| | | |  - Brand new gameplay and themes tie into the Disney world
- Interact with characters and environments from Pirates of the Caribbean, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Lion King, Disney/Pixar Toy Story and more
- Play alone or challenge up to three friends in head-to-head Vs. modes
- Various difficulty settings and adjustable rules
- Play horizontally or vertically; control gameplay on the touch screen while interacting with the story on the other screen
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| | | |  Product Description:
Meteos: Disney Magic is the follow-up to the critically-acclaimed Meteos, now featuring beloved Disney brands. It's an original story in the classic Disney universe: Help Jiminy Cricket and Tinkerbell re-organize the famous Disney storybook vault after someone changed the stories around. Piece together three or more Disney-themed blocks with the Nintendo DS stylus; create puzzle patterns by launching them from the touch screen, while interacting with great Disney characters. The sequel to Meteos, one of the most critically acclaimed and popular games for the Nintendo DS | | | | |
Average Rating : 
Rating : - Meteos Disney Magic - Very Addicting, Probably Underrated DS Game
Meteos: Disney Magic is a fun game for the Nintendo DS Lite and original DS. Granted this is a product placement game based on all things Disney, so if you don't like Disney characters you might not like this concept. I personally am a Disney junkie, so I enjoyed working through the different boards. Each board is based on a Disney character theme, from Mickey Mouse, Lilo & Stitch, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and The Nightmare Before Christmas just to name a few.
The difficulty level of using all the various blocks may be too much for young children to learn on their own. In addition, the blocks start accelerating very quickly as you move through the boards. Kids who are shown how the game works and have a longer attention span can definitely be hooked on this game too. I am a grown man and I'm not ashamed to admit I loved playing through this game. Even though my gaming hours are limited these days, I still pick it up from time to time and the enjoyment level is still very high.
While this is considered a puzzle game, I'm not quite sure that description is adequate. Maybe it's more of an active puzzle game. It is certainly a puzzle game in that you have to combine similar blocks to get them to jump in tandem. If you do that in several combinations, you get points and gain some extra time. And if you use the extra rocket squares properly and at the right time, you can launch the entire grid off your screen. The trick is to move the blocks as the grid is moving down the board so you can position them to combine in more than 3 blocks and also to combine multiple combinations. Of course, if you don't make enough combinations in time, the blocks will pile up and you will lose.
True, it's possible to make combinations by accident. But if you make them by accident, it's much more difficult to make multiple combinations or completely launch all the squares, which is really the point to this game.
So this game will help you improve your hand-eye coordination. The game is designed to make heavy use of the stylus. It would have been nice if there was a way to play it using the directional controls more.
When you are playing in solo mode, the only thing that is a little underdone is the way the graphic on the non-touch screen reflects the board and game-play. Throughout most of the game-play on each board, the non-touch screen has a simple graphic of the Disney theme.
Only when you either lose or win the board is there a significant change in that screen. Yes I have gotten Winnie's head stuck in the honey pot more than once! It just would have been nicer if the graphic pane responded more to combinations or block levels on the touch screen. The graphics are good throughout, but when you end the game you get a very well done credits sequence.
And there are a few technical weaknesses in the game where it may seem to not respond to your stylus when you are on expert level, thus causing you to lose. So there are some flaws. But if you take the time to play through this game a few times, you will hopefully come to enjoy it as much as I did.
Despite a few hiccups, this is a very fun game that can be enjoyed by all, including lefties.
Pros:
+ Fun and challenging game, especially on harder settings
+ Well designed to take advantage of the touch screen
+ Great boards for Disney fans with most well known characters represented
+ Cool multi-player challenge mode to play against your friends
+ Cool combination possibilities with special blocks and setting up multiple combos
Cons:
- Graphics only minimally change with game play
- Stylus response time seems too slow sometimes on the hardest levels
- Gameplay is not obvious enough for younger kids to figure out on their own
- Perhaps less enjoyable for non-Disney fans
This is a very fun DS game even with its flaws. While you would think this one was more geared towards kids with the Disney characters, adults may enjoy it more due to challenging levels. So as long as you are into Disney characters and are a kid at heart, you will probably like this game. Give it a try and hopefully you will like it.
Enjoy!
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