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Meteos impressions

Yes I'm a meanie, but that's part of my personality.

For the DS I love Yoshi's Touch & Go and think that's highly deserving of it's 35/36 or whatever it got and is by far the system seller. But yea otherwise there haven't been any AAA DS games IMO.

Anyhow I'm not saying that Meteos is bad at all. No way, Meteos is a cool puzzle game with tons of replay value. I just said it's not a 38/40. It's a 38/40 the same way RE0 is a 38/40 by Famitsu standards if they exist.

Anyhow Meteos = good, Another Code = kinda good but not great, Pac Pix = ok IMHO, yet Famitsu rated all of them pretty high and well beyond what I believe they should be scored at. So sorry if I don't put much faith into Famitsu scores.

*edit* oh and Pacman Arrange >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Pac Pix. Yet Namco Museum gets a 30, Pac Pix a 32 @_@ Pacman Arrange is AWESOME :P
 
"It's a 38/40 the same way RE0 is a 38/40 by Famitsu standards if they exist."

You do realize that you're saying Meteos is the equivalent of a 13/40 in real world terms. :p
 
Bebpo's an RPG OVERLORD so you have to forgive his lack of taste in other genres ;)
There's a few people on the Japanese boards who don't love it too much, but a lot of people, like myself, are addicted.
 
Bebpo said:
--The DS while bringing the neat idea of a touchpad to the market has also stemmed a new problem in gaming: Touch accuracy.

That is a limitation in human motor control. Essentially the smarter you are the faster your reaction time is, and the less likely you are to "miss-tap". If a person is retarded or a stoner theirr reaction time will really suck - compared to a genius. I don't really think it is the fault of the DS, its just your human limitations. I don't know your own case, but for me when it starts going fast there is a problem with the time it takes to tap and the time it takes to move your hand. IE the farther your second tap is from the original tap, the less accurate that second tap will be + factoring in reaction time. If the speed increases there will be a point where you can no longer progress because it is simply too fast for your own brain to process the target and react in time. It is really too bad because you can not increase your reaction time, you can only train your brain to recognize patterns better. I know Nintendo knows this and instead of just making things fall faster like in Tetris, they have found a more interesting ways to increase the difficulty without simply relying on reaction time - which is great IMHO.
 
Bebpo said:
Yes I'm a meanie, but that's part of my personality.

For the DS I love Yoshi's Touch & Go and think that's highly deserving of it's 35/36 or whatever it got and is by far the system seller. But yea otherwise there haven't been any AAA DS games IMO.

Anyhow I'm not saying that Meteos is bad at all. No way, Meteos is a cool puzzle game with tons of replay value. I just said it's not a 38/40. It's a 38/40 the same way RE0 is a 38/40 by Famitsu standards if they exist.

Anyhow Meteos = good, Another Code = kinda good but not great, Pac Pix = ok IMHO, yet Famitsu rated all of them pretty high and well beyond what I believe they should be scored at. So sorry if I don't put much faith into Famitsu scores.

*edit* oh and Pacman Arrange >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Pac Pix. Yet Namco Museum gets a 30, Pac Pix a 32 @_@ Pacman Arrange is AWESOME :P

Hey, we know Famitsu is the worst possible source for valuable reviews. They're absolutely worthless by any meaningful measure, since they have no standards.

I mean, if you had to give it a score... 32/40? 34/40? I mean, none of that matters. You just said Meteos is "good", so that's worth getting no? :D

I heard a lot of people had problems with Another Code, so I'm not surprised by your comment. I guess I shouldn't be surprised considering the developer.

AS FOR PAC PIX... well... I'll take your word for it. I am interested in both namco Museum and Pac Pix.
 
Yea a 32/40 for Meteos seems about right.

My main problem is that it seems pretty shallow. With Lumines it was all about thinking and making strategies for setting up huge combos + being able to react on the fly. But with Meteos because the game is so fast paced (levels under 2 mins) the game is just about reacting on the fly and lining up stuff ASAP then after that look for something near it that can combo into it and line up stuff ASAP then try to line up stuff while it's falling ASAP. Basically the entire game consists of searching quickly with your eyes and lining up a bunch of the same colored blocks. It's fun for a bit, but to me it's the kind of play mechanic that gets old fast and unlike Tetris and Lumines which are thinking games, Meteos really feels like it'll be on the shelf and collecting dust by next week.

Pac Pix is more that the touch detection is stupid which in turn limits the fun factor. For example you can't just draw a pac-man. No you have to draw him in the exact stroke order that they show you. You have to start at the upper right and zig zag in and out and then close up the circle. If you try to draw pac-man counter-clockwise nothing happens. Start elsewhere? Nothing happens. Draw pac-man in a less than good way...nothing happens. Then you have the other functions like drawing walls which work say 9/10 times, but then 1 out of every 10 times your wall doesn't stop pac-man and he goes off screen and you lose a life. The stop and drag function for pac-man controls pretty bad too. Otherwise it's a really cool tech demo to show off to people and the game is kinda fun in a really simplistic way. But the control issues totally hamper the experience.

Pacman Arrange on the other hand...just think of the 2d Saturn bomberman with tons of powerups, cool level gimmicks, great level design, and good graphics. Only downpoint is it's pretty short. But otherwise the game is the best pac-man ever.
 
Bebpo said:
Yea a 32/40 for Meteos seems about right.

My main problem is that it seems pretty shallow. With Lumines it was all about thinking and making strategies for setting up huge combos + being able to react on the fly. But with Meteos because the game is so fast paced (levels under 2 mins) the game is just about reacting on the fly and lining up stuff ASAP then after that look for something near it that can combo into it and line up stuff ASAP then try to line up stuff while it's falling ASAP. Basically the entire game consists of searching quickly with your eyes and lining up a bunch of the same colored blocks. It's fun for a bit, but to me it's the kind of play mechanic that gets old fast and unlike Tetris and Lumines which are thinking games, Meteos really feels like it'll be on the shelf and collecting dust by next week.

Well, I hope my experience is different. I haven't played Lumines or Meteos and am looking forward to both immensely :(

Bebpo said:
Pac Pix is more that the touch detection is stupid which in turn limits the fun factor. For example you can't just draw a pac-man. No you have to draw him in the exact stroke order that they show you. You have to start at the upper right and zig zag in and out and then close up the circle. If you try to draw pac-man counter-clockwise nothing happens. Start elsewhere? Nothing happens. Draw pac-man in a less than good way...nothing happens. Then you have the other functions like drawing walls which work say 9/10 times, but then 1 out of every 10 times your wall doesn't stop pac-man and he goes off screen and you lose a life. The stop and drag function for pac-man controls pretty bad too. Otherwise it's a really cool tech demo to show off to people and the game is kinda fun in a really simplistic way. But the control issues totally hamper the experience.

That sounds really awkward. johntv made it sound like it was just fine, but now you're scaring me. Is it something that you can get used to relatively quickly, like awkward controls? Can you improve enough so that the problem is non-existant?

Bebpo said:
Pacman Arrange on the other hand...just think of the 2d Saturn bomberman with tons of powerups, cool level gimmicks, great level design, and good graphics. Only downpoint is it's pretty short. But otherwise the game is the best pac-man ever.

Best Pac-Man ever!? Aside from the original, right? Right? 'Cause that is a tall order. But you're making me even more excited for it!
 
Amir0x said:
That sounds really awkward. johntv made it sound like it was just fine, but now you're scaring me. Is it something that you can get used to relatively quickly, like awkward controls? Can you improve enough so that the problem is non-existant?

You can improve by basically learning the quirks in the detection and making sure you're falling within the standards that it expects. But even in the later parts of the game I'm still losing a pac-man to a useless wall (especially when I have to be quick) every few minutes which just feels like a cheap death.

Best Pac-Man ever!? Aside from the original, right? Right? 'Cause that is a tall order. But you're making me even more excited for it!

Well I mean the original is classic and hey it never ends so I guess it's better. But Pacman arrange is much more fun due to the level designs and powerups so I dunno.
 
Bebpo said:
You have to start at the upper right and zig zag in and out and then close up the circle. If you try to draw pac-man counter-clockwise nothing happens. Start elsewhere? Nothing happens. Draw pac-man in a less than good way...nothing happens.
You don't have to always start at that exact point -- you can do it backwards too. The only rule is that you have to start with the "V" part (inside the mouth) and work around from there. Whether you start on the left side or the right doesn't make a difference.

Bebpo said:
Then you have the other functions like drawing walls which work say 9/10 times, but then 1 out of every 10 times your wall doesn't stop pac-man and he goes off screen and you lose a life. The stop and drag function for pac-man controls pretty bad too. Otherwise it's a really cool tech demo to show off to people and the game is kinda fun in a really simplistic way. But the control issues totally hamper the experience.
Yeah, lines can be frustrating at times. Arrows and bombs, too. But on the whole it hasn't bothered me that much. Usually I've found the only times the walls don't work out is when an enemy has "erased" the green part (if it's brown it won't work). But man do I ever hate it when I NEED to get a well-placed arrow off and A) it keeps not drawing properly, and B) the bitchass ghosts keep walking in front of me. :)

Bebpo said:
Pacman Arrange on the other hand...just think of the 2d Saturn bomberman with tons of powerups, cool level gimmicks, great level design, and good graphics. Only downpoint is it's pretty short. But otherwise the game is the best pac-man ever.
I dunno if I'd say best ever but I do agree it's a lot of fun! You need to try it 2P co-op as well. It's even better. :)
 
i'd disagree on a couple of points, but i'm not looking for a fight! ;)

I really loved Lumines, but i sucked at it for the longest time. I thought it was "good" but not amazing, it took a long time for the full mechanics of the game to click, but when it does, it's like "OH SH!T ! now i get it!" and you appreciate what the game is doing.

I've played Meteos for about 10 minutes and my reaction so far is "Christ this is hard". I dunno - i just get the feeling that there will be a similar Lumines type "Oh, THAT's what this is all about" so i'm not gonna try and nail down what i think just yet.

The pace is a nice change from lumines though which at times feels like playing a looooong and enjoyable DJ set....

oh, and so far Pac Pix seems really fun!
 
*remembers the 27-2 ass raping at Lumines 2 players*

oh, shit, i seem to have accidentally thrown the cartridge away! darn.....
 
Status update:
Booted 17 times
On time 12:12
Play time 9:22
Simple plays 67
Simple play time 4:24
Startrip plays 17
Startrip play time 4:12
Endings seen 11
Challenge plays 8
Challenge play time 0:20
Time attack plays 1
Time attack play time 0:02
Meteos launched 80643
Items used 435
Ignition times 10473
Burnt meteos 33074

and the spoiler stuff:
16
planets built so far, including
Meteos
, which required about 20,000 Meteos to synth! I think there's only 30 actually, not 32.
 
is the 'screen' area really tiny in Meteos?? it looks really tiny.

I will be getting Lumines, and Meteos --- Meteos seems much more of my type of game, fast pased and needs good reaction time... is this the case? Does it feel like a shooter turned puzzler kinda energy?

To me Ikaruga felt like 45% a puzzle game --- and I love that .... I would like a puzzle game that felt like 45% a shooter (as far as pacing goes)

The unlockables seem awesome : D I'm sick of playing ZooKeeper over and over for no reward :lol :lol
 
Bebpo said:
My main problem is that it seems pretty shallow. With Lumines it was all about thinking and making strategies for setting up huge combos + being able to react on the fly. But with Meteos because the game is so fast paced (levels under 2 mins) the game is just about reacting on the fly and lining up stuff ASAP then after that look for something near it that can combo into it and line up stuff ASAP then try to line up stuff while it's falling ASAP. Basically the entire game consists of searching quickly with your eyes and lining up a bunch of the same colored blocks. It's fun for a bit, but to me it's the kind of play mechanic that gets old fast and unlike Tetris and Lumines which are thinking games, Meteos really feels like it'll be on the shelf and collecting dust by next week.

It seems more like you are complaining that it is "fast" or "hard" than "shallow".
Can you not plan ahead when arranging the blocks that have fallen, placing them into patterns that will allow maximum lift when a particular block is moved? I palyed the flash demo extensively and found it to be quite deep. I should hope the game itself hasn't lost those qualities.
 
From the trailers, this game looks like a "spiritual successor" to Tetris Attack. Does it have the same feeling when you play it? If it does, or has a similar one, it's a definite buy for me. Tetris Attack/Panel de Pon/Pokemon Puzzle League is the best puzzle game in my opinion.
 
Mihail said:
From the trailers, this game looks like a "spiritual successor" to Tetris Attack. Does it have the same feeling when you play it? If it does, or has a similar one, it's a definite buy for me. Tetris Attack/Panel de Pon/Pokemon Puzzle League is the best puzzle game in my opinion.
Nah, it's really nothing at all like Tetris Attack. I don't think anything ever will be. :)
 
Ok IGNDS posted new videos of Meteos:

http://media.ds.ign.com/media/695/695613/vids_1.html

I've been interested in the game as the premise sounds interesting. But after watching the videos I realize I won't enjoy this game anymore. I still think the premise seems cool but the_N64_level_synthized_midi_music_grates_my_ears.

For me, having a game aurally pleasing is as important as having a game graphically pleasing. I can't take low quality music and sound effects in games anymore.
 
okay, i played until about 2 o'clock this morning and the game kicks ass.

Once you get over the sucking and realise some better ways to propel the bricks upwards, it becomes very nice indeed.

I'm sure i have a lot more to learn yet.

It's an interesting change of pace from Lumines. Lumines strung out for an age , but this is rapid and you feel in a constant state of panic - you clear a large section of the screen and more bricks come flying down at an insane rate. It's like having the top two lines of a lumines screen left on a fast skin. :)

Each planet is effectively a skin - with different graphics, theme, number of certain blocks, and of course music. And that's the area of the game i've been most surprised about - the games music - christ, it's fricken awesome.

Multiplayer is kick ass, i like the camera system too so you can "see" what is going on with the other players.

great stuff.
 
The music is awesome? Is some of the quality being lost in those vids?

DCharlie download the second vid and tell me what you think. Because I would not call the music in that 2nd IGN vid 'awesome'.
 
Bebpo said:
Just pretend Famitsu is run by monkeys with typewrites that only have the buttons 6-10 on them. Their scores will suddenly make a lot more sense and you'll feel less confused.

My keyboard doesn't have a 10 button :(
Those elitist japanese.
 
ah, they just used a level with fairly mute music.

i'll get a cable today and capture some of the music from other levels.

Music is obviously personal, and it's very "retro scene" sounding, which is what i like a lot about it. The multiplayer option screen track is fantastic. Me and the GF were gonna play a vs. game but ended up just sat in the options screen listneing...
 
See Bebpo...

this is why i love DCharlie. He tells me what I want to hear! He won't let me be disappointed. Will you, DCharlie... no you wouldn't do that to poor Amir0x.

*rubs face against DCharlie's leg*
 
"See Bebpo...
this is why i love DCharlie. He tells me what I want to hear! He won't let me be disappointed. Will you, DCharlie... no you wouldn't do that to poor Amir0x.
*rubs face against DCharlie's leg*"

Be warned, if you don't like feeling stressed, this game is not for you
 
wow! I just downloaded some of the new clips on IGN!

I really wanna import this NOW! the steel-drumb planet = geniouse!
 
PkunkFury said:
It seems more like you are complaining that it is "fast" or "hard" than "shallow".
Can you not plan ahead when arranging the blocks that have fallen, placing them into patterns that will allow maximum lift when a particular block is moved? I palyed the flash demo extensively and found it to be quite deep. I should hope the game itself hasn't lost those qualities.

See but it's the opposite. The game is EASY, because there is very little deep strategy it's just about learning to search quickly with your eyes and know what are good setups there are. Yes there are patterns that will allow maximum lift but it only takes like 20 mins of playing to memorize them all and then you keep doing them over and over. Like I said, my problem is that once you figure out the trick to the game it's just repeating the same thing over and over mechanically without thinking much.

Be warned, if you don't like feeling stressed, this game is not for you

How does the game stress you out? I mean the levels are only 2 mins or less and you can instantly retry where you lost unlike Lumines. I dunno, I suck at Lumines; after 10-20 hours of playing I could only hit about 180k, but so far everytime I play Meteos in Star Trip mode I seem to never die and just keep beating the game. I just look for a group that's getting tall and then do a 3-5 horizontal line on the very bottom row and repeat on the other side, then when they're falling down I see if I can get any extra height.

Pac Pix makes me feel stressed and yell curse words at the game, but Meteos is just quick fun for me.
 
"How does the game stress you out? I mean the levels are only 2 mins or less and you can instantly retry where you lost unlike Lumines. I dunno, I suck at Lumines; after 10-20 hours of playing I could only hit about 180k, but so far everytime I play Meteos in Star Trip mode I seem to never die and just keep beating the game. I just look for a group that's getting tall and then do a 3-5 horizontal line on the very bottom row and repeat on the other side, then when they're falling down I see if I can get any extra height."

Star Trip is certainly a much less stressful experience. The "regular" game is just horribly stressful - almost instantly you have a few columns that are flashing and my eyes aint as good as they used to be OR i'm not used to getting the lines in place.

"Pac Pix makes me feel stressed and yell curse words at the game, but Meteos is just quick fun for me."

Pac Pix hasn't stressed me at all yet, but i'm already kind of bored of it :)
 
Keep up the impressions, guys. This double whammie of Lumines and Meteos is just... a unique moment for me in my rather long VG history. I cannot wait.

Lumines in less than 2 weeks, and hopefully Meteos within a month and a half after that.

CAN'T WAIT.
 
Mizuguchi rules.

Rez, Lumines, and Meteos.

And these are just his studio's first three games (I think). :D
 
server went nuts.. hmm

just got my copy, arrived this morning from play-asia.. i can't read japanese, tapped the screen a few times now i'm in star trip mode - loving it so far, the music is great and the visuals have a great style to them.. very bizarre game!!

edit ; it also has a 'club nintendo' code slip thing in it, so i guess if anyone who's in japan wants to PM me i can give the first person the code :P
 
sorry, I'm a jackass. When I watch the IGN gameplay vids, what am I watching? How do the in-game mechanics work? I just see different colored blocks falling and sections rocking up into the screen.

*I don't have a DS, haven't played one. I do think this sounds kinda cool, but don't understand what I'm watching.
 
Guy LeDouche said:
sorry, I'm a jackass. When I watch the IGN gameplay vids, what am I watching? How do the in-game mechanics work? I just see different colored blocks falling and sections rocking up into the screen.
When you get 3 blocks the same colour lined up horizontally or vertically, they "launch" into space. If they don't have enough momentum to propel the blocks on top of them, you can create extra propulsion by forming extra rows of 3 in the mass that is floating.
 
and you move the blocks via either the touch screen or the dpad + buttons (most use the touch screen I presume, though, because of the hectic speed of meteos.
 
GaimeGuy said:
Mizuguchi rules.

Rez, Lumines, and Meteos.

And these are just his studio's first three games (I think). :D

what? what? REZ was SEGA.

He also did the SEGA RALLY games (I think) and the wunderful SPACE CHANNEL series.

I luff him. I can't wait for this game's western release.
 
ok, i've given Meteos a few hours of playtime, and i'm undecided. currently leaning on the side of 'this is great', but at times i agree with bebpo's comments about how you sort of follow the same pattern of 'start launch, if it doesnt get to the top, try add more sutff to it' (and if you can't, try line up some block at the bottom that will launch the rocket again when it sinks back down).. it's not like say, tetris attack where you can set up a glorious collapse of blocks and there's dogs barking and trumpets sounding and you get a real sense of satisfaction and acheivement. but i guess it's not really that type of game - it's mroe hectic and more 'reflex' based than a 'planning ahead' style puzzler.

that said, it's amazingly addictive. whenever i take a break, its about 10 minutes later that i feel the urge to fire up the DS and have another go. and the different styles of blocks /levels/music/gravity add quite a bit of variety to it.

so, mostly positive from me so far, but it could go either way :P
 
julls said:
ok, i've given Meteos a few hours of playtime, and i'm undecided. currently leaning on the side of 'this is great', but at times i agree with bebpo's comments about how you sort of follow the same pattern of 'start launch, if it doesnt get to the top, try add more sutff to it' (and if you can't, try line up some block at the bottom that will launch the rocket again when it sinks back down).. it's not like say, tetris attack where you can set up a glorious collapse of blocks and there's dogs barking and trumpets sounding and you get a real sense of satisfaction and acheivement. but i guess it's not really that type of game - it's mroe hectic and more 'reflex' based than a 'planning ahead' style puzzler.

that said, it's amazingly addictive. whenever i take a break, its about 10 minutes later that i feel the urge to fire up the DS and have another go. and the different styles of blocks /levels/music/gravity add quite a bit of variety to it.

so, mostly positive from me so far, but it could go either way :P
It will consume you..... muahahahaha
 
ZeMMiK said:
so less strategic but fast....compare it with Magical Drop then??

haven't actually played magical drop :p but definitely fast and less strategic than a lot of other puzzlers - there's so much stuff raining down on the screen :p it's amazingly tense, and the music on some of the levels is really, really good. i'm OBSESSED. i can't put this game down :D that 'shallow' feeling i had before is gone - this game is really intensely frantic !
 
Just delivered. :)

So far I only played for an hour. I'm surprised there's so much Japanese text in the game! Luckily, it's still a puzzle game, but damn I need to brush up on some of my Japanese.

The gameplay does remind me of Tetris Attack a bit. It seems like you can play the game without using the stylus too, which is nice, but when you're in danger of filling up the screen, you'd be stupid not to use the stylus, as it's much faster.

As others have mentioned, the music and sound effects are spot on. It's not something I'd wanna listen to on its own merit, but it helps to keep me calm during the game's more stressful moments.

I've only played on the standard (2 star) difficulty so far, and I've lost a handful of matches already. I don't want to imagine the 5 star difficulty. Anyone play that yet?

Also, what seem to be the basic strategies forming? Do you try to set up larger triggers (4 or 5 blocks) or do you stick to quick 3-blocks over and over?
 
Managed to find out about the third musician on the game. It's Kaori Takazoe, bringing the full sound roster is:
Takayuki Nakamura (Lumines)
Seiji Momoi (Brave Saga, Wizardry etc)
Kaori Takazoe (Gradius Galaxies and other Gradius stuff)

It's hard to really classify what is music and what isn't as you find out in the sound test. The soundtrack in game is basically made up of a series of short loops that vary depending on your progress. There are normally three main loops, that play depending how full the screen is and vary in tempo accordingly. On top of these there are loops for take off and descent of meteos, as well as FX for other events such as ignition, meteo movement, special block appearance, item usage etc. The only real music, per se, is in the intro, menu screens, endings and credit sequence.

I've now unlocked all the planets, all the sound tests and most of the items. There are
32
planets in total, and while a few of them share meteo graphics, they are all unique thanks to the massive variation in music/fx. The background graphics also go well with the sound.

After getting this far, I still haven't completed the hardest of the Star Trip modes and I haven't played the challenge mode much. I think it has a lot of life in it, especially if you're into score challenges and multiplayer.
 
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