Wow, two sets of actual impressions in the first post on the first page of a thread? What's next - Republicans and Democrats saying nice things to each other? Rage and Nintendo saying nice things to each other?
At any rate, on to the impressions....
MeteosQuick summary: Best DS game yet - wth are you waiting for go buy it!!
I picked up both Kirby and Meteos yesterday afternoon, and once I popped Meteos in I proceeded to play it nonstop for the next 4 1/2 hours - if my battery hadn't died I would probably have played it even longer. If you're not familar with the basic concept of this puzzle game, both the
IGN and
Gamespot video reviews do a pretty good job explaining it. Basically you manipulate various colored blocks to turn them into rockets, and launch them to the top of the screen. Once they hit the top, they turn into 'bullets' that are used to attack your opponent. Each planet you face off with has varying degrees of gravity, different looking blocks, etc. It's another one of those quick to learn, impossible to put down types of puzzle concepts that will keep you coming back for more. It also helps that it's a unique concept and not another Tetris type of clone.
So what makes this better than any other puzzle game out there? Quite simply, the amount of depth and attention to presentation they've put into this puzzle game is astounding. This line from the IGN review summarizes it best:
The game's production has this uncanny Super Smash Bros. feeling, which can be attributed to the designer of Meteos, Masahiro Sakurai, who was also responsible for the original N64 fighter during his days at Hal. Meteos is the designer's first puzzle game, but it features the same attention to interface to Smash Bros.Some of the things I've noticed so far along these lines:
- Lavishly designed menus with a great interface for navigating them
- Full stat tracking
- Tons of single player gametypes, each of which is extremely customizable. Heck, there are even three different 'story modes', two of which also feature multiple branching (and something like 11 unique endings).
- Detailed backgrounds, tons of great music + sound effects
- Playable credit sequence
- Tons of different planets to find and play through
- Tons of multiplayer game types. Not only does it support the ability to download multiplayer games to another DS that doesn't have the cartridge, it also has the ability to download a seperate single player demo for your friends to try out.
- Awesome looking FMV intro
- Tons of unlockables - music, planet backgrounds, etc.
- Fusion room lets you create new planets, items, music, rare metals, etc.
The only downside I've seen so far is that it's impossible to put down. I think that's it's not only the best game out there on the DS right now, but the first real 'must have' game for the system.
KirbyBecause of my Meteos addiction I was only able to play Kirby for about 2 hours (I'm on world 3), but so far I've liked what I've seen. It definitly feels like a much more fleshed out version of Yoshi's Touch-N-Go, although I had a hard time adjusting to this game from Yoshi initially (it took me a while to get used to Kirby sticking to the lines).
The thing I like about Kirby is that it definitly has that Tony Hawk 'open ended' feeling to it - there are infinite ways to guide Kirby through the level, and what seems like an unlimited amount of secrets/combos to be discovered. There's definitly a lot of game here too; there are multiple challenges/gametypes for each single player level, and you can use the medals earned from all of those games to unlock all sorts of various stuff. I like the fact that the game does a Pictochat ping in the background in the off chance that someone wants to chat with you while you are playing.
Graphically, the game has a very interesting watercolor look to its characters and backgrounds. Some of the backgrounds are very sharp looking, while the characters themselves could be a little more detailed.
Overall, a strong game that plays up to the strengths of the DS' capabilities - if you already have Meteos and are looking for a second game to pick up, then Kirby might be a winner.
