughout them that puts you into the Mickey Mouse mood.

The graphics are on par with other Nintendo DS puzzle games and are bright and colorful with decent animation on the one screen while you interact with the other. None of the animation is ground breaking, but it gets the job done and looks decent while doing it. Actually, you will probably be too busy look at the blocks and trying to clear the level on the touchscreen to look at the animation on the other screen. I guess this is where the bonus features come in.

Meteos: Disney Magic also includes bonus features you unlock by beating levels. They are okay, but they mainly consist of backgrounds, images, and animations you see while playing the game. I guess this is a nice feature but nothing that spectacular that I would’ve missed if they were left out of the game.

Final Verdict

Meteos: Disney Magic is a decent game and I guess what I expected when I heard that a Disney themed version of Meteos was coming out for Nintendo DS. I also own Meteos and I think if you like that game and are looking for a new challenge you will enjoy Meteos: Disney Magic. The story in the game was not the greatest and it is the same plot no matter which level of difficulty you play on, so once you beat Easy mode you will know what happens in the very simple story. I think they could’ve made the story more involved and entertaining, but I guess this game is more about the puzzle solving than the story. If you like Disney movies and are looking for a new puzzle game for Nintendo DS then you should enjoy Meteos: Disney Magic, but know going in that the game is more about the puzzle game action than anything else. The Disney characters are just there to liven up the action and appeal to those Disney fans out there that can’t get enough of the House of Mouse.

Score

7.5 out of 10

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Related Information

Posted by: cnc137
Date: March 26, 2007
Publisher: Disney Interactive Studios
Developer: Q Entertainment
Website: Disney.Go.com
Release Date: 02/27/2007
Genre: Puzzle
Number of Players: 1-4
ESRB Rating: Everyone
System Reviewed: Nintendo DS

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