Before you pass judgement on this one factor alone however, consider that many of the gameplay mechanics from the original Meteos have been left untouched, with the minimal yet significant changes that have been made actually adding to the experience. For those of you who never played the original game, the basic premise of Meteos is to clear the screen of blocks that drop down into your screen. To get rid of them, you must place three like-coloured blocks in a straight line, either horizontally or vertically. Unlike other puzzle games however, instead of the blocks simply disappearing, they act as rockets and ‘launch’ into space. Aside from this, each level has a different gravitational pull which effects how far the blocks will launch and, more often than not, you’ll have to use remaining blocks in the stack to perform a secondary boost.
I just can't wait to be king!
The first major change in Meteos: Disney Magic can be seen in the way the game is played, with the DS itself held sideways (last seen in Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old is your Brain?), much like how you would hold a book. By orientating the game like this, the playing field is now higher than before, and allocates room for slightly bigger-sized blocks which fill the whole screen and don’t leave any blank areas. The larger blocks also repair a slight problem that occurred in the original, where you would occasionally select the incorrect block with the stylus. As for the top screen – or the left/right screen, given the new orientation – you’ll be treated to Disney character animations that change based on how high your stacks are. If the original is anything to go by however, most of the time your eyes will be glued to the touchscreen, leaving the other screen somewhat wasted.
The second change brings a completely new element to the gameplay. In the original game, players could only move the blocks up and down using the stylus, but Disney Magic adds a new twist to this by including the ability to move blocks sideways. Whilst this could be viewed by many as a degrading functionality for the franchise (as it would make match-making easier), it actually provides a fresh take on how you can pull off secondary boosts. In many cases with the original, we would have every single block in orbit, but would painfully watch a mass of grey plummet back towards the ground due to the lack of like-coloured blocks in reach of each other. With the inclusion of the sideways movement, it isn’t too hard to see it being taken advantage of in this instance. This is, however, limited only to the easy and normal modes; once you move on to hard mode, the classic “up and down only” movements apply. There’s also the elusive “Expert Mode”, that will no doubt put players to the test.
Multiplayer support for up to four players also makes a comeback, with the option of multi-card or single card play available. Sadly, there's a notable lack of an online mode, a shame given the growing popularity of Nintendo’s Wi-Fi service.
Santa has certainly seen better days.
So far, only a handful of Disney franchises have been confirmed for the game, including The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Pirates of the Caribbean and The Nightmare Before Christmas, amongst others. This is something of a disappointment, given that the original had literally dozens of alien worlds to choose from, all with different music tracks and gravitational pulls. We’ll give Q Entertainment the benefit of the doubt though, and wait until we can get our hands on the game before seeing if the reduced number of “worlds” affects the game’s lasting appeal.
Visually, the backgrounds appear to have been granted a facelift, with more vibrant details and colours on display. The Lion King stage, for example, has a range of rock formations and trees within a grass field that pays homage to the films. The blocks themselves also appear sharper, and are easily established from one another. It’s nice to see the Disney license hasn’t gone to waste.
By maintaining the gameplay mechanics of the original and adding a few new promising features, Meteos: Disney Magic looks as though it could be a huge success, and a worthy follow-up to its predecessor. Although already available in the US, Meteos: Disney Magic is currently scheduled for a late April release in Australia, and a Q2 release in Europe. Keep checking back in the coming weeks for our review.
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